Office of the Historian
No. 511

763.0221/10–351: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Legation in Austria 1

secret
niact
Washington, October 24, 1951—6:05 p.m.

1041. Br and Fr reps presented Dept with similar aide-mémoires yesterday re occupation costs,2 giving substantially same arguments as reported in Legs desp 500, Oct 3.3 Each Govt requests 15 million schillings addition 1951 and total 200 million schillings, plus “escalator clause” for 1952. Br rep orally emphasized firmness of Br position.

Notes state subj will be discussed in AC Oct 26. Br note concluded “His Majesty’s Govt attach great importance to reaching tripartite agreement on this matter and consider that it would be most unfortunate if the Brit and Fr High Commissioners in Vienna found themselves voting with the Soviet rep against the US rep.”

Dept was not aware subj on agenda for Oct 26 mtg and believes subj shld not be discussed then. Neither Fr nor Br reps were aware tripartite technical discussions in Vienna (Legdesp [Legtel] 1145, Sept 274). Presume subj was placed on agenda by either Fr or Br in attempt to force US hand. In view recommendation at Wash FonMins mtg re discussions between HICOM in Vienna, this move seems most inappropriate. Dept desires you make every effort postpone discussion in AC for time being until HICOM can evaluate technical level findings apparently not completed.

Copies of aides-mémoire being airpouched today.

Paris and London Embs shld contact FonOffs in attempt to persuade latter to instruct their reps in Vienna to postpone AC discussion.5

Acheson
  1. Drafted by Dawson and cleared with Williamson and Perkins. Repeated to London and Paris.↩
  2. A memorandum of this conversation and a copy of the aides-mémoire are in file 763.0221/10–2351.↩
  3. Despatch 500 described talks which took place in Vienna on September 27 concerning the technical details of occupation costs. (763.0221/10–351)↩
  4. Not printed.↩

  5. The Embassies in France and the United Kingdom both reported that the Foreign Offices in their respective countries were of the impression that the technical talks had gone as far as they could and that now it was time for the matter to be discussed by the Western High Commissioners. (Telegrams 2436 from Paris and 2035 from London, October 25, 763.0221/10–2551)

    At the 157th meeting of the Allied Commission for Austria on October 26, the question of occupation costs was only briefly discussed during the closing minutes of the session. A record of this meeting is in ALCO records, lot 62F9, box 114.

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