Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1945, European Advisory Commission, Austria, Germany, Volume III

740.00119 EAC/4–1545: Telegram

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

Washington, April 18, 1945—6 p.m.

3018. In view of the prospect that nearly all of Germany will be under Allied occupation at the time of issuance of proposed proclamation, we question whether an adaptation of the surrender instrument lends itself to use as an initial proclamation.

Since many matters included in the surrender instrument will already have been regulated by SHAEF military government ordinances, issuance of the whole surrender instrument in a proclamation may cause confusion. The instrument appears much too long to be effective as a proclamation, especially if promulgated simultaneously in three or four languages.

The Department and the War Department would prefer the issuance of a brief declaration of the general character of Proclamation No. One [EAC(44)27].⁴⁵ This declaration should contain:

(1) A statement of Germany’s complete defeat and the imposition of the requirements of unconditional surrender;

(2) The assumption of supreme authority by the four Allied Powers;

(3) The establishment of the Control Council and the delineation of zonal responsibility (this article might be postponed for later proclamations if it is not feasible to establish the Control Council at the time);

(4) An injunction to the Germans to comply with Allied orders, with warning of severe punishment for non-compliance;

(5) Notice that further resistance to the forces of the United Nations will be considered unlawful and dealt with accordingly.

Agreement in the European Advisory Commission on such a proclamation should be based on the understanding by the four governments that the policies and procedures envisaged in the surrender instrument would be put into effect by the generals commanding the forces of the four Occupying Powers. In the opinion of the Department this method of implementing the provisions of the surrender instrument would signify no deviation from the policy of unconditional surrender.

The Department, however, does not wish unnecessarily to complicate your problem of reaching an understanding with your colleagues on the EAC, and if, in your judgment, it is desirable to proceed on the basis of changing the surrender instrument into a proclamation, this Government would accept the formulation reported in your 3864, April 15, 11 p.m.

Stettinius

45. Brackets appear in the original. The United States draft proclamations and general orders for Germany which were circulated in the European Advisory Commission by the Acting U.S. Representative (Mosely) as E.A.C. (44) 27, dated November 14, 1944, not printed.