Eliot: Russia expected to take stand on Jap war
By Maj. George Fielding Eliot
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U.S. State Department (August 2, 1945)
Report on the Tripartite Conference of Berlin
[Babelsberg,] August 2, 1945
I.
On July 17, 1945, the President of the United States of America, Harry S. Truman, the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Generalissimo J. V. Stalin, and the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston S. Churchill, together with Mr. Clement R. Attlee, met in the Tripartite Conference of Berlin. They were accompanied by the foreign secretaries of the three Governments, Mr. James F. Byrnes, Mr. V. M. Molotov, and Mr. Anthony Eden, the Chiefs of Staff, and other advisers.
There were nine meetings between July 17 and July 25. The Conference was then interrupted for two days while the results of the British general election were being declared.
On July 28 Mr. Attlee returned to the Conference as Prime Minister, accompanied by the new Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ernest Bevin. Four days of further discussion then took place. During the course of the Conference there were regular meetings of the Heads of the Three Governments accompanied by the foreign secretaries, and also of the Foreign Secretaries alone. Committees appointed by the Foreign Secretaries for preliminary consideration of questions before the Conference also met daily.
The meetings of the Conference were held at the Cecilienhof near Potsdam. The Conference ended on August 2, 1945.
Important decisions and agreements were reached. Views were exchanged on a number of other questions and consideration of these matters will be continued by the Council of Foreign Ministers established by the Conference.
President Truman, Generalissimo Stalin and Prime Minister Attlee leave this Conference, which has strengthened the ties between the three governments and extended the scope of their collaboration and understanding, with renewed confidence that their governments and peoples, together with the other United Nations, will ensure the creation of a just and enduring peace.
II. Establishment of a Council of Foreign Ministers
The Conference reached an agreement for the establishment of a Council of Foreign Ministers representing the five principal Powers to continue the necessary preparatory work for the peace settlements and to take up other matters which from time to time may be referred to the Council by agreement of the governments participating in the Council.
The text of the agreement for the establishment of the Council of Foreign Ministers is as follows:
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There shall be established a Council composed of the Foreign Ministers of the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, China, France and the United States.
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(i) The Council shall normally meet in London, which shall be the permanent seat of the joint Secretariat which the Council will form. Each of the Foreign Ministers will be accompanied by a high-ranking Deputy, duly authorized to carry on the work of the Council in the absence of his Foreign Minister, and by a small staff of technical advisers.
(ii) The first meeting of the Council shall be held in London not later than September 1st 1945. Meetings may be held by common agreement in other capitals as may be agreed from time to time.
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(i) As its immediate important task, the Council shall be authorized to draw up, with a view to their submission to the United Nations, treaties of peace with Italy, Rumania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Finland, and to propose settlements of territorial questions outstanding on the termination of the war in Europe. The Council shall be utilized for the preparation of a peace settlement for Germany to be accepted by the Government of Germany when a government adequate for the purpose is established.
(ii) For the discharge of each of these tasks the Council will be composed of the Members representing those States which were signatory to the terms of surrender imposed upon the enemy State concerned. For the purposes of the peace settlement for Italy, France shall be regarded as a signatory to the terms of surrender for Italy. Other Members will be invited to participate when matters directly concerning them are under discussion.
(iii) Other matters may from time to time be referred to the Council by agreement between the Member Governments.
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(i) Whenever the Council is considering a question of direct interest to a State not represented thereon, such State should be invited to send representatives to participate in the discussion and study of that question.
(ii) The Council may adapt its procedure to the particular problem under consideration. In some cases it may hold its own preliminary discussions prior to the participation of other interested States. In other cases, the Council may convoke a formal conference of the State[s] chiefly interested in seeking a solution of the particular problem.
In accordance with the decision of the Conference the three Governments have each addressed an identical invitation to the Governments of China and France to adopt this text and to join in establishing the Council.
