Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, Council of Foreign Ministers; Germany and Austria, Volume II

740.00119 Control (Germany)/1–647

The Political Adviser for Germany ( Murphy ) to the Secretary of State

restricted
No. 8336

Berlin , January 6, 1947.

Sir: With the thought that a study of the Allied control machinery for Germany may be of interest at this juncture and may be of particular assistance to officers newly assigned to Germany, I have the honor to present a survey which deals with the bases on which the Allied occupation of Germany was established and which explains the structure and methods of operation of the quadripartite Allied Control Authority.

[Here follows the concluding portion of the introduction and a review, comprising 11 pages in the source text, of the negotiations in the European Advisory Commission in 1944 and 1945 regarding the control machinery for Germany as well as of the juridical basis of Allied control. For documentation on the participation of the United States in the work of the European Advisory Commission, see Foreign Relations, 1944, volume I, pages 434 ff., and ibid., 1945, volume III, pages 1 ff.]

The Allied Control Authority

In their covering report transmitting to their governments the Agreement on Control Machinery² the EAC representatives recommended that the initial period during which the control machinery was designed to operate, when Germany was to carry out the basic requirements of unconditional surrender, should be made as short as possible and be succeeded by a second phase to be decided by the governments. The EAC representatives also mentioned they had proceeded on the assumption that there would be a central German administration through which the Allied Control organs would work, although they envisaged that their plan could be adjusted to meet other conditions. So far neither of these contingencies has occurred. In September 1945 the French disapproved a plan to establish German central agencies and have maintained their opposition ever since, while to date the governments have taken no steps to modify or replace the present control regime for Germany.

Sitting as the Allied Representatives rather than as the Control Council, the four Commanders-in-Chief held their first meeting in Berlin on 5 June 1945³ at which time, it will be recalled, they signed the Declaration on the Defeat of Germany and the Assumption of supreme authority.⁴ The Control Council as such was not set up until the concluding days of the Potsdam Conference and first convened on 30 July 1945.⁵ The Potsdam declaration⁶ reaffirmed the basic Article I of the Agreement on Control Machinery which provided that “Supreme authority in Germany will be exercised, on instructions from their respective Governments, by the Commanders-in-Chief of the armed forces of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the French Republic, each in his own zone of occupation, and also jointly, in matters affecting Germany as a whole, in their capacity as members of the supreme organ of control constituted under the present Agreement.”

The sum total of the quadripartite Allied administration, called the Allied Control Authority (ACA) consists of four echelons, namely, the Control Council of the four Commanders-in-Chief at the top; their deputies comprising the Coordinating Committee; the 10 Directorates in charge of specific fields of military government; and the Secretariat and subsidiary organs of control. Decisions taken by all bodies of the ACA must be by unanimous vote (cf., the practice of the League of Nations Council that decisions respecting the Saar could be adopted by a majority vote). Throughout all echelons of the ACA chairman ship rotates each month between the various national elements.

the control council

In matters affecting Germany as a whole the Control Council is the sovereign body which exercises the supreme authority of the four Allies, “including all the powers possessed by the German government.”

As defined by the Agreement on Control Machinery the functions of the Control Council are: (i) to ensure appropriate uniformity of action by the Commanders-in-Chief in their respective zones of occupation; (ii) to initiate plans and reach agreed decisions on the chief military, political, economic and other questions affecting Germany as a whole, on the basis of instructions received by each Commander-in-Chief from his Government; (iii) to control the German central administration, which will operate under the direction of the Control Council and will be responsible to it for ensuring compliance with its demands; (iv) to direct the administration of “Greater Berlin” through appropriate organs.

It is stipulated that the Control Council will meet at least every ten days and meetings are customarily held on the 10th, 20th and 30th of every month. While the Control Council may convene more frequently if occasion requires, the only extraordinary sessions called so far were those which dealt with the appeals of the war criminals condemned by the Nuremberg Tribunal. Thus it has resulted in effect that the Control Council is removed from the ordinary business of administering Germany or the work of the lower echelons. Generally speaking, only important issues upon which there has been disagreement find their way up to the Control Council. Several meetings have taken place at which no questions were presented for discussion. Point (iii) of the prescribed functions relating to the control of central agencies remains a dead letter, and in view of the lack of progress hitherto made in unifying Germany, the work of the Control Council has been so limited in scope as to occasion a suggestion from the French Commander that only bi-monthly meetings be held. The Control Council however has abided by its schedule and tri-monthly meetings taken place if only for the salutary contact they offer between the four commanders.

