Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1944, General, Volume I

740.00119 EAC/195

Memorandum by the United Kingdom Representative to the European Advisory Commission ( Strang )⁶⁴

E.A.C. (44) 19

London , 31 May 1944.⁶⁵

Draft General Directives for Germany and Austria in the Post-Surrender Period

I circulate for consideration by the European Advisory Commission the annexed draft general directive for Germany in the post-surrender period (Annex I) and draft general directive for Austria in the post-surrender period (Annex II).

2. In paragraph 10 (a) of the memorandum circulated to the Commission on January 15th (E.A.C. (44) 1) I explained the conception of the United Kingdom Delegation in regard to the issue of directives for the guidance of the Allied Commanders in applying the Terms of Surrender in Germany. I observed that some of the surrender provisions would necessarily be expressed in general terms. An essential complement to the Terms of Surrender would therefore be a series of directives to be issued to the Allied Commanders containing particular instructions as to the manner in which such provisions should be fulfilled. I expressed the view that many of these directives would have to be ready well before the cessation of hostilities as they would necessarily cover a wide field in which immediate action by the Commanders would be essential. Action under these directives would be taken by the Commanders by way of orders and instructions issued in virtue of general powers conferred upon them by the Instrument of Surrender. I suggested therefore that it was desirable that attention should be given as soon as possible to the elaboration of such directives.

3. The general scheme which the United Kingdom Delegation have in mind is therefore as follows:—

(a) The basic document will be the Instrument of Surrender to be signed by the Germans and by the Allied Representatives.

(b) In virtue of Article 12 (b) of the Instrument of Surrender the Allied Representatives will issue proclamations, orders, ordinances or instructions for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of the Instrument and for laying down additional requirements in the political, administrative, economic, financial, military and other fields. The United Kingdom Delegation have agreed to the present general form of the draft Instrument of Surrender on the understanding that an initial series of orders which, taken together with the Instrument itself, will cover broadly speaking the same ground as the United Kingdom draft (E.A.C. (44) 1), will be issued by the Allied Representatives immediately or very shortly after the signature of the Instrument; and on the understanding that drafts of these orders will be prepared by the Commission and recommended to the three Governments in the same way as the draft Instrument itself. The United Kingdom Delegation are at present at work upon such drafts.

(c) The Commission will also prepare and recommend to the three Governments draft directives designed to assist the Allied Representatives in applying the Instrument of Surrender and the initial orders mentioned in (b) above.

(d) It is possible that the Commission may also find it desirable to prepare and recommend to the three Governments drafts of the more important orders to be issued by the Allied Representatives in virtue of the directives referred to in (c) above.

4. I have already sent to my colleagues the drafts of several such directives, for the consideration of their Delegations. I propose to circulate these drafts to the Commission in due course.

5. The two draft directives annexed to the present paper are of a general and fundamental character and are intended, as stated in paragraph 1 of each of them, to govern the action of the Allied Representatives in relation to general matters not covered by particular directives.

6. I therefore circulate these two drafts to the Commission in the hope that the Commission will be able to take them into early consideration. They should be read in conjunction with the draft directives to the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force in respect of Military Government in Germany for the pre-surrender period, circulated to the Commission by the United States and United Kingdom Representatives on 15th May (E.A.C. (44) 18).

W[illiam] S[trang]

[Annex 1]

Draft General Directive for Germany in the Post-Surrender Period

1. This directive relates to the period after Germany’s surrender and will govern your action in relation to general matters not covered by particular directives.

2. You will on all occasions and by all means emphasise and display the Allied character of the occupation of Germany. You will tolerate no action by any German individual or organisation which seeks to undermine the unity of the Allies.

3. You will bear in mind and seek to promote the purposes of the occupation of Germany, which are—

(a) To complete the disarmament of Germany and the destruction of the German war machine.

(b) To convince the German people that they have suffered a total military defeat, in order to break for ever the legend of the invincibility of German arms, and to correct the belief that aggression pays.

