America at war! (1941–) – Part 4

8514

U.S. State Department (February 11, 1945)

Meeting of the Foreign Ministers, 4:20 p.m.

Present
United States United Kingdom Soviet Union
Secretary Stettinius Foreign Secretary Eden Foreign Commissar Molotov
Mr. Hiss Sir Edward Bridges

Bohlen Note

February 11, 1945, 4:20 p.m.

Meeting of the Foreign Ministers to Approve the ‘Summary of Proceedings of the Conference’

At this meeting, the discussion was almost entirely related to language and drafting problems. Mr. Eden, supported by Mr. Stettinius, proposed that Saudi Arabia be included among those countries which, if they declared war on the common enemy before March 1, would be invited to attend the United Nations Conference at San Francisco. Mr. Molotov said that he could not accept that proposal without reference to Marshal Stalin, and suggested that, since time was so short, that it would be reserved for possible future consideration. Mr. Molotov’s suggestion was accepted.

Hiss Notes

February 11, 1945, 4:20 p.m.

2/11 4.20 pm
ERS Chmn

Final meeting of For Mins

ERS: 1st subject is approval of communique

Sir Edward Bridges to report on read communique

Re D.O.
Mol. Marshal Stalin said should say what is said in conclusions that was agreed on voting & not that President’s proposal had been adopted

No objection if Mr. S. or anyone else should say this was the proposal of the Pres.

In no other place is it said on whose initiative it has been done

ERS This was discussed this morning in presence of Mar & Pres & I discussed it at length with Pres. Would be very diff. for me to agree

Mol Was no agt on this special point

We said we had another q on this par.

Simultaneously with the pub. of com. you or someone say this was the proposal put forward by the Pres. We don’t want to hush-hush this fact.

ERS: agreed to eliminate the reference to Pres.

Re consultation

Ed on procedure – US is to approach Ch. & Fr. Desirable that consultation be done as soon as possible – 48 hours if possible as will be great interest in the subject

2/11
ERS Chmn

For. Mins.

(After intermission)

Summary of Conclusions
p. 1 Mol. what would be the title: “Decisions”?

Agreed: Protocol of the proceedings of the Crimea Conference

Mol. First phrase

The Crimean Conf. of the 3 heads of the Govts of USSR, US & Gt Brit which took place in the Crimea from Feb 4 to Feb 11 took came to the following conclusions:

Ed. Would like to add Saudi Arabia before Turkey

Mol. Why

Ed They did want to declare war & we discouraged them

Mol. This q. was not discussed. There would then come others (i e new suggestions)

Ed. Good to have Moslem or two Ibn Saud is having cup of coffee with Pres.

ERS I have no objection. They have assisted in the prosecution of the war to some extent

Mol I don’t know if Saudi Arabia will be much help. Think it over & consider at end of protocol

p. 2

San Francisco inserted

Mol. I want to be there

p. 3 ERS “or in the preliminary consultations”

Agreed

p 5 Insert protocol in place of reparations section

Agreed

p 9 ERS agreed re Yug.

p 10 ERS suggests insert “among the For. Secs”

Suggests eliminate last sentence

Mol: “Mr. Mol. agreed to this proposal”

Eden: should not say views will be conveyed “aint any views” instead say: could not be approved

Persia
Mol: Suggests instead:

“Mr Ed, Mr S & Mr Mol exchanged views on the sit. in Iran”

Otherwise eliminate altogether

Ed add “It was decided agreed that the matter would be pursued further through the dip. channel.”

Montreux
Mol. after “Convention”: which ceased to correspond to the contemporary sit.”

It’s a hint in regard to change

ERS we should consider sit. before suggest give a hint

Ed. Alternative: the changes proposals which it was understood the Sov. Govt would put forward with reference in relation to the Montreux Con.

Agreed to Ed. alternative with last sentence omitted

Ed. We will inform the Turks

Mol About the fact that this q. will be raised

Ed insert informed “at the appropriate moment”

Mol. Insists on his amend

Ed. willing to stop there & leave out assurance point.

Transmit to Pres. copy of what ERS signs Protocol & of 2 tels to

Ed. submitted the draft cable to de G. re zone of occup & Control Com

ERS agreed

Mol. hadn’t had time to read

Mol. Gave his prelim. consent. Mar. St. has not seen them. Will give his answer tonight

Saudi Arabia – Mol. To let Ed. Know

8515

Working Draft of the Protocol of Proceedings Revised by the Foreign Ministers

February 11, 1945, 4:20 p.m.