The establishment of the Council of Foreign Ministers for the specific purposes named in the text will be without prejudice to the agreement of the Crimea Conference that there should be periodic consultation among the Foreign Secretaries of the United States, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom.
The Conference also considered the position of the European Advisory Commission in the light of the agreement to establish the Council of Foreign Ministers. It was noted with satisfaction that the Commission had ably discharged its principal tasks by the recommendations that it had furnished for the terms of Germany’s unconditional surrender, for the zones of occupation in Germany and Austria, and for the inter-Allied control machinery in those countries. It was felt that further work of a detailed character for the coordination of Allied policy for the control of Germany and Austria would in future fall within the competence of the Allied Control Council at Berlin and the Allied Commission at Vienna. Accordingly, it was agreed to recommend that the European Advisory Commission be dissolved.
III. Germany
The Allied armies are in occupation of the whole of Germany and the German people have begun to atone for the terrible crimes committed under the leadership of those whom, in the hour of their success, they openly approved and blindly obeyed.
Agreement has been reached at this Conference on the political and economic principles of a coordinated Allied policy toward defeated Germany during the period of Allied control.
The purpose of this agreement is to carry out the Crimea declaration on Germany. German militarism and Nazism will be extirpated and the Allies will take in agreement together, now and in the future, the other measures necessary to assure that Germany never again will threaten her neighbors or the peace of the world.
It is not the intention of the Allies to destroy or enslave the German people. It is the intention of the Allies that the German people be given the opportunity to prepare for the eventual reconstruction of their life on a democratic and peaceful basis. If their own efforts are steadily directed to this end, it will be possible for them in due course to take their place among the free and peaceful peoples of the world.
The text of the agreement is as follows:
The Political and Economic Principles to Govern the Treatment of Germany in the Initial Control Period
A. Political Principles
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In accordance with the Agreement on Control Machinery in Germany, supreme authority in Germany is exercised on instructions from their respective Governments, by the Commanders-in-Chief of the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the French Republic, each in his own zone of occupation, and also jointly, in matters affecting Germany as a whole, in their capacity as members of the Control Council.
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So far as is practicable, there shall be uniformity of treatment of the German population throughout Germany.
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The purposes of the occupation of Germany by which the Control Council shall be guided are:
(i) The complete disarmament and demilitarization of Germany and the elimination or control of all German industry that could be used for military production. To these ends:-
(a) All German land, naval and air forces, the SS, SA, SD and Gestapo, with all their organizations, staffs and institutions, including the General Staff, the Officers’ Corps, Reserve Corps, military schools, war veterans’ organizations and all other military and quasi-military organization[s], together with all clubs and associations which serve to keep alive the military tradition in Germany, shall be completely and finally abolished in such manner as permanently to prevent the revival or reorganization of German militarism and Nazism;
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(b) All arms, ammunition and implements of war and all specialized facilities for their production shall be held at the disposal of the Allies or destroyed. The maintenance and production of all aircraft and all arms, ammunition and implements of war shall be prevented.
(ii) To convince the German people that they have suffered a total military defeat and that they cannot escape responsibility for what they have brought upon themselves, since their own ruthless warfare and the fanatical Nazi resistance have destroyed German economy and made chaos and suffering inevitable.
(iii) To destroy the National Socialist Party and its affiliated and supervised organizations, to dissolve all Nazi institutions, to ensure that they are not revived in any form, and to prevent all Nazi and militarist activity or propaganda.
(iv) To prepare for the eventual reconstruction of German political life on a democratic basis and for eventual peaceful cooperation in international life by Germany.
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All Nazi laws which provided the basis of the Hitler regime or established discrimination on grounds of race, creed, or political opinion shall be abolished. No such discriminations, whether legal, administrative or otherwise, shall be tolerated.
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War criminals and those who have participated in planning or carrying out Nazi enterprises involving or resulting in atrocities or war crimes shall be arrested and brought to judgment. Nazi leaders, influential Nazi supporters and high officials of Nazi organizations and institutions and any other persons dangerous to the occupation or its objectives shall be arrested and interned.