(c) To destroy the National Socialist Party and system, and to do everything possible to uproot and discredit National Socialist doctrines.

(d) To ensure that German militarism and National Socialism do not continue to operate underground or in some other guise.

(e) To lay the foundations for the rule of law in Germany, and for eventual peaceful co-operation in international life by Germany.

(f) To encourage individual and collective responsibility in Germans.

4. You should bear in mind that positive action in the sense of (e) and (f) above must be taken by the Germans rather than by the United Nations on their behalf; but one purpose of the occupation is to make it possible for Germans to take such action. Direct action by the United Nations will, however, be needed under (a), (b), (c) and (d).

5. You will strictly forbid and vigorously suppress any political activity by remnants of the National Socialist Party, or any groups that seek to propagate its doctrines or any similar ones. In particular, you will tolerate no continuance of discrimination against individual Germans on grounds of race or religion. Your attitude towards other political activities in Germany will be governed by the overriding necessity for the maintenance of military security. Subject to such security, you will not forbid political activities, including public demonstrations or meetings. You will be careful not to lend your support or authority to any particular political party or policy in Germany, but you should be aware that the United Nations hope to encourage any movement in Germany towards decentralisation or federalism. Movements of a separatist character will also be looked on with favour by the United Nations, but you should be careful that such movements (though they may be favoured at a later stage) should not at the outset be compromised by being given the appearance of being actively promoted by the Allies.

6. Subject again to the necessity for maintaining military security and a smooth administration, you will, so far as possible, permit freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and you will encourage the formation of free Trades Unions.

7. You will do all you can to foster freedom of religion and the maintenance of respect for the churches in Germany; though you should take steps to ensure that religious activities are not used as a cloak for the spreading of undesirable political ideas or of propaganda directed against any of the United Nations.

8. In general, the attitude to the German population of all forces and agencies under your command or control should be just, but firm and distant. You will strongly discourage fraternisation between Allied forces and the German population. In particular, you will reduce to a minimum all contact between forces under your command and German forces not yet demobilised. In general, contact with German officials should be as little as is necessary in order to ensure the adequate supervision of administration.

9. All Germans appointed to official positions (e.g., in the police or the administration) should understand that they hold office only during good behaviour.

[Annex 2]

Draft General Directive for Austria in the Post-Surrender Period

1. This directive relates to the period after Germany’s surrender and will govern your action in relation to general Austrian matters not covered by particular directives.

2. You will on all occasions and by all means emphasise and display the Allied character of the occupation of Austria. You will tolerate no action by any Austrian individual or organisation which seeks to undermine the unity of the Allies.

3. You will bear in mind and seek to promote the purposes of the occupation of Austria, which are:—

(a) To disarm Austrians embodied in the German services, and to destroy the German war machine in so far as it exists or is based in Austrian territory.

(b) To demonstrate the complete defeat of Germany; to destroy the legend of the invincibility of German arms; and to correct the belief that aggression pays.

(c) To destroy the National Socialist party and system in Austria, and to uproot and discredit National Socialist doctrines.

(d) To make clear to Austria that association with Germany has brought her to disaster, and to fortify her will not to renew that association.

(e) To assist in the process of disentangling the national life of Austria, in every sphere, from Germany.

(f) To assist in the establishment of a free, independent and prosperous Austria, based on the rule of law, ready and able to co-operate in international life.

4. You will observe that the purposes of the occupation of Austria differ from those defined for the case of Germany. This difference will much influence the character of Allied occupation in Austria, which in this case is intended to be exercised in the interests of the country occupied as well as in those of the United Nations. It is probable that proportionately fewer Allied troops will be engaged in the occupation of Austria than in that of Germany; and that the occupation will end sooner than that of Germany. Though it will be of great importance that occupying forces in Germany should be respected by the inhabitants, this will be of even more importance in Austria, and the impression to be aimed at is of a different kind. You should bear in mind that—in a certain sense—Austria already has a six-years’ experience of being occupied.

