Office of the Historian

740.00119 Control (Germany)/6–2245: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Acting Secretary of State 70

San Francisco, June 22, 1945.
[Received June 22—10:43 p.m.]

17. I refer to the second paragraph of the President’s memorandum of June 1571 requesting the Department’s view concerning the wisdom of attempting to secure agreement at the forthcoming conference on a twenty-five year treaty between the three or four principal powers to demilitarize Germany and to keep her demilitarized by force if necessary.72

Due to the extreme pressure of work here in the final days of the conference it has not been possible for us to go into this question as fully as it deserves. I am therefore sending you a [by] separate telegram73 two memoranda prepared by officers of the Department here: [Page 528] one by Llewellyn Thompson74 and one by John Hickerson.75 Mr. Dunn is in accord with the views expressed by Mr. Hickerson. These memoranda have been prepared while the officers were under great pressure of work in connection with conference matters. It seems desirable that I send you the three memoranda separately for study and appraisal in the Department along with other information on the same subject. It has not seemed advisable to discuss this matter with Senator Vandenberg76 and Senator Connally77 pending at least a preliminary determination of the Department’s position on the proposal.

  1. The Secretary of State was in San Francisco as Chairman of the United States Delegation to the United Nations Conference on International Organization, April 25–June 26, 1945. For documentation regarding this Conference, see vol. i, pp. 1 ff.↩
  2. Memorandum of June 15 from President Truman not found in Department files; this same request was made in the President’s memorandum of June 9 to the Acting Secretary of State, Conference of Berlin (Potsdam), vol. i, p. 162.↩
  3. For text of the draft treaty on the demilitarization of Germany, prepared by the Foreign Economic Administrator, and dated February 17, see p. 424. For additional documentation regarding consideration of a long-term treaty for the demilitarization of Germany, see Conference of Berlin (Potsdam), vol. i, pp. 204 and 450.↩
  4. See telegrams 18 and 19, June 22, infra.↩
  5. Acting Chief of the Division of Eastern European Affairs and a political officer of the United States Delegation to the San Francisco Conference.↩
  6. Deputy Director of the Office of European Affairs and an Adviser to the United States Delegation at the San Francisco Conference.↩
  7. Arthur H. Vandenberg, Senator from Michigan and member of the United States Delegation to the San Francisco Conference.↩
  8. Tom Connally, Senator from Texas and member of the United States Delegation to the San Francisco Conference.↩