Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, European Security and the German Question, Volume III, Part 2

396.1–WA/9–2551

Statement by the Chairman of the Allied High Commission for Germany (François-Poncet) to the German Federal Chancellor (Adenauer) Concerning the Agreements Reached at Washington¹

secret

Frankfurt, September 24, 1951.

It has been our desire to meet you in order to inform you of the decisions taken at the Washington Conference and in order to have a general exchange of views with you before our representatives and experts resume the discussions interrupted two months ago.

The final communiqué of the Conference,² as well as the tripartite declaration,³ with which you are acquainted, have shown you that the relations between our three countries and Germany were in the foreground during our Ministers’ conversations.

They were so for two reasons: first, the Ministers expressed their complete approval of the proposed European defense community, which is at present being studied at Paris and in which Germany is invited to participate on the basis of equality.

Second, the Ministers, on the basis of the report which we had submitted to them following the preliminary conversations at the Petersberg,⁴ have set forth the principles which, in their opinion, should govern the establishment—between the Federal Republic and our three countries—of contractual relations which will replace the present occupation regime.

It is the aim of our three governments to integrate the Federal Republic on a basis of equality within a continental European community, itself included in a constantly developing Atlantic Community. The participation of Western Germany in the European defense community and the contractual regime which will shortly govern our relations constitute two aspects of this policy which cannot be considered separately.

Today we merely propose to broach the problem of the intergovernmental agreements which we are charged to negotiate with you for the establishment of our new relations. We do not intend to discuss at length the question of the European Defense Community, which is being studied elsewhere. However, we feel we must stress that in the view of our governments there is a connection between the conclusion of the Treaty creating the European Defense Community and the agreements we are about to negotiate; and we believe that you share this view. These agreements and the Treaty should enter into force simultaneously.

The agreements which it is our task to negotiate with you will result in a complete transformation of the nature of the relationship between the Federal Republic and our three countries and, I believe I can say, the whole world.

Indeed, our three governments wish to treat Germany as a partner on a basis of freedom and equality within the framework of the European Community, in which she is about to become integrated. They therefore wish to be able to renounce the system of restrictive controls which was established in 1945 and has been partly maintained since that date; they intend that our relations shall no longer be based upon the occupation of a defeated country, but upon the cooperation of the Federal Republic with the free nations; they would wish the German people to acquire a sense of its responsibilities and of its own free will to participate in the realization of the common objectives of the Western Powers.

In this spirit they intend to repeal the Occupation Statute⁵ and to abolish the High Commission and the Land Commissioners’ Offices. The sovereignty of the Federal Republic will be subject only to exceptional restrictions of a limited scope, necessitated by the exceptional international situation, that is to say the impossibility at present of concluding a peace treaty, the partition of your country and the threat to it represented by Soviet Russia.

The relationship between our countries and the Federal Republic will no longer be determined by an imposed Statute but defined in the agreements we are going to negotiate with you. We renounce the right to intervene in the internal affairs of the Federation or the Laender.

The activities of your legislative bodies will no longer be restricted by our right of veto.

We will be replaced by Ambassadors accredited to the President of the Federal Republic. The Federal Government will conduct its relations with foreign countries in all freedom in conformity with the agreements we are going to conclude.

An Arbitral Tribunal, composed of an equal number of German and Allied representatives, and presided over by neutrals, will make possible the settlement of disputes which might arise out of the implementation or the interpretation of these agreements and which could not be solved by direct discussion between the parties. We feel that this institution will be a clear indication of the spirit of the new regime.

Our governments consider that the agreements we are about to negotiate should form the basis of our relationship until the conclusion of a peace treaty becomes possible.

These agreements will set forth the whole field of the relationships between the three Allied Powers and the Federal Republic. They will therefore cover numerous problems of varying importance. We believe that it is appropriate to leave the discussion of technical issues to our experts, but that it is necessary to take up the essential points with you, that is to say those which have the greatest significance for your government and ours. On all these points you will recognize that the fullest consideration possible was given to your wishes.

In Washington the three Ministers recognized that the participation of the Federal Republic in Western Defense would enable them to relinquish in most fields the exercise of the supreme authority assumed by the Allies in respect of Germany by virtue of the Declaration of 5 June 1945.⁶ The provision for the resumption of powers which appears in Article 3 of the Occupation Statute will disappear.