As the supreme Allied authority, the Control Council signs all laws and proclamations which are to take effect throughout Germany in its name.

the coordinating committee

The permanent Coordinating Committee, whose delegates must be of General rank or its equivalent, is the next highest echelon and is charged with performing the following duties, acting on behalf of the Control Council and through the Control Staff: (i) the carrying out of the decisions of the Control Council; (ii) the day-to-day supervision and control of the activities of the German central administration and institutions; (iii) the coordination of current problems which call for uniform measures in all three zones; (iv) the preliminary examination and preparation for the Control Council of all questions submitted by individual Commanders-in-Chief.

The frequency and time of meetings of the Coordinating Committee were not specified in the basic agreement but its present practice is to meet four days before and two days after each meeting of the Control Council so that it may prepare the latter’s work and later execute its decisions. During the first days of the inauguration of control when many fundamental steps had to be urgently taken, the Coordinating Committee held frequent meetings and it has done likewise when dealing with difficult problems such as reparations and the level of German industry. By virtue of its direct and permanent association with the affairs of the ACA in Berlin the Coordinating Committee has become the higher level working organ which resolves or attempts to resolve the problems of quadripartite administration and is in effective charge of the everyday operation of the machinery in Berlin. It assigns tasks to the Directorates, passes upon their decisions and deals with the questions on which agreement has not been reached. It is furthermore the body to which the Allied Kommandatura in Berlin is directly responsible.

In the absence of a German Central Administration or institutions mentioned in Point (ii) above, and with the standstill in quadripartite government resulting from the lack of German unity, the Coordinating Committee has recently been concerned with far fewer problems of basic national importance. Since it has been found that some Commanders in the Control Council merely maintain the position of their representatives on the Coordinating Committee and leave small room for negotiation, papers on which no agreement is reached in the latter body are frequently withdrawn since reference to Control Council would serve little useful purpose. The same inflexibility of action by certain delegations runs down through the various Directorates; although changes in a taken position only infrequently occur, the Coordinating Committee is nevertheless obliged to attempt to resolve differences in the lower echelons of control.

advisers

The Agreement on Control Machinery provides that each member of the Control Council will be assisted by a Political Adviser, who may attend meetings, as well as by Naval or Air Advisers if necessary. This provision was proposed in the EAC by the British delegation who indicated clearly that they desired representation of the civilian element of their government. Early British proposals furthermore contained the suggestion that the term of the military Control Council be limited with a view to later replacement by a civilian High Commission.

All four of the present Political Advisers have the personal rank of Ambassador and their special position in each national delegation is signified by the fact that other Foreign Office officials are designated to serve as members of the subordinate Political Directorate.

the directorates

The Control Staff or Directorates were originally envisaged as the Allied counterparts of the German governmental departments they were to supervise. At present they perform certain duties which would normally devolve upon such departments and they also serve in an advisory capacity to the Coordinating Committee when required. Several of the Directorates have numerous committees, subcommittees and “working parties”, the latter being a kind of informal group assigned to report on special problems. The Agreement on Control Machinery provided for twelve Directorates (or Divisions as they were then called), but as of 1 January 1947 the Military, Air and Naval Directorates have been brought together in a Combined Services Directorate. Enumerated briefly below are the functions and committees of the various Directorates.

The Combined Services Directorate concerns itself with the disbandment and disarmament of all branches of the German Wehrmacht, disposition of their arms, ammunition, equipment, etc. As the successor of the former Air Directorate it is also responsible for military and civilian air traffic in relation to Germany as a whole. Committees:

• Air Intelligence Committee
• Air Committee on Meteorology
• Aviation Committee
• Air Committee on Disposal of War Material
• Naval Steering Committee
• German Hydrographic Institute

The Political Directorate has a dual function in that it is charged with the handling of political matters and also acts as point of contact between the ACA and countries not represented by military missions in Berlin. Diplomatic correspondence with these nations is transmitted by the Chairman member through his Foreign Office and its missions abroad. Since information control has many political aspects, this field nominally comes under the Directorate. Committees:

Information Control

The Transport Directorate deals with questions involving motor, rail and water transportation, including inland waterway transport. Committees:

• Railways Committee
• Tariff Sub-Committee
• Mechanics Sub-Committee
• Highways Committee
• Coastal Shipping Committee
• Inland Waterways Committee
• Ports Committee

The Economic Directorate is the largest and covers the broadest field of activity. Such matters as the level of industry plan, price control and control of scientific research fall within its sphere. Its wide area of competence may be judged from the following list of committees:

• Industry Committee
  • Chemical Sub-Committee
  • Building Industries Sub-Comm.
  • Machinery & Optics Sub-Comm.
  • Metals Sub-Committee
  • Textiles & Consumer Goods Sub-Committee
• Fuel Committee
  • Gas & Electricity Sub-Comm.
  • Oil Sub-Committee
  • Coal Sub-Committee
• Food and Agriculture Committee
  • Forestry Sub-Committee
  • Veterinary Sub-Committee
  • Research & Education Sub-Committee
• Committee for Liquidation of German War Potential
• Trade and Commerce Committee
  • Export Import Sub-Committee
  • Price Control Sub-Committee
  • Interzonal Trade Sub-Committee
• Committee on Central German Administrative Agencies
• I. G. Farben Control Committee

The Finance Directorate is generally responsible for banking, fiscal, currency and price control policy. Committees:

• Banking Committee
• Property Control Committee
• Committee for Balancing of Foreign Accounts
• Committee for Financing Reparations Costs
• Currency and Printing Committee
• Public Finance Committee
• Committee on Financing Occupation Costs
• Price Policy Committee
• Joint Finance Transport Committee
• Taxation Committee
• Committee on Financial Regulations

The Reparations, Deliveries and Restitution Directorate performs the functions indicated in its title. It works closely with the Economic Directorate, the latter having the responsibility for determining the plants to be declared available for reparations. When availability has been determined, the RD & R Directorate proceeds with the evaluation of the individual plants and notification of their availability to the various claimant nations. Following the allocation of plants as between the western powers and the Soviet Union, the Directorate establishes procedures for the dismantling and delivery of the allocated plants. The Directorate has a similar competence with respect to the restitution of property removed from countries occupied by Germany. Owing to the failure of the ACA to achieve the economic unity of Germany, the US in May 1946 placed a ban upon further dismantling and deliveries of reparations plants except those included in the earlier plan for advanced delivery and except for general purpose equipment in German war plants. Committees:

• Restitution Procedures Committee
• Reparations, Procedure and Valuations Committee

The Internal Affairs and Communications Directorate deals with civil administration, public safety, public health and welfare and the organization and operation of the communications system within the four zones, including the postal services. Committees:

• Allied Communications and Posts Committee
  • Communications Sub-Committee
  • Organization and Finance Sub-Committee
  • Postal Sub-Committee
• Intelligence Committee
  • Censorship Sub-Committee
• Allied Welfare Committee
• Health Committee
• Civil Administration Committee
  • Governmental Structure Sub-Com.
  • Joint Committee with Legal Directorate on Rights of Citizenship of German Expellees from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Austria
• Allied Public Safety Committee
  • Nazi Arrest and Denazification Sub-Committee
• Allied Religious Affairs Committee
• Allied Education Committee
  • Sub-Committee on Museums

The Legal Directorate has the responsibility of supervising the German legal structure. It also drafts in appropriate legal form the legislative enactments of the Control Council and the Coordinating Committee. One of its primary duties has been the denazification of the legal code. It also advises the ACA on policy relating to war crimes. Committees:

• Committee on Reform of German Law
• Legislative Drafting Committee
• Industrial Property Committee
• Juvenile Delinquency Committee
• CROWCASS
• Committee for the Revision of the Criminal Code

The Manpower Directorate is analagous to a cabinet office for labor. Matters affecting trade union organization, employment, unemployment insurance, work codes and general wage policy fall within its competence. Committees:

• Labor Supply Committee
• Social Insurance Committee
• Trade Unions and Labor Law Committee
• Wages and Labor Standards Committee
• Housing Committee

The Prisoner of War and Displaced Persons Directorate is the last of the ten. Insofar as prisoners of war are concerned its responsibility is generally limited to coordinating the movement of discharged prisoners between the zones. It advises the ACA on matters affecting the return to their native countries of Allied displaced persons formerly brought to Germany for labor by the Nazi regime. It is also concerned with the transfer to Germany of the German populations expelled from Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland, as well as with the groups of obnoxious Germans sent back to Germany from other countries. In caring for Allied displaced persons it works closely with UNRRA and other similar organizations. Committees:

