[Annex]
Memorandum by the United
Kingdom Delegation to the European
Advisory Commission
MACHINERY IN GERMANY DURING THE “MIDDLE PERIOD,” i.e.,
THE PERIOD OF MILITARY GOVERNMENT AFTER HOSTILITIES CEASE
Introduction
- 1.
- The present memorandum deals with the machinery of control
required for Germany during the “middle” period immediately
after the cessation of hostilities.
- 2.
- In the memorandum enclosed in the paper circulated by the
United Kingdom Delegation on the 15th January, 1944 (E.A.C. (44)
3), the machinery required in Germany during the following
periods, was considered in outline:—
- (a)
- The Period of Active Hostilities (Period A).
- (b)
- The “Middle Period,” i.e., the Aftermath of
Hostilities (Period B).
- (c)
- The Period of Effective Allied Control (Period
C).
- 3.
- In the memorandum enclosed in the paper circulated by the
United Kingdom Delegation on the 22nd March, 1944 (E.A.C. (44)
14), the proposals for the period of Effective Allied Control
were considered in greater detail. In particular, the functions
of the High Commission and the organisation it would require to
carry them out were examined.
- 4.
- The present memorandum deals with the Middle Period, i.e., the
Aftermath of Hostilities, in more detail than the memorandum in
E.A.C. (44) 3.
- 5.
- It is not possible to tell what the conditions will be when
hostilities cease. On the one hand Allied forces may not yet
have set foot on German soil; on the other, large parts of
Germany may already have been occupied.
- While the Allied forces are in process of completing the
occupation of Germany, it will be necessary for
Commanders-in-Chief to be the supreme authorities within their
own zones and to exercise local control through their own civil
affairs and disarmament staffs, in the [Page 213] same way as will be necessary
if German territory is occupied before hostilities cease.
- 6.
- The United Kingdom Delegation are, however, impressed with the
need for establishing on a Three-Power basis and at the earliest
possible moment a form of Military Government at the centre, the
function of which will be to exercise authority throughout
Germany as a whole by controlling German Authorities at the
centre.
- Consideration will first be given below to the form which
Military Government should take and then go on to deal with the
stages by which it might be established.
Form which Military Government should take
Supreme Authority.
7.—(a) Supreme authority should be exercised
by, or on behalf of, the Commanders-in-Chief of the Forces of
Occupation. It is recommended, therefore, that supreme authority
should be vested in a Military Commission consisting of the
Commanders-in-Chief themselves—though, if local conditions
precluded, they could be represented by their deputies. While the
United States/British Forces are under one Command, it is considered
essential that a senior British Commander should sit on the Military
Commission, so that, from the start, all Three Powers will be
represented on an equal footing.
(b) The Military Commission would act in
accordance with directives received from the three Governments. It
is assumed that on all matters, other than those of individual
concern to each of the Forces of Occupation, directives would be
co-ordinated through the medium of the European Advisory Commission
or whatever Inter-Allied body is then in existence for dealing with
European affairs.
8. If an acceptable central German Government exists, the Military
Commission would act as the channel through which the policy of the
United Nations would be imposed on that Government. In the absence
of such a German Government, it might be necessary for the Military
Commission to assume considerable administrative responsibility.
Even so, it would have as far as possible to use German machinery
and suitably selected German personnel.
Machinery of Military Government under the
Military Commission.
9. The tasks to be performed in the matter of Government by the
Allies in Germany immediately after the cessation of hostilities
would involve control of much the same nature, and over much the
same fields of German activity, as would require to be exercised
later on by the High Commission. It follows that the central
machinery of control required during the period of Military
Government would be substantially the same as that required under
the High Commission.
It is therefore recommended that the machinery of control outlined in
E.A.C. (44) 14 for the High Commission period should be set up [Page 214] during the Middle Period,
but under the supreme authority of the Military Commission. It
should be named “Military Government.” Thus the body in Period B
corresponding to the “Executive Committee of Control” in Period C
would be called the “Executive Committee of Military Government” and
so on.
Staffing of Proposed Machinery
10. The United Kingdom Delegation are impressed—
- (a)
- by the need for continuity in carrying out the task of
controlling Germany throughout all the three periods
referred to in E.A.C. (44) 3;
- (b)
- by the need for personnel of sufficient calibre to be
available very early to deal adequately with the immensely
complex problems with which they will be faced.
With regard to (a) continuity would be assured
if the personnel employed during the period of Military Government
(Period B) were the same as those who would later work under the
direction of the High Commission during Period C, and include a
considerable proportion of those who had been engaged in the
exercise of Allied Military Government in Period A.
In particular, it is considered essential that the Directors of the
Sections who would form the “Executive Committee of Military
Government” should be the men who would later be Directors of the
Sections who would form the “Executive Committee of Control” under
the High Commission.
