740.00119 (Potsdam)/7–3145
No. 1396
The Ambassador in France
(Caffery) to the French
Minister of Foreign Affairs (Bidault)
secret
No. 669
Paris, July 31, 1945.
Excellency: Acting under instructions from my
Government, I have the honor to transmit a communication on behalf of my
Government to the Government of France relating to political principles
which the Government of the United States considers should govern the
treatment of Germany in the initial control period. It is the earnest
wish of my Government that the Government of France will be able to
associate itself with these principles.
Your Excellency will note that my Government will be grateful if the
Government of France would treat the present communication as strictly
secret until such time as an official statement is issued by the
Conference.
I avail myself [etc.]
[Enclosure]
The Governments of the United Kingdom, the United States and Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics have agreed upon the following political
principles which they consider should govern the treatment of
Germany in the initial control period. It is their intention to
communicate the text of these principles to the Commanders-in-Chief
of their respective forces of occupation in Germany1 after the
conclusion
[Page 1545]
of the
present Conference and to instruct them to be guided by these
principles in their action in their respective zones of occupation,
and to concert with their colleagues on the Control Council in
working out the application of these principles in such a way as to
ensure the appropriate uniformity of action in zones of
occupation.
It is the earnest wish of the three Governments that the Provisional
Government of the French Republic will be able to associate itself
with these principles and to send similar instructions after the
conclusion of the Conference to the Commander-in-Chief of the French
Forces of Occupation.2
The three Governments would be grateful if the French Provisional
Government would treat the present communication as strictly secret
until such a time as an official statement is issued by the
Conference.
Agreement on Political Principles
To Govern the Treatment of Germany in the Initial Control
Period
[Here follows, with minor variations, the text of document No. 1383, section II, paragraphs
1–10.]
