Office of the Historian

740.00119 Control (Germany)/1–2645: Telegram

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

Washington, January 26, 1945—2 p.m.

604. Department’s telegram 502, January 23, 1 p.m., giving approval of control machinery for Germany. We are fully in accord with an urgent suggestion made by the Secretaries of War and Navy that arrangements be made now to bring the control machinery agreement into operation and to activate the control council. Such an activation of the CC40 would be more formal and complete than the presently proposed nucleus groups and would constitute the Council immediately as a planning group ready to undertake operational responsibility when called upon to do so by the Governments.

We fear that if the CC is not presently activated and formalized on a tripartite or quadrilateral basis it would not be ready to start functioning for some time after occupation of Berlin and that it would thus be hard for it to organize itself and be ready to assume the position contemplated by the control machinery agreement.

In view of the foregoing considerations, we believe that it would be wise to put the control machinery into effect now and to build it [Page 177] up. Accordingly, unless you perceive any objections to such a course, we suggest that you propose in EAC that the Commission submit to the governments a recommendation for the immediate activation of the Control Council and that they designate the members of the Council and have those officials not already there proceed to London in order that the Council may commence to function.

Although you are, of course, free to take up this suggestion in whatever way you consider most efficacious, we think that it might be opportune to do so in connection with discussion of French participation in the CC.

The proposed activation of the Control Council does not contemplate any change in the jurisdiction of the EAC.

Grew
  1. Control Council↩