The three Powers will, however, continue to exercise that part of supreme authority, the exercise of which is rendered indispensable, in the interests of the Federal Republic, as well as those of the Allies, by the present threats to the security of Berlin and the Federation. In preserving these special rights their objective is to ensure the means of limiting Soviet initiative in Germany, to preserve the means of guarding against aggression from the East and to permit the peaceful re-establishment of German unity.

The rights thus retained relate to three fields only.

They apply, in the first place, to the responsibilities of the Allies with regard to Germany as a whole. These responsibilities relate to obligations arising out of international agreements concerning Germany, to the unification of Germany and to the Peace Settlement.

The rights of the three Powers relate, in the second place, to questions on Berlin where it is essential for the Allies to maintain their position vis-à-vis Soviet Russia.

They finally apply to the stationing in Germany of the Allied Armed Forces and the protection of their security. In order to guarantee such protection, the three Allies shall have the right to declare a state of emergency, after consultation with the Federal Government, in order to meet situations which will be clearly set forth in our agreements. Such situations would be those arising: from an attack, or threatened attack, against the Federal Territory or Berlin; from a serious danger to the security of the Armed Forces of the three Powers caused by a grave disruption of public or constitutional order or the grave Threat of such disruption; or again, from a specific request from the Federal Government.

Our three Governments rely on the Federal Republic’s undertaking not to create, or to allow the creation of military or para-military forces, including police forces, other than those which will form part of the European Defense Community.

In turn, the Foreign Ministers were agreed to consider that in view of the integration of the Federal Republic in the European Defense Community, the controls exercised until now in the military and industrial fields and over scientific research should very largely be relinquished. The limitations which will be maintained will cover the manufacture of aircraft, certain military equipment and weapons, related scientific research and work in the field of atomic energy, and should be contained in one of the agreements into which we are to enter.

There would no longer be a security control office vested with administrative powers. There would, however, be retained an observation and inspection agency which would be attached to the Ambassadors and would not itself have power of decision.

The Foreign Ministers have considered the problem of the logistical and financial support which the Federal Republic should give to the Allied Forces. They acknowledged that this question should be settled on a contractual basis. The ensuing agreement will thus put an end to the system of mandatory occupation costs.

The Ministers consider that the Federal Republic should make an overall contribution to defense expenditures, representing an economic and financial effort comparable to the one sustained by the other principal Western countries, on the European continent and elsewhere. This contribution would be applied to Germany’s financial obligations towards the European Defense Community and to the support given by the Federal Republic to the Allied Forces stationed within its territory.

In any event, the agreement would have to regulate the supply of goods and services which the Allied Forces may obtain from Germany.

It is not possible for us to go into further detail on this subject today. Technical methods and the conditions governing the evaluation of this contribution are still being studied at the expert level.

With regard to the programs undertaken by the Allies in Germany, it has generally been recognized that their completion could be entrusted to the Federal Government within the scope of the future agreements. In our opinion, all these programs are of great importance. We do not wish to discuss here questions of decartelization, foreign interests, external restitution, refugees and displaced persons. We are taking up only three questions which, to us, seem to necessitate certain explanations immediately.

(a) Reparations

The abolition of the Occupation Statute will presuppose relinquishing the reserved powers in the field of reparations, but the Federal Government will, in turn, be asked to recognize itself bound by the international agreements in this field which, in particular, cover German assets abroad; it should also maintain in force the relevant Allied legislation. Furthermore, the rights retained by the signatory nations of the Act of Paris for the final settlement of reparations should be preserved.

The difficulties encountered by the Federal Government in this respect have not escaped the Foreign Ministers, but the three Governments are themselves bound by international agreements whose implementation in Germany they must ensure.

(b) Deconcentration

As we have already stated on several occasions, the execution of AHC Law No. 27⁷ is an essential condition to the realization of the European Coal and Steel Community. It should therefore continue to be implemented after the coming into force of the Schuman Plan and the abolition of the Occupation Statute. To this end, the Coal and Steel Control Groups should be maintained, but should only have those powers essential for ensuring implementation of the law. They will be dissolved as soon as implementation of the programs has reached a sufficiently advanced phase.