• Combined Policy Tracing Board
• Combined Repatriation Executive

The German External Property Commission has been performing some of the functions of a Directorate although it was not envisaged in the original Agreement on Control Machinery. Control Council Law No. 5 provided for the vesting and marshalling of German external assets and set up the German External Property Commission as the quadripartite body in which would be vested title to such property. In practice this arrangement has proved far from ideal and may eventually be liquidated.

the allied secretariat

A quadripartite Secretariat composed of personnel designated and paid by each of the four control powers performs the necessary secretarial duties such as keeping central files, providing interpreting and translating services and preparing documents for the various echelons of the Control Authority. In each control body and Directorate the duty secretary for the month writes the first draft of the minutes and the pertinent papers. The acts of the Secretariat are subject to the unanimity rule and its members are not international public servants as in the case of the League of Nations and the UN.

The Secretariat has two special departments: a Liaison and Protocol Section, which deals with Foreign missions, and an Administrative Section which operates the ACA building made available by the US in its sector. The US element, which is slightly larger than the other national Secretariat groups, numbers some 45 military and civilian personnel.

allied missions and organizations

It is stipulated in the Declaration of 5 June 1945 on the Defeat of Germany that the four occupying powers shall act in Germany “in the interests of the United Nations.” The Agreement on Control Machinery provides that the necessary liaison with the governments of other United Nations “chiefly interested” will be carried out by military missions (which may include civilians) accredited by these governments to the Control Council. The Control Council agreed to receive missions from the following 16 countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Greece, India, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa and Yugoslavia. New Zealand has not yet set up its mission in Berlin.⁷

It has been emphasized, particularly by the Soviets, that these missions are of a military and not a diplomatic character. Each is headed by an officer with high military rank. Certain nations, however, have designated Foreign Office officials as head of their missions to whom they have given military rank. Precedence is based on seniority of accreditation and arrival in Berlin and the missions have chosen one of their number dean. The Allied Liaison and Protocol Section of the Secretariat is nominally the official point of contact and is charged with keeping them informed of the activities of the ACA. Mainly as a result of Soviet insistence, documents and information regarding current discussions are at present withheld from the missions, many of which have recently been pressing for an improvement in their status.

The military missions concern themselves chiefly with matters that would normally be handled by diplomatic agencies but under present conditions they have found it difficult to accord what they consider adequate protection to their respective countries’ nationals and interests throughout Germany. Certain Zone Commanders, including the U.S., have attached to their headquarters separate missions from Allied nations which handle such special questions as repatriation, restitution, etc.

The Agreement on Control Machinery provides that United Nations organizations may be admitted to operate in Germany but shall be subordinate and answerable to the Allied Control Authority. Several such organizations as UNRRA and ECITO at present have representatives in Berlin.

liaison and movement between the zones

It is stipulated in the Agreement on Control Machinery that each Commander-in-Chief in his zone will have attached to him military, naval and air representatives of the other Commanders-in-Chief for liaison duties. At the present writing the U.S. and Soviet Commanders are only just now negotiating for the reciprocal establishment of liaison missions at Potsdam and Frankfurt respectively. Owing to Soviet refusal to permit foreign consuls in their zone, consulates have not been set up throughout Germany, although the US, UK and France receive Consuls one from the other in several cities in each of their zones. At present there are British and French Consuls in Frankfurt and Munich and the US has Consular establishments in Bremen, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Baden Baden. All four powers have Consulates in Berlin. In view of the services of protection rendered US interests by the Swiss during the war, Swiss Consulates are permitted in Frankfurt and Munich, and the US has moreover agreed to the opening of Consulates by the UK, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland in Bremen. The possibility of authorizing additional consulates is under consideration.

In general there are restrictions on all types of inter-zonal movement. Germans in one zone who have business to perform in another are cleared by a system of passes operated by an Inter-zonal Facilities Board in the Administrative Section of the Allied Secretariat. Since the merger of the US and British Zones, Germans may freely travel from one to the other. Entry into the western zones from abroad is decided by a US, British and French Combined Travel Board in Berlin on the basis of applications filed with appropriate agencies of the three nations in their own and other countries. The Soviets determine entry into their zone on a unilateral basis.

