Editorial Note
From January 25 to February 18, 1954, the Foreign Ministers of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union met at Berlin to consider problems concerning Germany, Austria, European security, and the Far East. As anticipated, the Soviet Union proposed the convening of a five-power conference which would include the People’s Republic of China. Certain documentation on the Berlin Conference with particular reference to the proposed five-power conference as a possible forum for negotiations on Indochina appears in this volume. For additional information on the Berlin proceedings, see volume XVI, pages 14 ff. and 414 ff. For full documentation on the Berlin Conference, including material on the background and disposition of the question of a five-power meeting (resulting in the convening of the Geneva Conference on April 26, 1954), see volume VII.
Unpublished material on the Berlin Conference, including background papers on aspects of the problem of Indochina, is in Department of State Conference files, lot 60 D 627, CF 188-CF 216.