Crimea Conference

Summary of Conclusions Protocol of Proceedings of Crimea Conference

The following conclusions were arrived at –

I. World organization

It was decided:

  1. that a United Nations Conference on the proposed world organisation should be summoned for Wednesday, 25 April, 1945, and should be held in the United States of America.

  2. the Nations to be invited to this Conference should be:

    (a) the United Nations as they existed on 8 February, 1945; and

    (b) such of the Associated Nations as have declared war on the common enemy by 1 March, 1945. (For this purpose by the term “Associated Nation” was meant the eight Associated Nations and Turkey). When the Conference on World Organisation is held, the delegates of the United Kingdom and United States of America will support a proposal to admit to original membership two Soviet Socialist Republics, i.e. the Ukraine and White Russia.

  3. that the United States Government on behalf of the Three Powers should consult the Government of China and the French Provisional Government in regard to the decisions taken at the present Conference concerning the proposed World Organisation.

  4. that the text of the invitation to be issued to all the nations which would take part in the United Nations Conference should be as follows:

Invitation

The Government of the United States of America, on behalf of itself and of the Governments of the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the Republic of China and of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, invite the Government of ——— to send representatives to a Conference of the United Nations to be held on 25 April, 1945, or soon thereafter, at San Francisco in the United States of America to prepare a Charter for a General International Organisation for the maintenance of international peace and security.

The above-named governments suggest that the Conference consider as affording a basis for such a Charter the Proposals for the Establishment of a General International Organisation, which were made public last October as a result of the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, and which have now been supplemented by the following provisions for Section C of Chapter VI:

c. Voting

  1. Each member of the Security Council should have one vote.

  2. Decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters should be made by an affirmative vote of seven members.

  3. Decisions of the Security Council on all other matters should be made by an affirmative vote of seven members including the concurring votes of the permanent members; provided that, in decisions under Chapter VIII, Section A and under the second sentence of paragraph 1 of Chapter VIII, Section C, a party to a dispute should abstain from voting.

Further information as to arrangements will be transmitted subsequently.

In the event that the Government of ——— desires in advance of the Conference to present views or comments concerning the proposals, the Government of the United States of America will be pleased to transmit such views and comments to the other participating Governments.

Territorial trusteeship

It was agreed that the five Nations which will have permanent seats on the Security Council should consult each other prior to the United Nations Conference on the question of territorial trusteeship.

The acceptance of this recommendation is subject to its being made clear that territorial trusteeship will only apply to (a) existing mandates of the League of Nations; (b) territories detached from the enemy as a result of the present war; (c) any other territory which might voluntarily be placed under trusteeship; and (d) no discussion of actual territories is contemplated at the forthcoming United Nations Conference, or in the preliminary consultations and it will be a matter for subsequent agreement which territories within the above categories will be placed under trusteeship.

II. Declaration on liberated Europe

The following declaration has been approved:

The Premier of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the President of the United States of America have consulted with each other in the common interests of the peoples of their countries and those of liberated Europe. They jointly declare their mutual agreement to concert during the temporary period of instability in liberated Europe the policies of their three governments in assisting the peoples liberated from the domination of Nazi Germany and the peoples of the former Axis satellite states of Europe to solve by democratic means their pressing political and economic problems.

The establishment of order in Europe and the re-building of national economic life must be achieved by processes which will enable the liberated peoples to destroy the last vestiges of Nazism and Fascism and to create democratic institutions of their own choice. This is a principle of the Atlantic Charter – the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live – the restoration of sovereign rights and self-government to those peoples who have been forcibly deprived of them by the aggressor nations.

To foster the conditions in which the liberated peoples may exercise these rights, the three governments will jointly assist the people in any European liberated state or former Axis satellite state in Europe where in their judgment conditions require (a) to establish conditions of internal peace; (b) to carry out emergency measures for the relief of distressed peoples; (c) to form interim governmental authorities broadly representative of all democratic elements in the population and pledged to the earliest possible establishment through free elections of governments responsive to the will of the people; and (d) to facilitate where necessary the holding of such elections.

The three governments will consult the other United Nations and provisional authorities or other governments in Europe when matters of direct interest to them are under consideration.

When, in the opinion of the three governments, conditions in any European liberated state or any former Axis satellite state in Europe make such action necessary, they will immediately consult together on the measures necessary to discharge the joint responsibilities set forth in this declaration.

By this declaration we reaffirm our faith in the principles of the Atlantic Charter, our pledge in the Declaration by the United Nations, and our determination to build in co-operation with other peace-loving nations world order under law, dedicated to peace, security, freedom and general well-being of all mankind.

In issuing this declaration, the Three Powers express the hope that the Provisional Government of the French Republic may be associated with them in the procedure suggested.

