Office of the Historian

740.00119 EW/10–2544: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Chargé in the Soviet Union (Kennan)

Washington, December 1, 1944—4 p.m.

2764. The Czechoslovak Government on November 17 notified the British, American and Soviet Governments of its desire to be consulted on the terms of surrender to be imposed upon Hungary. It referred to a note of February 26, 1944,74 discussing the then contemplated work of the European Advisory Commission, in which I had stated to the Czechoslovak Ambassador in Washington75 “I am confident that the Czechoslovak Government will be given an opportunity to examine and comment upon the terms of surrender …76 for imposition upon Germany and Hungary.”

The Department believes that it should be left to the discretion of the representatives of the three principal Allied Governments in Moscow to decide at what point during the discussions of the armistice the representative of the Czechoslovak Government might be consulted.

If it is agreeable to the Soviet Government and the British representative that the Czechoslovak Government be consulted before presentation of the terms to Hungary, you are authorized to agree that the Czechoslovak representative in Moscow77 be informed at any time during the course of the discussions, of the terms contemplated or [Page 933] formulated for Hungary, and that the comments of his Government be invited. If the terms are communicated to him at Moscow, there will be no necessity for formal communication of them by Schoenfeld78 in London as suggested in Department’s 2515, October 25, 2 p.m. (8874 to London79).

Please inform the Department and Schoenfeld of any indications of the Soviet and British attitudes.

Although no similar request has been received from the Yugoslav Government, the Department believes that, in principle, the same considerations would apply with respect to Yugoslavia.

Sent to Moscow, repeated to London as 10067.

Stettinius
  1. See vol. i , section entitled “Participation by the United States in the work of the European Advisory Commission,” part III.↩
  2. Vladimir Hurban.↩
  3. Omission indicated in the original telegram.↩
  4. Zdenek Fierlinger, Czechoslovak Ambassador in the Soviet Union.↩
  5. Rudolf E. Schoenfeld, Counselor of Embassy near the Governments in Exile of Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Norway, and Poland, in London.↩
  6. Ante, p. 920.↩