Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Germany and Austria, Volume VII, Part 1

662.001/4–3052: Telegram

No. 91
The Secretary of State to the Embassy in the United Kingdom¹

secret
niact

Washington, April 30, 1952—7:59 p.m.

5593. Fol is draft reply to Sov note, as referred to in our immed preceding tel:²

• “1. The US Govt has studied the Sov note of Apr 9 carefully in the hope that it wld offer encouragement for believing that the Sov Union was prepared to cooperate to bring about the unification of Ger through free elections, the formation of an all-Ger Govt and the conclusion of a peace treaty with that Govt under conditions which wld advance the cause of peace in Eur. These remain basic objectives of the US Govt. The US Govt, however, considers that the Sov Govt’s note throws little new light upon that Govt’s conception of the means for reaching these objectives. It remains the policy of the US Govt to accomplish these objectives on terms that will assure unity with freedom and peace with security.
• “2. The US Govt observes that the Sov Govt continues to maintain the view that an all-Ger Govt cannot be permitted to associate itself with other freedom-loving Govts in organizations which are compatible with the principles and purposes of the UN and which shld not cause concern to any state which does not have aggressive aims. In its note of Mar 25, the US Govt pointed out that it is giving full support to the efforts which the Ger Fed Rep and other free states of Western Eur are making to bring into being a peaceful Eur community and thus to begin a new era in which internat’l relations will be based on cooperation and not on rivalry and distrust. The US Govt welcomes the development of such a Eur community in which Ger will participate. It considers it essential that the Sov Govt shld not deny to Ger this basic right of a free and equal nation to associate itself with other nations for peaceful purposes. The US Govt reemphasizes that this policy of Eur unity now being inaugurated and pursued by the free nations of Eur, including the Fed Rep of Ger, cannot threaten the interests of the Sov Union or of any country whose policy is devoted to the maintenance of peace. The US Govt will, therefore, not be deflected from its support of this policy.
• “3. The maintenance of the Sov Govt’s attitude on this fundamental question and its insistence on isolating Ger from Western Eur does not augur well for establishing the necessary status and rights of an all-Ger Govt and the appropriate terms of a peace treaty to be negotiated with a free unified Ger.
• “4. Nor can progress be made towards the attainment of our objective of Ger unification so long as the Sov Govt does not cooperate in preparing for the participation in genuinely free elections by the 17 million inhabitants of East Ger under conditions similar to those enjoyed by the 50 million citizens of the Fed Rep.
• “5. If the Sov Govt had, like the three Govts and the Fed Rep, been willing to facilitate the work of the UN Comm appointed under Gen Assembly Res No. A/L.12 of Dec 20, 1951,³ that Comm might already have made a report which wld have revealed whether the conditions essential to such elections now exist. If the Comm had found that such conditions do not exist, the four powers cld have already met to discuss the report and to determine what action shld be taken to create the proper conditions.

• “6. The Sov Govt’s opposition to the UN Comm is stated to have been based on its interpretation of Art 107 of the Charter which reads as follows:

  ‘Nothing in the present Charter shall invalidate or preclude action, in relation to any state which during the Second World War has been an enemy of any signatory to the present Charter, taken or authorized as a result of that war by the govts having responsibility for such action.’

  This language clearly does not bar consideration by any UN organ of matters relating to states which during World War II were enemies of members of UN. It simply says that nothing in Charter shall preclude or invalidate certain actions by certain states. However even under erroneous Sov interpretation of the Charter there wld be no impediment to agrmt by the four powers to avail themselves of the assistance of the UN Comm which is now available in order to determine what conditions wld make it possible to hold genuinely free elections throughout Ger.

• “7. The US Govt has noted the Sov Govt’s suggestion that a Comm, formed by the Four Powers occupying Ger cld undertake the investigation required to ascertain whether the conditions essential to free elections exist. It was precisely because of the difference of opinion between the US and the UK and France, on the one hand, and the Sov Union on the other, as to the conditions obtaining in the various parts of Ger, that the estab of an impartial UN Comm was proposed. Under these circumstances, the US Govt cannot be sanguine that satisfactory results wld be reached solely through the medium of Four-Power action. Moreover, if the Sov suggestion contemplates reestablishing the Four-Power control system this wld be a step backward, out of keeping with constitutional developments in the Fed Rep.
• “8. Furthermore, no Comm cld advance the cause of Ger unification, unless it were ensured that unsatisfactory conditions in any zone, wld be rectified by the authorities concerned, and unless there cld be some agrmt on the conditions regarded as essential to free elections. There are many questions concerning these conditions, to which every Ger citizen as well as the US Govt is entitled to have a satis answer before there can be any prospect of a solution to the problem of Ger unification.
• “9. Nevertheless, the US Govt is ready to examine every possibility of reaching agrmt on a means for determining whether conditions of freedom exist throughout Ger which wld make possible the holding of free elections. It is accordingly prepared to authorize the US High Commissioner in Ger or a representative designated by him to discuss with his colleagues in Ger representing the Govts of the UK, France and the Sov Union, the possibility of arranging for an impartial Comm to carry out the necessary investigation in all of Ger. The reps of the Four Powers cld likewise discuss the functions and prerogatives of the Comm, and cld recommend criteria by which it shld be guided in its investigations. As previously noted even if the Sov Union should persist in maintaining its erroneous legal objection to the authority of the UN to establish a Comm, there wld be no impediment to agreement by the Four Powers to use this Comm as a neutral agent.
• “10. If agrmt can be reached on these matters, and if an impartial investigation of conditions throughout Ger is held, the US Govt wld then be prepared to discuss, on the basis of the majority recommendations of the Comm, what further steps wld be required including the creation where nec of appropriate conditions looking toward free nation-wide elections.
• “11. In the preparation of its reply, the US Govt has consulted with the Govts of the UK, France and the Ger Fed Rep and with the reps of Berlin.”⁴

Acheson

1. Drafted by Laukhuff; cleared with Bruce, G, C, EUR, S/P, P, and UNA; initialed for Secretary Acheson by Jessup. Repeated to Paris, Moscow, Berlin, and Bonn.
2. Telegram 5592, supra.
3. For text of this U.N. resolution, see Foreign Relations, 1951, vol. iii, Part 2, p. 1824.
4. On May 1 Gifford reported that he had given copies of this draft to Foreign Office and French representatives. The consensus of the tripartite drafting committee was that the main question raised by the draft was whether the proposed quadripartite meeting would prejudice the signing of the contractuals and the EDC. For this reason the views of the Allied High Commissioners would be sought and, if they approved the proposal, Adenauer would be consulted as well. (Telegram 4953 from London, 662.001/5–152)