III. Dismemberment of Germany

It was agreed that Article 12 (a) of the Surrender Terms for Germany should be amended to read as follows:

The United Kingdom, the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics shall possess supreme authority with respect to Germany. In the exercise of such authority they will take such steps, including the complete disarmament, demilitarisation and the dismemberment of Germany as they deem requisite for future peace and security.

The study of the procedure for the dismemberment of Germany was referred to a Committee, consisting of Mr. Eden (Chairman), Mr. Winant and Mr. Gousev. This body would consider the desirability of associating with it a French representative.

IV. Zone of occupation for the French and Control Commission for Germany

It was agreed that a zone in Germany, to be occupied by the French Forces, should be allocated to France. This zone would be formed out of the British and American zones and its extent would be settled by the British and Americans in consultation with the French Provisional Government.

It was also agreed that the French Provisional Government should be invited to become a member of the Allied Control Commission for Germany.

V. Reparation

The following protocol has been approved:

It was agreed that a Reparations Commission should be set up in Moscow. This Commission will comprise one representative from the USA, USSR, and U.K., each representative being assisted by such expert advisers as may be necessary. The Commission should begin its work as soon as possible.

It was agreed that the following should be the basic principles of exaction of reparations from Germany for study and recommendation by the Moscow Reparations Commission.

  1. Reparations are to be received in the first instance by those countries which have borne the main burden of the war and have suffered the heaviest losses and have organised victory over the enemy.

  2. Setting aside for the moment the use of German labour by way of reparations, this question to be considered at a later date, reparations in kind are to be exacted from Germany in the two following forms:

    Removal in a single payment in the end of the war from the national wealth of Germany located on the territory of Germany herself as well as outside her territory (equipment, machine-tools, ships, rolling stock, German investment abroad, shares of industrial, transport, shipping and other enterprises in Germany, etc.) these removals to be carried out chiefly for the purpose of military and economic disarmament of Germany.

    These removals are to be completed within two years of the end of the war.

    Annual deliveries of commodities during 10 years after the end of the war.

  3. Germany is to pay compensation in kind for the losses caused by her to the Allied Nations during the war and the Moscow Reparations Commission shall have the task of considering the amount of reparations to be paid.

VI. Major war criminals

The Conference agreed that the question of the major war criminals should be the subject of enquiry by the three Foreign Secretaries for report in due course after the close of the Conference.

VII. Poland

The following Declaration on Poland was agreed by the Conference:

A new situation has been created in Poland as a result of her complete liberation by the Red Army. This calls for the establishment of a Polish Provisional Government which can be more broadly based than was possible before the recent liberation of Western Poland. The Provisional Government which is now functioning in Poland should therefore be reorganised on a broader democratic basis with the inclusion of democratic leaders from Poland itself and from Poles abroad. This new Government should then be called the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity.

M. Molotov, Mr. Harriman and Sir A. Clark Kerr are authorised as a Commission to consult in the first instance in Moscow with members of the present Provisional Government and with other Polish democratic leaders from within Poland and from abroad, with a view to the reorganisation of the present Government along the above lines. This Polish Provisional Government of National Unity shall be pledged to the holding of free and unfettered elections as soon as possible on the basis of universal suffrage and secret ballot. In these elections all democratic and anti-Nazi parties shall have the right to take part and to put forward candidates.

When a Polish Provisional Government of National Unity has been properly formed in conformity with the above, the Government of the USSR, which now maintains diplomatic relations with the present Provisional Government of Poland, and the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of the USA will establish diplomatic relations with the new Polish Provisional Government of National Unity, and will exchange Ambassadors by whose reports the respective Governments will be kept informed about the situation in Poland.

The three Heads of Government consider that the Eastern frontier of Poland should follow the Curzon Line with digressions from it in some regions of five to eight kilometres in favour of Poland. It is They recognised that Poland must receive substantial accessions of territory in the North and West. They feel that the opinion of the new Polish Provisional Government of National Unity should be sought in due course on the extent of these accessions and that the final delimitation of the Western frontier of Poland should thereafter await the Peace Conference.

VIII. Yugoslavia

It was agreed to recommend to Marshal Tito and to Dr. Subasic:

(a) that the Tito-Subasic Agreement should immediately be put into effect and a new Government formed on the basis of the Agreement.

(b) that as soon as the new Government has been formed it should declare:

  • (i) that the National Liberation Committee will be extended to include members of the last Yugoslav Skupstina who have not compromised themselves by collaboration with the enemy, thus forming a body to be known as a temporary Parliament and

  • (ii) that legislative acts passed by the National Liberation Committee will be subject to subsequent ratification by a Constituent Assembly;

and that this statement should be published in the communique of the Conference.

