Editorial Note
At their meeting in Washington, September 10–14, the Foreign Ministers of the United States, the United Kingdom, and France had agreed that representatives of their governments should meet as soon as possible to discuss a German financial contribution to Western defense and the security controls that would remain in effect when the new contractual arrangements with the Federal Republic were established.
The result of this decision was the establishment of the Tripartite Group on Germany (TGG) which began deliberations in London on October 10. The documentation that follows presents an outline of the main work of the tripartite group and the subsequent discussions between representatives of the Federal Republic and the Allied High Commission concerning the question of a German financial contribution to Western defense.
For the text of the Foreign Ministers instruction on Germany to the Allied High Commission that contained the decisions with regard to a financial contribution and security controls, see WFM T–5a, page 1197. For documentation on the work of the tripartite group concerning security controls, see pages 1701 ff.