Office of the Historian

740.00119 Potsdam/7–1445

No. 234
The Assistant Secretary of State (Dunn) to the Secretary of State 1

[Extract]2
secret
Potsdam, July 14, 1945.

Memorandum for the Secretary

Sir Alexander Cadogan, Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, called this afternoon and discussed for two hours in a preliminary way a number of matters on the agenda of the Conference.3

1. Council of Foreign Ministers.

Sir Alexander expressed general agreement with our proposal for setting up a Council of Foreign Ministers to handle the peace settlement. He felt that this should not be first on the agenda and that it would be desirable to begin with German questions. He suggested that the Council would probably require a definite location for its Deputies and Staff, but that the Foreign Ministers might well meet in various capitals; presumably he considers London the best location for the Deputies and Secretariat.

To my suggestion that the European Advisory Commission should terminate its work shortly, in view of the establishment of the Control Council for Germany, Sir Alexander hinted that the EAC might be utilized for dealing with other than German problems, by broadening its terms of reference and perhaps making some changes of personnel.

I explained to Sir Alexander that we had felt at first that the best arrangement for dealing with European problems would be to have a council of four, including France; however, in view of the difficulties regarding French membership on the Reparation Commission we had come to feel it would be better to follow the model of the Security Council [of the United Nations], with its five members, since, moreover, [Page 296] the same five powers would later have to deal with Asiatic problems. Sir Alexander agreed that in view of the composition of the Security Council it was reasonable to include China in the Council of Foreign Ministers.

. . . . . . .

James Clement Dunn
  1. Printed from a carbon copy on which there is an uncertified typed signature.↩
  2. For other extracts from this memorandum, see documents Nos. 140, 218, 258, 319, 351, 379, 404, 470, 519, 635, 645, 678, and 708.↩
  3. Cadogan was accompanied by J. E. Coulson, Acting Head of the Economic Relations Department of the Foreign Office, and William Hayter, Secretary General of the British Delegation to the Berlin Conference. The following United States officials were present: Dunn; Assistant Secretary of State William L. Clayton; Harriman; Joseph E. Davies (for the last part of the meeting only); and Philip E. Mosely, Political Adviser to the United States Representative on the European Advisory Commission.↩