Foreign Relations of the United States, 1948, Germany and Austria, Volume II

862.011/8–2848: Telegram

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

secret
us urgent

Berlin , August 28, 1948—4 p. m.

2176. Personal for Saltzman and Hickerson. Mytel 2173, August 27¹ and Deptel 1543, August 27.² Clay has received message from Draper to effect that Department is cabling regarding French desire to exclude even Berlin German observers from Parliamentary Council’s meeting September 1. Clay has replied this morning as follows:

“Have agreed with French that Berlin representatives may not be voting members nor can Berlin be a participating state in Constituent Assembly. However, I do not see how we can deny Berlin representatives the right to attend as observers and even to participate in discussion. At London and later here, it was contemplated Minister-Presidents would make some gestures to non-participating areas. If such attendance of Berlin representatives will provoke Soviets then a solution of our present problem is impossible. After all, western Germans do need some assurance that we are men not mice.”³

I have not yet received an indication of the Department’s views on this question and you will have noted Mytel 2172, August 27.⁴ I not only see no objection to attendance of Berlin delegates as observers but I feel that we would be playing directly into the hands of Soviet propagandists’ charge that our purpose is to split Germany if we do not permit some gesture to east German representatives. This is particularly true in the case of representatives from Berlin because we are able to grant latter facilities, whereas this is not the case in respect of representatives from the Soviet zone of occupation. I believe French apprehensions would be taken care of by limitation that Berlin representatives would not be voting members of parliamentary council.

Murphy

1. Not printed, but see footnote 3 above.
2. Ante, p. 416.
3. The message quoted here was sent by General Clay as CC–5732, August 28. Telegram 2204, August 31, from Berlin, not printed, reported General Clay had announced on August 30 that Berlin participation in the Parliamentary Council with voting rights would not be in accord with the four-power status of Berlin, but that he had no objection to Berlin representatives attending the Council sessions as observers without voting rights (862.011/8–3148).
4. Not printed.