IX. Italo-Yugoslav frontier
Italo-Austria frontier

Notes on these subjects were put in by the British delegation and the American and Soviet delegations agreed to consider them and give their views later.

X. Yugoslav-Bulgarian relations

There was an exchange of views among the Foreign Ministers Secretaries on the question of the desirability of a Yugoslav-Bulgarian pact of alliance. The question at issue was whether a state still under an armistice regime could be allowed to enter into a treaty with another state. Mr. Eden suggested that the Bulgarian and Yugoslav Governments should be informed of the views of the Three Powers. that this could not be approved. Mr. Stettinius suggested that the British and American Ambassadors should discuss the matter further with M. Molotov in Moscow. M. Molotov promised to consider the matter and to give his views on the following day. agreed with the proposal of Mr. Stettinius.

XI. South Eastern Europe

The British Delegation put in notes for the consideration of their colleagues on the following subjects:
(a) the Control Commission in Bulgaria
(b) Greek claims upon Bulgaria, more particularly with reference to reparations.
(c) Oil equipment in Roumania.

XII. Persia

Mr. Eden and Mr. Stettinius drew attention to the importance of observing the Tripartite Treaty and the Tehran Declaration of 1 December, 1943, particularly insofar as concerned requests for oil concessions in Persia.

XIII. Meetings of the three Foreign Secretaries

The Conference agreed that permanent machinery should be set up for consultation between the three Foreign Secretaries; they should meet as often as necessary, probably about every three or four months.

These meetings will be held in rotation in the three capitals, the first meeting being held in London.

XIV. The Montreux Convention and the Straits

It was agreed that at the next meeting of the three Foreign Secretaries to be held in London, they should consider what changes should be made in the arrangements for the Straits laid down in proposals which Sov Govt will make in regard the Montreux Convention and report thereon to the three Governments. The Turkish Government should be informed that this matter is under consideration and should be given an assurance that their independence and integrity is in no way affected. at the proper moment.

8516

U.S. Delegation Draft of Announcement Regarding the United Nations Conference

February 11, 1945, 4:20 p.m.

Joint Communiqué on International Organization

The proposals for a general international organization resulting from the informal conversations at Dumbarton Oaks have been considered, and agreed proposals have been worked out on the major points left open at those conversations. Our views are being transmitted to the Government of China and to the Provisional Government of the French Republic for their consideration. As soon as these consultations have been completed, the proposals agreed upon will be made public and invitations will be issued to a United Nations Conference to be held in the United States about April 15. This conference will prepare the charter of the general international organization.

8517

The President’s Secretary to the President’s Administrative Assistant

Yalta, February 11, 1945

image

8518 
500.CC/2-1145: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Acting Secretary of State

Yalta, 11 February 1945
Top secret
ARGONAUT 147

Top Secret. For Acting Secretary of State from Secretary Stettinius. To be delivered immediately.

  1. The conference has agreed upon our proposal on voting procedure and we are to consult China and France on behalf of the other two powers. The date of the United Nations Conference has been fixed for April 25, 1945, and the location at San Francisco. The substance of the foregoing will be announced in the communiqué to be issued Monday night for Tuesday morning’s papers although the communiqué will not itself state that the voting procedure agreed upon was proposed by the United States. It is however understood that we are at liberty, simultaneously with the release of the communiqué, to state that our proposal on voting procedure was the one that was adopted. Mr. Early is separately taking care of this latter statement but if there is any slip up in his communications you will wish to make that fact public at the time the communiqué is issued.

  2. It is of the utmost urgency that our consultations with China and France be as brief as possible because of the intense interest which will be aroused throughout the world as to the substance of the voting provisions which are not to be made public until the consultation is completed. Mr. Eden said at this afternoon’s final meeting that he hoped the consultation could be completed within forty-eight hours. This will give you an indication of the urgency with which this matter must be treated.

  3. The text of the invitation as agreed upon reads as follows:

The government of the United States of America, on behalf of itself and of the governments of the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the Republic of China and of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, invites the Government of blank to send representatives to a conference of the United Nations to be held on April 25, 1945, or soon thereafter, at San Francisco in the United States of America to prepare a charter for a general international organization for the maintenance of international peace and security.

