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

740.00119 Council/10–1145: Telegram

The Charge in the United Kingdom ( Gallman ) to the Secretary of State

London , October 11, 1945—5 p.m.
[Received 7:45 p.m.]

10623. From Dunn²⁴ Delsec²⁵ 125. On the subject of French proposals for the Ruhr and Rhineland I have today talked with Mr. Oliver Harvey, Undersecretary for European Affairs in the Foreign Office and Mr. Couve de Murville, French Deputy on the Council of Foreign Ministers. Mr. Harvey said the Foreign Office desired that conversations on this subject be conducted on a bilateral basis, Franco-British, Franco-American and Franco-Soviet. Mr. Couve de Murville will start immediately the Franco-British conversations with the Foreign Office here in London. Mr. de Murville says that their conversations with the Soviet Government will be conducted in Moscow when Mr. Alphand²⁶ goes there later this month or early in November. De Murville is recommending to his Foreign Office that it be suggested to the State Department through the French Embassy in Washington that conversations on the Ruhr be taken up in Paris with the American experts when they are there for the reparations meetings beginning the 22nd of this month. He says the economic aspects of the problem could be studied at that time and that the Department could perhaps arrange to have someone for the political aspects enter the conversations later or that if I am still here I might be made available for this purpose before I return to Washington.

Both Harvey and De Murville said that while, of course, they expected to have the Soviet Government brought into the conversations at a later stage they were anxious to have our three Governments go as far as we could toward coordinating our ideas before the others come in.

It seems to me that the above suggested plan probably is the best way to work this out as it avoids any question of some of the deputies discussing the matter here without including them all. Harvey and De Murville both said they would be glad to keep me informed of the progress of their talks if you thought it would be useful to do so.

You will very likely hear from the French Embassy on this subject along the above lines.

Gallman

24. Assistant Secretary of State James C. Dunn, who served as Deputy to the Secretary of State at the London Conference of Foreign Ministers, and remained in London some weeks after the session had terminated on October 2 in order to make arrangements for future meetings.
25. Communications indicator used on outgoing messages from the United States Delegation to the Council of Foreign Ministers.
26. Hervé Alphand, Director General of Economics, Financial and Technical Services, French Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and a member of the French Delegation to the Council of Foreign Ministers.