Each of the Zone Commanders is responsible for his national personnel as well as for the personnel of other countries attached to his forces (UNRRA, special missions, etc.). Personnel assigned to one Zone Commander who are found to be in another zone without authorization are considered to be delinquent and an informal agreement has been elaborated between the Zone Commanders whereby such persons are returned to the Zone Commander having authority over them.

The Government and Control of Berlin

The Inter-Allied Governing Authority for Berlin provided for in the Agreement on Control Machinery and called the Kommandatura (as a result of combining German and Russian terminology) is organized along lines roughly parallel to those of the Allied Control Authority. The four Commandants of the US, British, French and Soviet troops garrisoning Berlin sit at the head of the Kommandatura. The Committee of Deputy Commandants, who are in charge of Military Government of the four Allied Sectors, serve in the capacity of Coordinating Committee. The Commandants’ Chiefs-of-Staff perform secretarial duties analogous to those of the Allied Secretariat of the ACA. Vis-à-vis the City government of Berlin, the following committees exercise functions similar to those planned for the Directorates of the ACA: Building and Housing; Cultural Affairs; Education and Religion; Electricity; Finance; Food; Fuel; Labor; Legal; Local Government; Monuments and Fine Arts; Personnel and Denazification; Property Control; Public Health; Public Safety; Posts and Telephone; Public Utilities; Trade and Industry; Transportation; and Welfare and Refugees.

As is well known the city of Berlin is a virtual international island in the Soviet zone and access to it from the western zones is governed by a limited number of air, train, and road corridors through the Soviet zone. Inside the city, however, there is freedom of movement between the various sectors. The area of international occupation and control corresponds to the city of “Greater Berlin”, as defined by municipal decree of 27 March 1938, which comprises 20 administrative districts (Verwaltungsbezirke), 8 of which are in the Soviet Sector, 6 in the US, 4 in the British and 2 in the French Sector. Each administrative district has a local mayor while the central city government is in the hands of the Magistrate By the terms of the new Provisional Constitution of 1946 under which the city at present operates, the Magistrat consists of a chief mayor, 3 mayors, and a maximum of 16 additional members who head the central city administrative departments. The first post-surrender Magistrat was Soviet appointed. As a result of municipal elections held October 20, 1946, a new Magistrat, chosen by the City Assembly, has taken office.

The city government of Berlin is an operating concern and the Kommandatura performs in miniature what the Control Council was originally intended to do for the whole of Germany. All the work of actual administration is undertaken by the Germans and the Kommandatura’s functions are primarily those of control and direction. At the same time agreements are not always easy to reach in the Kommandatura and many of the problems handled by that body foreshadow those that will be met if all of Germany is administered and controlled on a uniform basis. One of the chief points at issue in the Kommandatura has been Soviet support of the Communist-dominated Socialist Unity Party (SED), and their reluctance to permit freedom of action to German agencies not under SED control. In general the delegations of the Western Powers, and particularly the US, have favored returning responsibility to German elected bodies as soon as possible and to as great a measure as is consistent with Allied objectives.

The US Office of Military Government

Although this report is concerned chiefly with the quadripartite administration of Germany, a brief description of one of the national elements, the Office of Military Government US (OMGUS) may assist in understanding the operation of the ACA as a whole.

OMGUS in Berlin is the central office from which Military Government in the US Zone is directed and comprises at the same time the US delegations and groups on the various bodies of the ACA. The French on the other hand run their zone from their military headquarters at Baden Baden and maintain in Berlin a smaller office which is, so to speak, their negotiating group in the ACA. The British are adopting the US pattern of unified control and negotiation, and this is also believed to be the system employed by the Soviets for whom, however, the problem of operating their zone from Berlin is considerably simpler.

OMGUS is an anomaly of US military organization since it corresponds to none of the general staff departments of US military practice but is patterned roughly after the organization of the ACA, although certain adjustments have been made to meet special requirements including those of the zonal administration. The US Commander-in-Chief, who is US representative on the Control Council, is also US Military Governor. The Deputy Military Governor is the US member of the Coordinating Committee and head of OMGUS which is separate from US Forces Theater Headquarters at Frankfurt (USFET), although the latter has a small conventional staff division in G–5 which serves as liaison and also handles special military government problems such as displaced persons.

