740.00119 Control (Austria)/l 1–2445
The Secretary of State to the Secretary of War (Patterson)
My Dear Mr. Secretary: As a consequence of the qualified recognition of the provisional Austrian government and the extension of its authority to the whole of Austria under the control of the Allied Council, I should like to recommend that steps be taken immediately to reduce the number of occupation troops of the four powers now stationed in Austria. In view of the information furnished to me by the War Department that the number of Soviet occupation troops is far in excess of the combined total of the American, British and French forces, I further recommend that agreement be sought among the four powers equalizing the forces of occupation in the several zones and limiting them to the minimum number required for garrison purposes and for the fulfillment of the policies of the Allied Council.
I consider that the reduction of the occupation forces would be beneficial to Austria from a political and economic point of view and would be consistent with the Moscow Declaration of 1943 and the various four power agreements which state that the occupation powers [Page 662] will seek “to open the way for the Austrian people themselves” to find the basis of national independence.
A reduction of forces has now been made possible by the creation of an Austrian nation-wide administrative system as provided for in the agreement on Control Machinery and in the directive issued to General Clark. Furthermore a substantial reduction in the occupation forces would remove a drain from Austrian resources as a whole and enable the Austrians to utilize their resources on a nation-wide basis for relief and economic rehabilitation.
After the forthcoming elections on November 25, 1945, in which a national government will be chosen by the Austrian people I anticipate that members of the Allied Council in Vienna will recommend to their respective Governments that the agreement on Control Machinery be modified to permit the transfer of a greater measure of authority to the Austrian government. I recommend, therefore, that the discussions on the reduction of the occupation forces take into account the possibility that the purely military character of Allied government in Austria may be changed and that the Allied Council may in time operate in a supervisory capacity over the policies and administration of the Austrian state until a four-power agreement liquidates all Allied controls and recognizes the Austrian state as possessing complete sovereignty.
If you approve this proposal I should be glad to communicate it to the other three governments through diplomatic channels in order that it may be discussed on an inter-governmental basis at the same time that it is proposed by the United States member of the Allied Council in Vienna.
Sincerely yours,