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All members of the Nazi Party who have been more than nominal participants in its activities and all other persons hostile to Allied purposes shall be removed from public and semi-public office, and from positions of responsibility in important private undertakings. Such persons shall be replaced by persons who, by their political and moral qualities, are deemed capable of assisting in developing genuine democratic institutions in Germany.
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German education shall be so controlled as completely to eliminate Nazi and militarist doctrines and to make possible the successful development of democratic ideas.
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The judicial system will be reorganized in accordance with the principles of democracy, of justice under law, and of equal rights for all citizens without distinction of race, nationality or religion.
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The administration of affairs in Germany should be directed towards the decentralization of the political structure and the development of local responsibility. To this end:
(i) local self-government shall be restored throughout Germany on democratic principles and in particular through elective councils as rapidly as is consistent with military security and the purposes of military occupation;
(ii) all democratic political parties with rights of assembly and of public discussion shall be allowed and encouraged throughout Germany;
(iii) representative and elective principles shall be introduced into regional, provincial and state (Land) administration as rapidly as may be justified by the successful application of these principles in local self-government;
(iv) for the time being no central German government shall be established. Notwithstanding this, however, certain essential central German administrative departments, headed by State Secretaries, shall be established, particularly in the fields of finance, transport, communications, foreign trade and industry. Such departments will act under the direction of the Control Council.
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Subject to the necessity for maintaining military security, freedom of speech, press and religion shall be permitted, and religious institutions shall be respected. Subject likewise to the maintenance of military security, the formation of free trade unions shall be permitted.
B. Economic Principles
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In order to eliminate Germany’s war potential, the production of arms, ammunition and implements of war as well as all types of aircraft and sea-going ships shall be prohibited and prevented. Production of metals, chemicals, machinery and other items that are directly necessary to a war economy shall be rigidly controlled and restricted to Germany’s approved post-war peacetime needs to meet the objectives stated in Paragraph 15. Productive capacity not needed for permitted production shall be removed in accordance with the reparations plan recommended by the Allied Commission on Reparations and approved by the Governments concerned or if not removed shall be destroyed.
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At the earliest practicable date, the German economy shall be decentralized for the purpose of eliminating the present excessive concentration of economic power as exemplified in particular by cartels, syndicates, trusts and other monopolistic arrangements.
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In organizing the German economy, primary emphasis shall be given to the development of agriculture and peaceful domestic industries.
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During the period of occupation Germany shall be treated as a single economic unit. To this end common policies shall be established in regard to:
(a) mining and industrial production and allocation;
(b) agriculture, forestry and fishing;
(c) wages, prices and rationing;
(d) import and export programs for Germany as a whole;
(e) currency and banking, central taxation and customs;
(f) reparation and removal of industrial war potential;
(g) transportation and communications.In applying these policies account shall be taken, where appropriate, of varying local conditions.
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Allied controls shall be imposed upon the German economy but only to the extent necessary:
(a) to carry out programs of industrial disarmament and demilitarization, of reparations, and of approved exports and imports.(b) to assure the production and maintenance of goods and services required to meet the needs of the occupying forces and displaced persons in Germany and essential to maintain in Germany average living standards not exceeding the average of the standards of living of European countries. (European countries means all European countries excluding the United Kingdom and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.)
(c) to ensure in the manner determined by the Control Council the equitable distribution of essential commodities between the several zones so as to produce a balanced economy throughout Germany and reduce the need for imports.
(d) to control German industry and all economic and financial international transactions, including exports and imports, with the aim of preventing Germany from developing a war potential tial and of achieving the other objectives named herein.
(e) to control all German public or private scientific bodies, research and experimental institutions, laboratories, et cetera, connected with economic activities.
