740.00119 Control (Germany)/7–2446
The Secretary of State to the French Ambassador (Bonnet)
Excellency: I have the honor to refer to certain policies pursued by the French Government in its zone of occupation in Germany, which have aroused the concern of the United States Government.
Pursuant to the original arrangement made for the quadripartite control of Germany the United States Government has persistently sought international agreement on all matters relating to Germany. It vigorously sought, and in many cases obtained, agreements on the amount of industry to be retained by Germany; the sequestration of [Page 583] German assets abroad; the distribution of German reparations; the conditions governing restitution of looted property; the exportation of coal from Germany; the liquidation of German cartels and combines etc. In all these and other questions the United States has endeavored to obtain common policies applicable to Germany as a whole. Its efforts have been prompted solely by a desire to maintain quadripartite unity in Germany and to carry out, under agreed procedures, effective measures for the economic and military disarmament of Germany and for a substantial contribution by Germany as a whole to the economic recovery and security of the nations who were victims of Nazi aggression.
The United States Government notes with regret that the French Government appears in many cases to be following policies contrary to those of the United States and to agreed Allied objectives with respect to Germany.
The United States Government, for example, is informed that officials of the French Government have removed large quantities of industrial equipment, stocks of materials and foodstuffs from their zone of Germany, apparently at variance with Allied agreements on the level of industry to be retained in post-war Germany, and with the Final Act of the Conference of Paris on reparations.46 The military authorities of the United States in Germany called to the attention of their Government the widespread removals of industrial equipment and other goods from areas of Germany originally conquered and occupied by French troops and later turned over to United States administration. Recently our military authorities have brought to the attention of this Government removals of equipment from industrial plants in the French zone of Germany which had not been declared available for reparations under the level-of-industry agreement of the Allied Control Council but on the contrary were to be retained in Germany by the terms of that agreement.
The United States is further informed that the French Government has adopted a policy of incorporating within the French economy certain sectors of the German economy which France holds directly in trust; and that France has sought to gain commercial advantage from her position as an Occupying Power, even to the extent to [of] seeking to inherit the German position in certain international cartels. This appears to be in contradiction to the principles of commercial policy jointly enunciated by the French and United States Governments in the agreement of May 28, 1946.47
[Page 584]Among the actions of these types which have come to the attention of the United States Government are the following:
- 1.
- The marketing of German chemicals through French chemical companies, together with various restrictive special arrangements tending to integrate the German chemical industry in the French Zone of Occupation with that of France.
- 2.
- The refusal to pool German Rhine barges in the French Zone of Occupation with those of the other Western Zones of Occupation, and, on the contrary, the operation of these barges, together with French barges on the Rhine, by a wholly French company.
- 3.
- The operation of the German railways in the French Zone of Occupation directly by a French company after integration with the French railways; the repainting and renumbering of German railway wagons sent into France in the course of normal transport operations; the destruction and removal of railway lines in the French Zone of Occupation which endanger the efficiency of European transport.
- 4.
- The marketing of German wines and liquors by and possibly for the benefit of citizens of France in Alsace.
- 5.
- The unique refusal of the French representative in the Emergency Economic Committee for Europe to regard timber produced in the French Zone of Germany as part of the general availability for Europe.
These actions by the French authorities lead the American Government to conclude that the French Government is adopting a policy of unilateral exploitation of the economic resources of Germany. This exploitation not only disregards the agreed principle to receive reparations through orderly procedures, agreed upon among the Allies, but is also at the expense of other occupying powers who are thereby compelled to increase their already large outlay for the purpose of sustaining a minimum necessary economy in Germany.
The United States Government appreciates fully the vigorous and gallant efforts of the French Government and people to achieve economic revival and reconstruction in the period since the close of the European war; and it has sought to aid and support that effort. The United States Government is convinced, however, that it is contrary to the common Allied interest which France fully shares that the process of recovery be carried on at variance with agreed principles. The United States Government therefore, requests urgently definite assurances from the Government of France that the above mentioned policies now being pursued in the French Zone of Occupation will promptly be replaced with actions consonant with our agreed objectives.
Accept [etc.]
- For text, see Department of State, Treaties and Other International Acts Series No. 1655, or 61 Stat. (pt. 3) 3157; for documentation on this Conference, see Foreign Relations, 1945, vol. iii, pp. 1357–1506, passim.↩
- For text, see Department of State, Treaties and Other International Acts Series No. 1928, or 61 Stat. (pt. 4) 4175; for related documentation, see ante, pp. 399 ff.↩