The above-named governments suggest that the conference consider as affording a basis for such a charter the proposals for the establishment of a general international organization, which were made public last October as a result of the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, and which have now been supplemented by the following provisions for Section C of Chapter VI:

C. Voting: 1. Each member of the Security Council should have one vote. 2. Decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters should be made by an affirmative vote of seven members. 3. Decisions of the Security Council on all other matters should be made by an affirmative vote of seven members including the concurring votes of the permanent members; provided that, in decisions under Chapter VIII, Section A and under the second sentence of Paragraph 1 of Chapter VIII, Section C, party to a dispute should abstain from voting.

Further information as to arrangements will be transmitted subsequently. In the event that the government of blank desires in advance of the conference to present views or comments concerning the proposals, the government of the United States of America will be pleased to transmit such views and comments to the other participating governments.

  1. It was also agreed that the nations to be invited to the United Nations Conference should be the United Nations as they existed on February 8, 1945, and such of the associated nations and Turkey as have declared war on the common enemy by March 1, 1945. This explains my recent urgent wire to you about the Latin American associated nations.

  2. It was also agreed that the five governments with permanent seats in the Security Council should consult each other prior to the United Nations Conference on providing machinery in the World Charter for dealing with territorial trusteeships which could apply only to (a) existing mandates of the League of Nations; (b) territory to be detached from the enemy as a result of this war; and (c) any other territory that may voluntarily be placed under trusteeship.

It was further agreed that no discussions of specific territories will take place during the preliminary consultations on trusteeships or at the United Nations Conference itself. Only machinery and principles of trusteeship will be formulated at the Conference for inclusion in the Charter and it will be a matter for subsequent agreement as to which territories within the categories specified above will actually be placed under trusteeship. I think that this subject should also be covered in your consultations with China and France.

The Secretary urged that immediate action be taken to have our Embassies inform the six Latin American “Associated Nations” of the possibility that they may be excluded from initial participation in the forthcoming United Nations Conference, unless they declare war on Germany or Japan, or both.

  1. We are relying on you to conduct the consultation with France and China in such manner as seems to you most effective and most expeditious and thereafter to publish the text of the voting provisions in concert with the other four powers.

  2. I am leaving tonight for Moscow for a visit of only one or two days and can be reached through the Embassy. Please cable me summary of press and other public reaction to the communiqué as soon as it is available.

  3. ALLSTATE HORSESHOE.

8519

U.S. Delegation Draft Memorandum Regarding Invitation to Saudi Arabia to Attend the United Nations Conference

Yalta, Feb. 11
(Copy)

R’s refused to agree

Mr. Early: Please inform the President on behalf of Mr. Stettinius that at today’s final meeting of the Foreign Ministers held shortly after the President left, Mr. Eden proposed and Mr. Molotov and Mr. Stettinius agreed that Saudi Arabia be added to the eight associated nations and Turkey as entitled to be invited to the United Nations Conference on April 25 at San Francisco if they declare war by March 1.

We consider this as a desirable move and suggest that the President should inform Ibn Saud of this when the two meet in the next few days.

In any event Colonel Eddy, our Minister who will accompany Ibn Saud to the Quincy, should be informed of this and should inform Ibn.

Will you please give the above information also to Admiral Leahy & to Admiral Brown

8520

The President’s Secretary to the President’s Administrative Assistant

Yalta, 11 February 1945
Top secret

From Secretary Early to Jonathan Daniels, White House. Communiqué text will be dispatched tonight. Sent you two declarations today, one on Poland and the second on liberated Europe. Disregard previous instructions and insert these texts where indicated in communiqué. Kill title “Declaration on Poland” and insert without title in text of communiqué according to instructions to come. About one hundred words from beginning make read “are authorized as a commission to consult” instead “are authorized to consult.” About fifty-four words from end make read “they recognized that Poland” instead “it is recognized.”

The following statement should be prepared for release simultaneous with communiqué but should be given out as a separate story, not even as an annex: A comprehensive agreement was reached at the Crimea Conference providing detailed arrangements for the protection, maintenance and repatriation of prisoners of war and civilians of the British Commonwealth, Soviet Union and United States liberated by the Allied forces now invading Germany.

Under these arrangements each ally will provide food, clothing, medical attention and other needs for the nationals of the others until transport is available for their repatriation. In caring for British subjects and American citizens the Soviet Government will be assisted by British and American officers. Soviet officers will assist British and American authorities in their task of caring for Soviet citizens liberated by the British and American forces during such time as they are on the continent of Europe or in the United Kingdom, awaiting transport to take them home.

We are pledged to give every assistance consistent with operational requirements to help to ensure that all these prisoners of war and civilians are speedily repatriated.

8521

U.S. Delegation List of Tripartite Decisions at Yalta

February 11, 1945, 4:20 p.m.