With regard to (b), it is recommended that the
Directors of the various Sections should have had wide
administrative experience in their own particular fields. The staffs
of the non-military Sections should, where necessary, be recruited
from civilian sources in spite of the fact that during Period B they
would be the agents of “Military Government.”
11. Furthermore, the United Kingdom Delegation consider that, in
order to ensure uniformity in the work of control, it would be
desirable for control staffs to be “mixed” at the higher levels.
The Forces of Occupation.
12. Any necessary co-ordination between the forces of occupation
would be effected by the Military Commission through a central
Military Staff.
United Nations’ Agencies charged in Germany with
the problem of Relief, Repatriation, Transport, &c.
13. So long as Military Government lasts it would be necessary for
these agencies to be subordinate to it. It is suggested that they
should be answerable to the Executive Committee of Military
Government, but that in the event of disagreement they should have
the [Page 215] right of access to the
Military Commission through the President or Chairman of the
Executive Committee of Military Government.
The High Commission.
14. As already indicated in paragraph 10 of the memorandum enclosed
in E.A.C. (44) 3, it is suggested that three representatives of the
future High Commission should be available throughout to advise the
Military Commission on economic and political matters.
Advisory Council.
15. As indicated in paragraph 4 of the memorandum enclosed in E.A.C.
(44) 14, further study is being given to the possibility of setting
up a council composed of the representatives of other Allied
Governments, to function in an advisory capacity to the High
Commission. It is considered desirable that the “middle” period
should be of very limited duration and that as soon as possible
after the end of active hostilities the High Commission should take
over control. If this takes place, it should not be necessary to set
up the Advisory Council during the “middle” period. If, on the other
hand, the latter period should prove to be prolonged, it would be
desirable to establish the Advisory Council before the High
Commission takes over control. In that case its contact with the
Military Commission should be through the future High Commission,
rather than direct. This would obviate the necessity for the
Military Commission receiving advice from more than one quarter.
Structure of Proposed Machinery.
16. For ease of reference, Appendix A54 to the memorandum enclosed in E.A.C. (44)
14 is repeated, with appropriate changes, as Appendix A to the
present memorandum. It illustrates the German Ministries to be
controlled, and the functions to be performed, by each of the
various sections.
17. The whole proposed structure of the machinery under the Military
Commission is illustrated at Appendix B.54 Below the Executive
Committee of Military Government level it is the same as Appendix B
to the memorandum enclosed in E.A.C. (44) 14.
Method of Setting up Military Government
18. As already indicated, the United Kingdom Delegation consider it
essential that Military Government at the centre should be
established at the earliest possible moment. In view of paragraph 10
above, it is essential that the personnel who would compose it
should be the men who would carry on under the High Commission in
Period C and at the same time would have been closely identified
during Period A with the Civil Affairs Staff of the Allied Armies,
and should have worked with them at least during the planning
stage.
[Page 216]
The Military Government organised at the centre in Periods B and C
must of necessity be tripartite (British-American-Soviet) as already
indicated in paragraph 6. During Period A, however, Allied Military
Government would be carried out by an Anglo-American organisation in
the West and a Russian organisation in the East. The problem,
therefore, is to provide at the commencement of Period B an
organised British-American-Soviet team, suitable in composition and
calibre to control the Central German Administrative Machine, in
conjunction with the necessary elements of the Allied Military
Government personnel who had earlier been functioning with their
respective Commanders-in-Chief during Period A.
19. The United Kingdom Delegation recommend that a
British-American-Soviet team, to form the nucleus of the Executive
Committee of Military Government and the nucleus staffs of Sections
and Sub-commissions, should be formed in London at the earliest
possible date.
This team, working within the agreed Directives issued to the Supreme
Allied Commanders, as a result of the advice tendered to the three
Governments by the European Advisory Commission, would undertake the
detailed planning for the control of the German Central Machinery.
In this task the team would of necessity co-operate closely with the
staffs of the Supreme Allied Commanders, i.e., Supreme Headquarters,
Allied Expeditionary Force, and the appropriate Soviet Headquarters.
It would be available at the commencement of Period B as the agency
which the respective Commanders-in-Chief would utilise to set up the
necessary tripartite machinery at the centre, and would, together
with the Commanders-in-Chief and their Deputies, proceed, if
necessary by air, to the seat of the German Government.
20. The three representatives of the future High Commission referred
to in paragraph 14 would accompany the Military Commission in an
advisory capacity.
Duration of the “Middle Period,” i.e., the
Aftermath of Hostilities
21. It is not possible to tell how long this period will last. This
must largely depend on the internal conditions in Germany when the
time comes. The United Kingdom Delegation would, however, emphasise
the recommendation made in paragraph 11 of the memorandum enclosed
in E.A.C. (44) 3, namely, that supreme authority should be
transferred to the High Commission at the earliest possible moment
that the situation permits.