The agreements should also provide for the carrying out of other programs of deconcentration, particularly as regards I.G. Farben and the Grossbanken.

(c) Internal Restitution

The Foreign Ministers consider that the obligation to ensure compensation of victims of Nazism, wherever they reside, should rest upon the conscience of the German people. They consequently wish that necessary measures be taken as soon as possible in this field in order to obtain promulgation of laws on compensation in those Laender where such legislation is not yet in force. All legislation in this field should be harmonized and maintained, in implementation of the agreements which we are going to conclude, to ensure the completion of restitution proceedings on a basis no less favorable to the victims of Nazi persecution than those provided in the laws in effect at the present time.

In the draft security treaty which you informally handed to us before our departure for the United States, you introduced a clause relating to a commitment by the Allied Powers to maintain sufficient troops within the Federal Territory so that, together with the other NATO and German forces, they would make any attack a heavy military risk.

The Ministers considered your suggestion. They felt that a clause of this nature would raise serious difficulties in the Parliaments of their countries. They wish to study this question both in the light of these difficulties and the reasons giving rise to your proposal. We could speak to you about this subsequently.

Meanwhile, the New York Declaration of 19 September 1950 publicly stated that the three Governments would regard any attack against the Federal Republic or Berlin, wherever it came from, as an attack against themselves. We wish to state that this Declaration remains in effect. The time and the form which would be the most appropriate for its possible reaffirmation will be discussed with you.

Your draft security treaty also provided for the three Powers to undertake to furnish economic aid to the Federal Republic so as to prevent economic chaos, unemployment and possible resulting dangers.

You will understand, I am sure, that our Governments are unable to make a commitment of such scope: moreover, such a commitment is inappropriate to the agreements we propose to conclude.

The maintenance of certain special rights for the Allies and the implementation of the agreements to be concluded will necessitate coordinating the action of the representatives of the three Powers with the Federal Republic. This is why the Ministers laid down that the three Ambassadors would meet as a Council whenever questions requiring tripartite consideration arise. Among other things it would be for the Council of Ambassadors to declare a state of emergency, and operating under this Council will be the observation and inspection agency to be set up in security affairs.

We feel that the new regime might be defined in a group of five or six Conventions which should be ratified by the Federal Parliament and become effective simultaneously. One of these Conventions, preceded by a preamble and which might be called “General Agreement on the Relationship between the Federal Republic and France, the United Kingdom and the United (States”, would set forth the general and essential principles. The other Conventions would cover, in particular, the status of Allied personnel in Germany and the protection of their security, the Federal Republic’s logistical and financial support to the Allied Forces, restrictions in the interest of security, carrying out of certain Allied programs, and the arbitral tribunal. As these Conventions will be technical, we are leaving it for the experts to be the first to take up discussion.

We consider that our representatives and experts should meet as soon as possible and begin to study these questions so that these drafts can be submitted to us some time next month. We are ready to discuss with you any questions which you might wish to raise before our experts meet or at any time during the negotiations.

We believe that the proposals which we have brought back to you and the essentials of which I have outlined represent a decisive step and will open up new horizons and possibilities for the Federal Republic; they should enable it to assume of its own free will increased responsibilities and to take its rightful place in the community of peoples devoted to the defense of freedom and peace.

1. The source text was transmitted as an enclosure to despatch 891 from Frankfurt, September 25, not printed (396.1–WA/9–2551); regarding the manner of its presentation, see telegram 2718, supra.
2. Dated September 14, p. 1306.
3. Presumably the Tripartite Declaration on European Unity, p. 1306.
4. HICOM/P (51) 69 Final, August 9, p. 1501.
5. For the text of the Occupation Statute for Germany, see Foreign Relations, 1949, vol. iii, p. 179.
6. For the text of the Declaration Regarding the Defeat of Germany and the Assumption of Supreme Authority With Respect to Germany by the Governments of the United States, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom, and the Provisional Government of the French Republic, signed June 5, 1945, at Berlin, see Department of State Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS) No. 1520, or 60 Stat. 1649.
7. For the text of Allied High Commission Law No. 27, “Reorganization of the German Coal and Iron and Steel Industries,” signed May 16, 1950, see Laws, Regulations, Directives and Decisions, vol. i, pp. 155–180.