List of Decisions Arrived at by the Three Heads of Government at the Crimean Conference

  1. To include the word “dismemberment” in the German terms of surrender.

  2. To appoint a committee composed of Mr. Eden, Ambassador Winant and Ambassador Gousev to study the question of dismemberment.

  3. To adopt proposal of the United States with respect to the voting procedure in the Security Council of the proposed world organization.

  4. To hold a United Nations Conference on April 25, 1945, in the United States, to prepare the charter of the proposed world organization.

  5. To authorize the United States, on behalf of the three powers, to consult the Government of China and the Provisional Government of France, with respect to decisions 3 and 4.

  6. That the five Governments which will have permanent seats on the Security Council should consult each other prior to the United Nations Conference on providing machinery in the world charter for dealing with territorial trusteeships which would apply only to (a) existing mandates of the League of Nations; (b) territory to be detached from the enemy as a result of this war; (c) any other territory that may voluntarily be placed under trusteeship.

    It was agreed it would be a matter of subsequent agreement as to which territories within the preceding categories would actually be placed under trusteeship and that no discussions of specific territories are contemplated now or at the United Nations Conference.

  7. The United States and the United Kingdom to support at the United Nations Conference, the Soviet request that the Ukraine and White Russia be admitted as initial members of the world organization.

  8. To issue the statement on Poland agreed to at the Conference.

  9. That there should be immediately established in Moscow a Commission on German reparations composed of Mr. Molotov, Sir Archibald Clark Kerr and Mr. Harriman, which would be guided by the following agreed principles: (a) Germany must pay in kind for losses caused by it to the Allied Governments; (b) the amount of the reparations to be paid by Germany should be considered by the Moscow Reparations Commission and reported by it to the three Governments; (c) the three Governments will submit to the Commission their proposals and data relating to the question of German reparations.

  10. To issue the Declaration on Liberated Europe agreed to at the Conference.

  11. To accord to the Provisional Government of France a German zone of occupation, and representation on the German Control Commission.

  12. To send a joint telegram to Marshal Tito and Dr. Subasic, the text of which was agreed to at the Conference.

  13. To hold periodic meetings of the three Foreign Ministers, the first meeting to be held in London in June, 1945.

  14. That, at their first meeting, the three Foreign Ministers will consider revision of the Montreux Convention.

8522

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France

Top secret
ARGONAUT 149

Secret and personal for the Ambassador from Secretary of State Stettinius.

You should concert with your British and Soviet colleagues and arrange to deliver to General de Gaulle the following two telegrams from the three heads of Government as soon as possible after 8:30 p.m. Paris time, Monday, February 12.

  1. Quote: You will observe that the communiqué which we are issuing the end of this Conference contains a Declaration on Liberated Europe. You will also see that, in the last paragraph of the Declaration, we express the hope that your Government may be associated with us in the action and procedure suggested. Had circumstances permitted we should have greatly welcomed discussion with you of the terms of this Declaration. The terms are, however, less important than the joint obligation to take action in certain eventualities; and we feel that it is of the highest importance, in the interests of Europe, that the Provisional Government of the French Republic should agree, jointly with her three allies, to accept such an obligation. Signed Winston S. Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and I. V. Stalin. Unquote and end of first telegram.

  2. Quote: We have been considering the question of the control of Germany after her defeat and have come to the conclusion that it will be highly desirable for the Provisional Government of the French Republic, if they will, to accept responsibility for a zone of occupation and to be represented on the Central Machinery of Control. We should be glad to learn that the French Government are prepared to accept those responsibilities. Signed Winston S. Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and I. V. Stalin. Unquote and end of second telegram.

ARGONAUT, February 11, 1945
8523

Prime Minister Churchill to President Roosevelt

Yalta, February 11, 1945

My Dear Franklin, I have given consideration to your letter of February 10 about the political difficulties which might arise in the United States in connection with the ratification by the Senate of the Dumbarton Oaks Agreement because of the fact that the United States alone among the three Great Powers will have only one vote in the Assembly.

Our position is that we maintained the long-established representation of the British Empire and Commonwealth; that the Soviet Government are represented by its chief member, and the two republics of the Ukraine and White Russia; and that the United States should propose the form in which their undisputed equality with every other Member State should be expressed.

I need hardly assure you that I should do everything possible to assist you in this matter.

