740.00119 Council/3–1447: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the President and the Acting Secretary of State
urgent
819. Delsec 1301. For the President and Acheson from Marshall. Fifth CFM, Molotov in chair, 14 March.
My initial attempt to expedite action of CFM by presenting my views in writing prior to the meeting and thus avoid tiresome reading and two time-consuming translations resulted in a confused discussion among the other three delegates. I therefore read my statement and [Page 252] included two others I had circulated and had no intention of reading.19 The waste of time was so evident that I have hopes of later on getting some time-saving procedure approved.
On democratization, I briefly stated our definition of basic human rights, and pointed out that the present allied control of Germany gave all four of us a unique opportunity to demonstrate our sincerity in the democratic goals proclaimed in the Atlantic Charter and United Nations charter. I pointed out that there has been no uniform zonal preparation of Germans for political reconstruction, and specifically in the following five respects, there has been no uniformly effective guarantee in all parts of Germany of (1) civil rights, (2) rights of political parties, (3) rights of free trade unions, (4) freedom of press and radio and (5) freedom of movement for persons and goods. I concluded with statement that these principles are fundamental and that we must all take active part in establishment of these essentials to restore German economic and political life on the foundation they provide.
I then rebutted the accusations levelled yesterday by Molotov against cur denazification procedures and our alleged failure to destroy war potential plants in the US Zone.
Bidault likewise rebutted Molotov’s similar allegations and reaffirmed his belief that democratization was a slow positive process flowing naturally from the negative process of denazification and that we must proceed slowly before turning Germany over to self-government. He stated the fundamental importance of democratic electoral procedures and land reforms.20
Molotov, in commenting on our democratization paper, stated Soviets were not concerned with generalities of democracy, but only those facts which bore on allied responsibilities in Germany. He said Soviet understanding of freedom of press and radio did not include right to propagandize for restoration of a Hitlerite regime. He picked out freedom of trade unions, and Bidault’s mention of land reforms, as items requiring immediate decision by CFM.21
Bevin said his government would never again be maneuvered into the position it was in after Potsdam, and accordingly he would make [Page 253] no decisions on any items until we had decided the future status of Germany from political and economic viewpoints.
Bevin then asked the CFM’s to present factual data on reparations removed from Germany. Molotov said he would present his views on this later when reparations were discussed. Bevin retorted that he assumed the data would be made available then. Molotov declined to comment.
- The statement read by the Secretary of State, which dealt with German democratization, was circulated to the Council as document CFM(47) (M) 13, March 14, 1947; for the text of the statement, see Germany 1947–1949, pp. 154–155 or Department of State Bulletin, March 23, 1947, pp. 524–525. The statements circulated to the Council by the Secretary at this time were CFM(47) (M) 11, March 14, 1947, regarding the total number of ex-members of the German Armed Forces in U.S. Custody, and CFM(47) (M) 12, March 14, 1947, on the liquidation of war plants in the U.S. zone of occupation in Germany; for the texts of these statements, see Department of State Bulletin, March 23, 1947, pp. 523–524.↩
- For the text of Bidault’s statement, see Déclarations de Bidault, pp. 8–9.↩
- For the text of Molotov’s statement, see Molotov, Speeches and Statements at Moscow, pp. 17–19.↩