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In the imposition and maintenance of economic controls established by the Control Council, German administrative machinery shall be created and the German authorities shall be required to the fullest extent practicable to proclaim and assume administration of such controls. Thus it should be brought home to the German people that the responsibility for the administration of such controls and any breakdown in these controls will rest with themselves. Any German controls which may run counter to the objectives of occupation will be prohibited.
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Measures shall be promptly taken:
(a) to effect essential repair of transport;
(b) to enlarge coal production;
(c) to maximize agricultural output; and
(d) to effect emergency repair of housing and essential utilities. -
Appropriate steps shall be taken by the Control Council to exercise control and the power of disposition over German-owned external assets not already under the control of United Nations which have taken part in the war against Germany.
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Payment of Reparations should leave enough resources to enable the German people to subsist without external assistance. In working out the economic balance of Germany the necessary means must be provided to pay for imports approved by the Control Council in Germany. The proceeds of exports from current production and stocks shall be available in the first place for payment for such imports.
The above clause will not apply to the equipment and products referred to in paragraphs 4 (a) and 4 (b) of the Reparations Agreement.
IV. Reparations from Germany
In accordance with the Crimea decision that Germany be compelled to compensate to the greatest possible extent for the loss and suffering that she has caused to the United Nations and for which the German people cannot escape responsibility, the following agreement on reparations was reached:
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Reparation claims of the USSR shall be met by removals from the zone of Germany occupied by the USSR and from appropriate German external assets.
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The USSR undertakes to settle the reparation claims of Poland from its own share of reparations.
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The reparation claims of the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries entitled to reparations shall be met from the Western Zones and from appropriate German external assets.
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In addition to the reparations to be taken by the USSR from its own zone of occupation, the USSR shall receive additionally from the Western Zones:
(a) 15 percent of such usable and complete industrial capital equipment, in the first place from the metallurgical, chemical and machine manufacturing industries, as is unnecessary for the German peace economy and should be removed from the Western Zones of Germany, in exchange for an equivalent value of food, coal, potash, zinc, timber, clay products, petroleum products, and such other commodities as may be agreed upon.
(b) 10 percent of such industrial capital equipment as is unnecessary for the German peace economy and should be removed from the Western Zones, to be transferred to the Soviet Government on reparations account without payment or exchange of any kind in return.
Removals of equipment as provided in (a) and (b) above shall be made simultaneously.
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The amount of equipment to be removed from the Western Zones on account of reparations must be determined within six months from now at the latest.
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Removals of industrial capital equipment shall begin as soon as possible and shall be completed within two years from the determination specified in paragraph 5. The delivery of products covered by 4 (a) above shall begin as soon as possible and shall be made by the USSR in agreed installments within five years of the date hereof. The determination of the amount and character of the industrial capital equipment unnecessary for the German peace economy and therefore available for reparations shall be made by the Control Council under policies fixed by the Allied Commission on Reparations, with the participation of France, subject to the final approval of the Zone Commander in the Zone from which the equipment is to be removed.
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Prior to the fixing of the total amount of equipment subject to removal, advance deliveries shall be made in respect of such equipment as will be determined to be eligible for delivery in accordance with the procedure set forth in the last sentence of paragraph 6.
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The Soviet Government renounces all claims in respect of reparations to shares of German enterprises which are located in the Western Zones of occupation in3 Germany as well as to German foreign assets in all countries except those specified in paragraph 9 below.
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The Governments of the U.K. and the USA renounce their claims in respect of reparations to shares of German enterprises which are located in the Eastern Zone of occupation in Germany, as well as to German foreign assets in Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Rumania and Eastern Austria.
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The Soviet Government makes no claims to gold captured by the Allied troops in Germany.
V. Disposal of the German Navy and Merchant Marine
The Conference agreed in principle upon arrangements for the use and disposal of the surrendered German fleet and merchant ships. It was decided that the Three Governments would appoint experts to work out together detailed plans to give effect to the agreed principles. A further joint statement will be published simultaneously by the Three Governments in due course.