Yours very sincerely,
WINSTON CHURCHILL

8524 
760H.6315/2-1145

The British Foreign Secretary to the Soviet Foreign Commissar

Alupka, 11 February, 1945

Owing to lack of time there are a few questions on which we were not able to conclude our discussions during the Crimea Conference. These were
(a) the Austro-Yugoslav frontier,
(b) the Italo-Yugoslav frontier (Venezia Giulia)

You kindly undertook to study the suggestions on these questions contained in the papers which I circulated at the Foreign Secretaries meeting on February 10. With regard to (a) you will remember that the United States Delegation experienced certain doubts regarding the phraseology of our proposal. I therefore attach a redraft of my note which I would ask you to substitute for the one in your possession.

(c) At our meeting on February 10 I mentioned our attitude towards a pact between Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, and suggested that an indication of our views might be conveyed to the Bulgarian and Yugoslav Governments. You said that you would consider my suggestion.

I also circulated at our meeting on February 10 papers on the subject of
(d) Greek claims upon Bulgaria, more particularly in regard to reparations;
(e) the Allied (Soviet) Control Commission in Bulgaria;
(f) Oil equipment in Roumania.

I should be grateful if you would consider the points raised in the foregoing three papers.

May I also ask you to give favourable consideration to the proposals regarding
(g) Relief Supplies for Europe, contained in a paper which I enclosed in a separate letter today, and

(h) the despatch of personnel to the Soviet component of the Control Commission for Germany in London, in regard to which I attach a memorandum.

Monsieur V. M. MOLOTOV

8525

The Pittsburgh Press (February 11, 1945)

Yanks take Roer River dams

Canadians to north reach Rhine, close on West Wall anchor

…

8526

Cavalry flanks Japs in Manila

Drives five miles around edge of city

GEN. MACARTHUR’S LUZON HQ, Philippines (UP) – The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, tightening the trap around Japs holding out in southern Manila, has crossed the Pasig River in a wide outflanking maneuver southeast of the capital and is within three miles of Manila Bay.

Troops of the 37th Infantry Division, widening their bridgehead across the Pasig in the center of the city, pushed ahead in house-to-house fighting on a front almost two miles long and within a mile and a half of the southern edge of Manila.

Battle in second week

As the Battle of Manila entered its second week, Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s daily war bulletin announced that the Japs had converted houses and public buildings into pillboxes and fortified strongpoints and were using artillery against the advancing Americans.

The bulletin disclosed that Maj. Gen. Verne D. Mudge’s 1st Cavalry Division, which made the first penetration of Manila last Saturday, had advanced five miles in its outflanking drive around the eastern side of the 14-square-mile city.

The cavalry struck eastward through New Manila, a northeastern suburb of the capital, and then plunged four miles southward to force the Pasig near the town of San Padro Makato, a mile southeast of the city’s lower boundary and five miles southeast of the river’s mouth at Manila Bay.

Striking to west

Gen. Mudge’s men were in position to strike westward to Manila Bay just below Manila and hopelessly trap the enemy still holding parts of the city south of the Pasig. The drive carried to within three miles of 11th Airborne Division troops fighting up from the south.

Inside Manila, Maj. Gen. Robert S. Beightler’s 37th Infantry Division systematically swept the city south of the river and at one point were about two miles northwest of the 1st Cavalry Division’s new bridgehead.

Dispatches said the Japs in Manila were fighting fiercely, holding out to the death in each strongpoint.

Great areas destroyed

It was said the Japs could not hold out much longer, but the destruction they are wreaking on the city is increasing steadily. By the time the last Japs are slain, great areas of Manila will be almost ashes.

Sixty miles north of Manila, around the upper Pampanga River, forward elements of Maj. Gen. Edwin Patrick’s 6th Infantry Division advanced four miles southeast into the town of Laur, 22 miles from the east coast of Luzon. That drive was threatening to split the entire island in two.

Along the Villa Verde trial, at the northern end of the American lines, elements of the 32nd Infantry Division continued advancing toward the Cagayan Valley which sweeps up to the northern Luzon coast.

Pounding Corregidor

Liberator bombers meanwhile continued pounding Corregidor Fortress at the mouth of Manila Bay and the Mariveles section of southern Bataan. They dropped more than 101 tons of bombs which set fires in both areas.

The Tokyo radio reported the Americans were concentrating vessels off the south of Manila Bay, possibly in preparation for an invasion of Corregidor.

8527

Tokyo shaken by Superfortresses, quake

B-29s give capital heaviest pounding

…

8528

Four go AWOL in England, ‘discharge’ solves in U.S.

Yanks will be shipped back overseas for court martial or other action

…

8529

After Mrs. Boettiger phoned –
Another colonel gave ‘A’ to Roosevelt’s dog blaze

Elliott’s promotion before Senate Monday

…

8530

Meat supplies to be scarcer

More ‘utility’ beef going to Army

…

8531

Carrier aircraft bag 2,472 planes

…

8532

‘Still in 4-F,’ Sinatra quoted by close friend

NEW YORK (UP) – Actress Marilyn Maxwell disclosed today that crooner Frank Sinatra had confided to her that he was “definitely in 4-F.”