5. You will strictly forbid and vigorously suppress any political activity by remnants of the National Socialist party in Austria, or any groups which seek to propagate its doctrines or any similar ones. In particular you will tolerate no continuance of discrimination against individual Austrians on grounds of race or religion. You will also forbid any political activity or propaganda based on pan-Germanism or seeking to renew in any way the association of Austria with Germany.

6. Your attitude towards other political activities in Austria will be governed by the over-riding necessity for the maintenance of military security; this will, however, leave you more latitude than will be the case in Germany. Subject to this necessity, you will not forbid political activities, including public demonstrations or meetings. But you will be careful, in the absence of further instructions, not to lend your support or authority to any particular political party or policy in Austria.

7. Subject again to the necessity for maintaining military security and a smooth administration, you will encourage freedom of speech and freedom of the Press, and the formation of free Trades Unions.

8. You will do all you can to foster freedom of religion and the maintenance of respect for the churches in Austria; but you should take steps to ensure that religious activities are not used as a cloak for the spreading of undesirable political ideas or of propaganda directed against any of the United Nations.

9. In general, the attitude to the Austrian population of all forces and agencies under your command or control should be firm and just, but more friendly than in Germany. You will exercise your discretion in regard to the degree of fraternisation to be permitted between Allied forces and the Austrian population. You will, however, reduce to a minimum all contact between forces under your command and Austrian forces not yet demobilised. Similarly, contact with Austrian officials can be more friendly and forthcoming than will be desirable in Germany.

10. After Germany’s surrender, your first concern in Austria will be to ensure the functioning of a central administration. This task will be complicated by the fact that no such administration has existed since 1939, when the seven Reichsgaue into which Austria was divided were made directly dependent on Berlin. It will be necessary to build up a central machine in Vienna to take control of Austrian affairs in many spheres. You should encourage the Austrians themselves to undertake this task, and you should do so as far as possible without prejudicing the question of the political and constitutional future of Austria. In selecting Austrians for posts in this central administration, you should have regard to administrative competence. There is no objection to you using suitable Austrian émigrés for this purpose. Some time is bound to elapse before sufficient representative Austrians of the right type emerge to form a central administration. You should, therefore, yourself be prepared not only to control the Austrian administration in the general interests of the United Nations, but also to supplement its personnel, where necessary, by providing the services of Allied officers and officials.

11. In Austria there is no intermediate administrative unit between the Reichsgaue and the Kreise, and the principal link for civil administration must, therefore, be the former until it is possible to restore the old Austria länder.

12. Some time must elapse before it becomes possible for an Austrian Government to be formed, though it is to be hoped that this may be done with as brief a delay as possible. You should bear in mind that, even after the surrender of Germany, Austria will remain technically a part of Germany, till she is formally constituted as an independent State. During this time there can in any case be no independent Austrian Government, and Austria will, of course, remain as much subject to control by the United Nations as Germany. In Austria this control will be exercised as far as possible by organisations and staffs separate from those operating in Germany; and you will use this period for helping to carry out the process referred to in paragraph 3(e) above.

13. For the “disentangling” of Austria from Germany, you will be given fuller instructions at a later stage. But at the earliest moment you will control the passage of persons across the frontier between Austria and Germany in both directions.

14. You should bear in mind that the problem of purging the administration (on which you will have received a particular directive) will not be the same in Austria as in Germany. In Austria it will be necessary to get rid not merely of extreme National Socialists, who will be, if anything, more firmly in control of the administration there than in Germany, but also of the many Reich Germans who hold Austrian posts. The necessity for removing these, in which process you should act in concert with whatever Austrian elements you may have established in the central administration at Vienna, may for some time increase the number of Allied officers and officials you will have to provide to assist that administration.

64. Copy transmitted to the Department by the Ambassador in the United Kingdom in his despatch 16012, June 1; received June 6.
65. This memorandum was originally circulated in the European Advisory Commission by the United Kingdom Representative on May 30.