740.00119 (Potsdam)/7–3145

No. 1396
The Ambassador in France (Caffery) to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs (Bidault)

secret
No. 669

Excellency: Acting under instructions from my Government, I have the honor to transmit a communication on behalf of my Government to the Government of France relating to political principles which the Government of the United States considers should govern the treatment of Germany in the initial control period. It is the earnest wish of my Government that the Government of France will be able to associate itself with these principles.

Your Excellency will note that my Government will be grateful if the Government of France would treat the present communication as strictly secret until such time as an official statement is issued by the Conference.

I avail myself [etc.]

Jefferson Caffery
[Enclosure]

The Governments of the United Kingdom, the United States and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics have agreed upon the following political principles which they consider should govern the treatment of Germany in the initial control period. It is their intention to communicate the text of these principles to the Commanders-in-Chief of their respective forces of occupation in Germany1 after the conclusion [Page 1545] of the present Conference and to instruct them to be guided by these principles in their action in their respective zones of occupation, and to concert with their colleagues on the Control Council in working out the application of these principles in such a way as to ensure the appropriate uniformity of action in zones of occupation.

It is the earnest wish of the three Governments that the Provisional Government of the French Republic will be able to associate itself with these principles and to send similar instructions after the conclusion of the Conference to the Commander-in-Chief of the French Forces of Occupation.2

The three Governments would be grateful if the French Provisional Government would treat the present communication as strictly secret until such a time as an official statement is issued by the Conference.

Agreement on Political Principles To Govern the Treatment of Germany in the Initial Control Period

[Here follows, with minor variations, the text of document No. 1383, section II, paragraphs 1–10.]

  1. Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov.
  2. General Joseph-Pierre Koenig.