Miss Maxwell, a close friend of the 118-pound singer, said he told her that he “knew” because of a punctured eardrum.

A spokesman at his Jersey City draft board said, however, the board has not been notified of Sinatra’s classification. The crooner was taken to Governor’s Island for observation after Army doctors in Newark had examined him.

8533

Ernie Pyle V Norman

The Roving Reporter –
Ernie off to the wars once more – this time with Navy in the Pacific

By Ernie Pyle

Ernie Pyle is returning to the wars. This time he is with the Navy, and his field will be the Pacific. He has already left San Francisco.

After covering the American campaigns in Africa, Sicily, Italy and France, Ernie took a prolonged rest. Most of his war experiences have been with the infantry; and for a change he has been accredited to the Navy, which is now engaged in some of the war’s biggest operations in the Pacific. Ernie plans to continue with the Navy for several months and then go ashore to rejoin the beloved infantry in one of the big campaigns that lie ahead in the Pacific.

This column was written by Ernie before leaving San Francisco. Three other columns written before his departure will be printed for the next three days, and then by Thursday, February 15, we hope to start receiving some of Ernie’s columns dealing with his new assignment.

SAN FRANCISCO, California – Well, here we go again.

It has been four months since I wrote my last column, from France. In four months of non-production a writer gets out of the habit. He forgets the rhythm of words; falls into the easy habit of not making himself think or feel in self-expression.

This first column is a mankiller. Your mind automatically resents the task of focusing itself again. Your thoughts are scattered and you can’t get them together to put onto paper. Words came hard. You curse the day you ever took up writing to make a living.

So, until I’m once more immersed in the routine of daily writing, and transported once more into the one-track world of war, I’m afraid you’ll have to be tolerant with me.

There’s nothing nice about the prospect of going back to war again. Anybody who has been in war and wants to go back is a plain fool in my book.

I’m certainly not going because I’ve got itchy feet again, or because I can’t stand America, or because there’s any mystic fascination about war that is drawing me back.

I’m going simply because there’s a war on and I’m part of it and I’ve known all the time I was going back. I’m going because I’ve got to.

This time it will be the Pacific. When I left France last fall, we thought the war in Europe was about over. I say “we” because I mean almost everybody over there thought so. I felt it was so near the end I could come home and before the time came to go again, that side of the war would be finished, and only the Pacific would be left.

But it didn’t turn out that way. Now nobody knows how long the European War will last. Naturally all my friends and associations and sentiments are on that side. I suppose down in my heart I would rather go back to that side. For over in Europe, I know the tempo of the battle; I feel at home with it in a way.

Going with Navy

And yet I think it’s best to stick with the original plan and go on to the Pacific. There are a lot of guys in that war, too. They are the same guys who are fighting on the other side, only with different names, that’s all.

I’m going with the Navy this time, since the Navy is so dominant in the Pacific, and since I’ve done very little in the past on that part of the service, I won’t stay with the Navy for the duration – probably two or three months, and then back ashore again with those noble souls, the Doughfoots.

Security forbids telling you just what the plans are. But I can say that I’ll fly across the Pacific, and join ship on the other side. Aboard ship I’ll be out of touch with the world on long cruises. It may be there will be lapses in the daily column, simply because it’s impossible to transmit these pieces. But we’ll do our best to keep them going steadily.

I haven’t figured out yet what I’m going to do about seasickness. I’m one of those unfortunates with a terrific stomach on land, but one that turns to whey and jelly when I get aboard ship. I know of nothing that submerges the muse in a man as much as the constant compulsion to throw up. Perhaps I should take along my own oil to spread on the troubled waters.

Receives warnings

Friends warn me about all kinds of horrible diseases in the Pacific. About dysentery, and malaria, and fungus that gets in your ears and your intestines, and that horrible swelling disease known as elephantiasis.

Well, all I can say is that I’m God’s gift to germs. Those fungi will shout and leap for joy when I show up. Maybe I can play the Pied Piper role – maybe the germs will all follow me when I get there, and leave the rest of the boys free to fight.

So, what with disease, Japs, seasickness, and shot and shell – you see I’m not too overwhelmed with relief at starting out again.

But there’s one thing in my favor where I’m going; one thing that will make life bearable when all else is darkness and gloom. And that one thing is that, out in the Pacific, I’ll be good and stinking hot. Oh boy!