Office of the Historian

740.00119 Control (Austria)/7–245: Telegram

The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State

London, July 2, 1945—8 p.m.
[Received July 2—6:50 p.m.]

6661. Moscow’s 2367, July 2 to Dept; rptd London 337.78 Main zones Allied occupation Austria agreed provisionally in April. US zone includes Salzburg and upper Austria south of Danube. Signature Austrian zones agreement in EAC awaits decision re airfields Vienna for use US, UK, French occupation forces and control staffs located in Vienna. June 23 US proposed assign one airfield each of three forces. June 29 Soviet EAC representative made counteroffer two airfields; in today’s EAC meeting position re two versus three airfields remained unchanged. Final conclusion zones agreement now depends only on settlement this question. Until it is settled in EAC and final agreement approved by four Govts, Soviet Govt is technically justified in maintaining that there is no agreement on zones in Austria. Question of interim arrangement whereby Allied forces take up assigned zones [apparent omission] seems mainly military question of provisional arrangements pending official conclusion zones agreement. We believe EAC can conclude two agreements Austrian zones and Austrian control machinery during current week.

Sent Moscow 231 (secret for Harriman), rptd Dept 6661.

Winant

[An agreement between the Governments of the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the United Kingdom and the Provisional Government of the French Republic on control machinery in Austria was signed ad referendum at a meeting of the European Advisory Commission at London on July 4, 1945. [Page 154] Notification of approval by the respective signatories was given by their representatives on the Commission on the following dates: the United Kingdom, July 12; France, July 12; the Soviet Union, July 21; and the United States, July 24, 1945. For text of the agreement see Conference of Berlin (Potsdam), volume I, page 351. For documentation regarding the agreement on control machinery, see ibid., pages 347–356, and ibid., volume II, pages 668–685.]

  1. In this telegram, Ambassador Harriman reported that the Soviet commanders in Austria had refused to allow American troops to enter the proposed zones of occupation and requested urgent advice as to the status of the E.A.C. decisions regarding the occupation zones for Austria. For text of telegram, see Conference of Berlin (Potsdam), vol. i, p. 348 ↩