An organization chart of OMGUS is enclosed for reference.^* The special advisers occupy the same position they hold in the ACA, and generally speaking the heads of OMGUS Divisions serve as the US members on ACA Directorates. Since Political Affairs is not regarded as an “operating” division, it is given a special status as a staff office, together with Information Control. Although an integral part of the OMGUS, military organization, the State Department Mission, which comprises the Office of Political Affairs is under the immediate jurisdiction of the Political Adviser. The head of the Office of Political Affairs is US member on the Political Directorate. In the ACA there is no Directorate of Information Control, but for this field there is a quadripartite group which is nominally a committee of the Political Directorate.

When policy on a particular question originates in Washington, it is referred to the appropriate Division in OMGUS. The Divisions themselves play a certain role in initiating policy and are responsible for coordination between each other as well as in certain cases with the US Military Government Coordinating Office established to supervise the work of the German three Laender council at Stuttgart. At weekly staff conferences with the heads of the Divisions, the Deputy Military Governor personally reviews the whole field of current activity and determines the course of action. As a member of the Coordinating Committee which passes on the work of the ACA Directorates, he is obliged to keep himself informed regarding the evolution of policy at each stage and the US position in respect thereto.

Military Government Legislation

The history of the occupation is reflected to some extent in the development of Allied legislation.

As the Soviets fought their way into Germany from the East and the SHAEF forces from the West, they set up their own separate military government laws and regulations. Since the US, British and French armies were under combined command, uniform military government legislation prevailed in their areas of control. Shortly after the SHAEF forces had first set foot in Germany in September 1944, General Eisenhower issued his Proclamation No. 1 assuming supreme legislative, judicial and executive authority. SHAEF Law No. 1 abrogated Nazi legislation and SHAEF Ordinance No. 1 defined crimes and offenses against the occupation. In all some 15 laws and four ordinances were issued by SHAEF which likewise promulgated a certain number of formal notices to the German populace.

The combined SHAEF command formally came to an end with the promulgation on 14 July 1945 of Proclamation No. 1 by General Eisenhower who announced, in his new capacity as US Zone Commander, that all previous SHAEF legislation would remain in effect unless modified by him. In issuing new laws and ordinances, USFET, General Eisenhower’s new command, continued with the SHAEF number series.

Proclamation No. 1 of the Control Council dated 30 August 1945 announcing assumption by the Control Council of supreme authority in matters “affecting Germany as a whole”, provided that all military laws, proclamations, etc. previously issued by the respective Commanders-in-Chief for their respective zones should continue in force.⁸ (At one of its early meetings in July 1945 the Kommandatura, the first quadripartite body to sit in Berlin, had already decided to retain in force the earlier regulations of the Soviet military administration in Berlin.) It will be recalled that Control Council Proclamation No. 2 set forth the additional terms to be imposed on Germany.⁹ Control Council Law No. 1 abrogated Nazi legislation on a Germany-wide basis, and thereafter followed the Control Council series of laws and ordinances.

The Control Council decided on 20 September 1945 that its acts would be executed in one of the following forms:

• a. Proclamations: to be issued to announce matters or acts of special importance to the occupying powers or to the German people, or to both.
• b. Laws: to be enacted on matters of general application, unless expressly provided otherwise.
• c. Orders: to be issued in other cases when the Control Council has requirements to impose on Germany and when laws are not used.
• d. Directives: to be issued to communicate policy or administrative decisions of the Control Council.
• e. Instructions: to be issued in cases when the Control Council wishes to impose requirements direct upon a particular authority.

In all, the Control Authority has issued 43 laws, 4 orders, and 45 directives to date. Its prescriptions are theoretically paramount throughout Germany but in view of the powers of the respective zone commanders and since there exists no form of quadripartite inspection or examination, the extent to which ACA legislation is carried out in certain zones cannot always be definitely established.

It might be held that during the period of quadripartite control the ACA has not achieved a very full legislative record, but two factors must be borne in mind. The first is that apart from the abrogation of obnoxious Nazi statutes the main body of German law still continues in effect. Another consideration stressed in a recent meeting of the Coordinating Committee is that the Germans should bear primary responsibility for legislating on matters affecting themselves and that the Control Authority should limit itself to legislative matters relating directly to the occupation. In the absence of political and economic unity, disparities both in German and military government enactments have grown up between the zones. With a view to achieving some form of coordination a directive was issued on 20 September 1945 that the national delegations of the Legal Directorate should furnish currently to the Allied Secretariat information regarding military government regulations in their respective zones as well as data on the types, competence and procedure of the German courts.

