Office of the Historian

740.00119 EW/3–2345: Telegram

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

Washington, March 23, 1945—11 a.m.

2233. Canadian Ambassador99 has informally reiterated to the Department his dissatisfaction with a) the wording of the proposed [Page 203] preamble of Proclamation No. 11 which he was under the impression would be promulgated after the instrument of surrender had been signed by the Germans, and b) of the wording of the preamble of the order as it would read if no formal instrument of surrender were signed because of the disappearance of organized authority in Germany. The Ambassador states that the Canadian Government has tried without satisfaction to obtain changes in the form of the instrument of surrender or the draft proclamations based thereon but has been unable to secure amendments satisfactory to it. He finds, however, that the alternate wording in our proposed proclamation (WSC–243)2 goes beyond anything that has been submitted before in ignoring the participation of other countries in the war against Germany.

It is being explained to the Canadian Ambassador that the General Order was not intended as a proclamation but as an agreement on additional non-military requirements to be imposed by the occupying powers; and further, that a new draft is now being negotiated to replace the “General Order”.3 He is also being advised that, in accordance with standard procedure, his Government should present its views in London for the consideration of the Commission and that Ambassador Winant has been advised that such a démarche might be expected.

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The Department believes that the Minister’s views have some merit and considers that the agreement as eventually adopted should be as free as possible from any implication that the contribution of Canada and other nations fighting with the Allies had not been adequately recognized.

The Department is consulting the War and Navy Departments and will advise you of their views. In the meanwhile you may discuss the substance of the Canadian complaint informally with your colleagues.

Grew
  1. Lester B. Pearson↩
  2. Not printed. The revised United States Draft Proclamations and General Order were presented to the European Advisory Commission by the United States Representative under a memorandum designated E.A.C.(44)27, November 14, 1944, transmitted as an enclosure to London’s despatch 19456, November 24 (not printed). The preamble to Draft Proclamation No. 1 read as follows: “To The People Of Germany: The German Government and the German High Command have acknowledged the complete defeat of the German armed forces, on land, at sea and in the air, and have surrendered unconditionally to the Supreme Commands of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. [Alternate wording: Germany has been completely defeated on land, at sea and in the air by the armed forces of the Union of Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.]”↩
  3. WSC was the Working Security Committee designation for documentation on proclamations and general orders for Germany. This committee was an interdepartmental group concerned with the preparation and clearance of papers relating to problems before the European Advisory Commission whose functions were assumed by the State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee at the end of 1944. WSC–243 comprehended a number of drafts and commentaries, but the apparent reference here is to E.A.C. (44) 27 of November 14, 1944, described in the immediately preceding footnote↩
  4. For documentation regarding the General Order and the Agreement on Certain Additional Requirements to be Imposed on Germany, see pp. 369–558, passim, especially the memorandum by the Secretary of the United States Delegation, European Advisory Commission (Lightner), dated February 9, 1945, and printed as annex 2 to the Draft Minutes of a Conference on the Work of the European Advisory Commission, March 13, 1945, p. 447, and the memorandum by the Political Adviser to the United States E.A.C. Delegation (Mosely), dated June 19, 1945, p. 524. See also Foreign Relations, The Conference of Berlin (The Potsdam Conference), 1945, vol. i, pp. 605–606; ibid., vol. ii, pp. 138, 407, 1006–1023. For text of the Agreement on Certain Additional Requirements, signed on July 25, 1945, at a meeting of the European Advisory Commission at London, see ibid., p. 1008 ↩