Editorial Note

From January 25 to February 18, the Foreign Ministers of France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States held a Four-Power Conference at Berlin to discuss questions concerning Korea, Indochina, Germany, Austria, European security, and disarmament.

For documentation subsequent to the Berlin Conference with particular respect to the Soviet Union’s proposal that a five-power conference (the four Berlin Conference powers plus the People’s Republic of China) should be convened to consider restoring peace in Indochina, see pages 14 ff; for additional documentation on this subject, see volume XIII. For full documentation on the Berlin Conference, see volume VII.

Unpublished material on the Berlin Conference, including background papers on aspects of the Indochina problem, is in Department of State Conference files, lot 60 D 627, CF 188–216.

A Department of State publication, Foreign Ministers Meeting: Berlm Discussions, January 25–February 18, 1954, issued in March 1954, contains texts of major statements made at the Berlin Conference, texts of all proposals discussed, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles’ February 24 Report to the Nation on the Conference, and other related materials.