740.00119 Control (Rumania)/8–1445
The Secretary of State to the Secretary of War (Stimson)
My Dear Mr. Secretary: I have received the Acting Secretary’s letter of August 14, 1945, concerning the recommendations made by Brigadier General C.V.R. Schuyler, Chief, United States Military Representation, Allied Control Commission for Rumania, on American participation in the work of the Allied Control Commissions in Rumania, Bulgaria and Hungary.
The Allied Control Commissions were established by the respective Armistice Agreements between the three principal Allied Governments [Page 587] and Rumania, Bulgaria and Hungary, to regulate and control the execution of the terms of those Agreements. They are not, strictly speaking, policy-making bodies, although they must necessarily interpret the armistice terms and make certain decisions involving questions of principle.
Until the end of hostilities in Europe the Allied Control Commissions in these three countries operated, in accordance with the respective Armistice Agreements, under the general direction of the Allied (Soviet) High Command. The United States Government recognized that, during this period, the executory and administrative functions of the Commissions belonged properly to the Soviet military authorities. It was found necessary, however, on several occasions to disassociate this Government from decisions taken by the Soviet authorities in the name of the Allied Control Commissions, since the United States Government could not approve the principles involved.
Prior to the Potsdam Conference the Soviet Government proposed certain changes in the procedure under which the Allied Control Commissions had been operating. At Potsdam the three Governments agreed that the Soviet proposals for the Control Commission in Hungary53 should be taken as the basis for a revision of the procedure of the Control Commissions in all three ex-satellite countries. This agreement is contained in Section XI of the Protocol, of which Section XII of the published communiqué is an abridgment.54 The Soviet proposals for the Control Commission in Hungary include the provision that the agreement of all three principal representatives is required before a directive involving a question of principle is issued to the local government.
The American representatives on the three Control Commissions have recently been informed of the agreement reached at Potsdam on this subject and have been authorized by the State and War Departments to initiate discussions looking to agreement on definitive statutes under which the Commissions shall operate. The Department of State has sent forward to Budapest, Bucharest and Sofia the text of draft statutes for the Control Commission in Hungary as approved by the [Page 588] State, War and Navy Departments in SWNCC 151/D.55 This text is to serve as guidance to the American representatives in discussions with their Soviet and British colleagues concerning the definitive statutes. Meanwhile, it is expected that the three Control Commissions will function on the basis of the Soviet proposals for the Control Commission in Hungary.
Since it is anticipated that the foregoing procedure will create a more satisfactory position for the United States members of the Control Commissions and provide them with greater authority, it is not considered necessary or appropriate to recommend to the Soviet and British Governments that an additional Commission be established at Moscow. It is apparent that General Schuyler’s recommendations were submitted before any steps had been taken to implement the Potsdam agreement.
Sincerely yours,
[On August 22, 1945, the Secretary of State issued to the press a statement on the situation in Rumania, substantially the same as text of telegram 7108, August 21, to London, printed on page 581. For text of the Secretary’s public statement, see Department of State Bulletin, August 26, 1945, page 280.]
- The Soviet proposals for the Control Commission in Hungary were originally presented on July 12, 1945, to the American and British Representatives on the Allied Control Commission and were transmitted to the Department in telegram 286, July 13, from Budapest, vol. iv, p. 834. These proposals, only very slightly revised, served as a basis of discussions during the Tripartite Conference of Berlin and were included as an annex to section XII (XI) of the Protocol of Proceedings of the Berlin Conference, August 1 (2), 1945, Conference of Berlin (Potsdam), vol. ii, p. 1494.↩
- For text of section XII of the Communiqué, see ibid., p. 1511.↩
- For text of the draft statutes of the Allied Control Commission for Hungary, see vol. iv, p. 842. SWNCC 151/D, a paper of the State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee, not printed as such; it contained the memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of War referring to the State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee Draft Statutes for Allied Control for Hungary prepared by Maj. Gen. William S. Key, June 6, 1945. For text of these draft statutes, see Conference of Berlin (Potsdam), vol. i, pp. 375–377. The text of the draft statutes as ultimately approved by the State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee on August 17, 1945, was transmitted to Bucharest in telegram 424, August 16, not printed.↩