In the present report references have been made to many basic statutes and laws which it would be impraticable to enclose. A compilation of the important documents can be readily found, however, in Title 23 of the US Military Government Regulations headed “Military Government Legislation”.

Concluding Comments

A word of comment may be useful by way of summary. That the present quadripartite administration of Germany has been a failure from the US standpoint is almost universally acknowledged. The machinery has been called upon to perform labors inconsistent with its original purposes. It was always intended, at least by the US and British, that the Allies should direct and control Germany. It was never envisaged that they should govern, and the present system has proved unequal to this unforeseen task.

The consequences of the failure to establish German governmental or central agencies are too well known to require rehearsal. A corollary deficiency is the inability of the present Allied machinery to develop. The more recalcitrant parties in the ACA have constantly maintained that with respect to Germany as a whole, only those agreements approved by the four governments are valid. Taken by and large these prescriptions are extremely meager as compared with the magnitude of the problems of Germany. Essentially they are: (a) the Declaration of 5 June 1945 on the Defeat of Germany and Assumption of Supreme Authority; (b) the EAC Agreement on Control Machinery; (c) the additional terms to be imposed on Germany promulgated in Control Council Proclamation No. 2; and (d) the Potsdam Agreement. The swift passage of events has already rendered many of these dispositions obsolescent. Attempts to move a step forward or away from the inadequacies of past decisions have been frustrated by the adherence of the more recalcitrant parties to the letter of the written statutes which they claim can only be amended by agreement of all the governments.

It is of course well known that even these agreements have not been honored by certain parties who have perverted to their own use the autonomy reserved to the zonal administrations. Under these conditions the Allied Control Authority has become a moribund organism incapable of withstanding the virus of Allied dissension. A living German organism, or democratic identity resistant to particular outside interests, has not evolved but in certain instances is in danger of degenerating into regional cell-clusters of forced growth. In other cases the zone commanders have exercised their supreme authority with restraint and a transitional advance to hoped-for unity has been achieved in the fusion of the US and British zones. Nevertheless, taking Germany as a whole, separate regimes have arisen which daily become more hardened by usage and established interest and which will be all the more difficult to absorb into a responsible and viable entity. Such is the history of the “first period” of Allied control.

Respectfully yours,

Robert Murphy

2. For the text of the Agreement on Control Machinery for Germany, signed at London, November 14, 1944, and amended by a further agreement signed at London, May 1, 1945, see Treaties and Other International Acts Series 3070; United States Treaties and Other International Agreements, vol. 5, pt. 2, p. 2062. For the Report of the European Advisory Commission regarding the agreement, see Foreign Relations, 1944, vol. i, pp. 404–406.
3. For a report on the meeting under reference here, see telegram FWD 23724, June 6, 1945, from General Eisenhower to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Foreign Relations, 1945, vol. iii, p. 328.
4. For the text of the Declaration under reference, see Treaties and Other International Acts Series No. 1520, or 60 Stat. 1649.
5. For a report on the 1st meeting of the Control Council, see telegram 234, July 30, 1945, from Frankfurt, Foreign Relations, 1945, vol. iii, p. 820.
6. The reference is to the Agreement on the Political and Economic Principles to Govern the Treatment of Germany in the Initial Control Period, included in Part III of the Report on the Tripartite Conference of Berlin, August 2, 1945, Foreign Relations, The Conference of Berlin (The Potsdam Conference), 1945, vol. ii, p. 1502.
7. For documentation on the negotiations in 1945 in the European Advisory Commission and the Allied Control Commission for Germany regarding the representation in Germany of foreign governments after surrender and the establishment of four-power control in Germany, see Foreign Relations, 1945, vol. iii, pp. 1084 ff.
8. Lt. Gen. Clay, the newly-appointed US Zone Commander, announced he will have his headquarters in Berlin and changes in the present organization will doubtless be made when he assumes office in March 1947. [Footnote in source text. The chart under reference is not reproduced here.]
8. For the text of the Control Council Proclamation No. 1, see von Oppen, Documents on Germany, p. 58.
9. For the text of Control Council Proclamation No. 2, September 20, 1945, see ibid., p. 68. For the text of the Agreement on Certain Additional Requirements to be Imposed on Germany, as signed by the European Advisory Commission in London on July 25, 1945, see Foreign Relations, The Conference of Berlin (The Potsdam Conference), 1945, vol. ii, p. 1011.