VI. City of Koenigsberg and the adjacent area
The Conference examined a proposal by the Soviet Government that pending the final determination of territorial questions at the peace settlement, the section of the western frontier of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which is adjacent to the Baltic Sea should pass from a point on the eastern shore of the Bay of Danzig to the east, north of Braunsberg-Goldap, to the meeting point of the frontiers of Lithuania, the Polish Republic and East Prussia.
The Conference has agreed in principle to the proposal of the Soviet Government concerning the ultimate transfer to the Soviet Union of the City of Koenigsberg and the area adjacent to it as described above subject to expert examination of the actual frontier.
The President of the United States and the British Prime Minister have declared that they will support the proposal of the Conference at the forthcoming peace settlement.
VII. War criminals
The Three Governments have taken note of the discussions which have been proceeding in recent weeks in London between British, United States, Soviet and French representatives with a view to reaching agreement on the methods of trial of those major war criminals whose crimes under the Moscow Declaration of October 1943 have no particular geographical localization. The Three Governments reaffirm their intention to bring those criminals to swift and sure justice. They hope that the negotiations in London will result in speedy agreement being reached for this purpose, and they regard it as a matter of great importance that the trial of those major criminals should begin at the earliest possible date. The first list of defendants will be published before September 1.
VIII. Austria
The Conference examined a proposal by the Soviet Government on the extension of the authority of the Austrian Provisional Government to all of Austria.
The three Governments agreed that they were prepared to examine this question after the entry of the British and American forces into the city of Vienna.
IX. Poland
The Conference considered questions relating to the Polish Provisional Government and the western boundary of Poland.
On the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity, they defined their attitude in the following statement:
A-- We have taken note with pleasure of the agreement reached among representative Poles from Poland and abroad which has made possible the formation, in accordance with the decisions reached at the Crimea Conference, of a Polish Provisional Government of National Unity recognized by the Three Powers. The establishment by the British and United States Governments of diplomatic relations with the Polish Provisional Government has resulted in the withdrawal of their recognition from the former Polish Government in London, which no longer exists.
The British and United States Governments have taken measures to protect the interest of the Polish Provisional Government as the recognized government of the Polish State in the property belonging to the Polish State located in their territories and under their control, whatever the form of this property may be. They have further taken measures to prevent alienation to third parties of such property. All proper facilities will be given to the Polish Provisional Government for the exercise of the ordinary legal remedies for the recovery of any property belonging to the Polish State which may have been wrongfully alienated.
The three Powers are anxious to assist the Polish Provisional Government in facilitating the return to Poland as soon as practicable of all Poles abroad who wish to go, including members of the Polish Armed Forces and the Merchant Marine. They expect that those Poles who return home shall be accorded personal and property rights on the same basis as all Polish citizens.
The three Powers note that the Polish Provisional Government in accordance with the decisions of the Crimea Conference has agreed to the holding of free and unfettered elections as soon as possible on the basis of universal suffrage and secret ballot in which all democratic and anti-Nazi parties shall have the right to take part and to put forward candidates, and that representatives of the Allied press shall enjoy full freedom to report to the world upon developments in Poland before and during the elections.
B-- The following agreement was reached on the western frontier of Poland:
In conformity with the agreement on Poland reached at the Crimea Conference the three Heads of Government have sought the opinion of the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity in regard to the accession of territory in the north and west which Poland should receive. The President of the National Council of Poland and members of the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity have been received at the Conference and have fully presented their views. The three Heads of Government reaffirm their opinion that the final delimitation of the western frontier of Poland should await the peace settlement.
The three Heads of Government agree that, pending the final determination of Poland’s western frontier, the former German territories east of a line running from the Baltic Sea immediately west of Swinemunde, and thence along the Oder River to the confluence of the western Neisse River and along the western Neisse to the Czechoslovak frontier, including that portion of East Prussia not placed under the administration of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in accordance with the understanding reached at this conference and including the area of the former free city of Danzig, shall be under the administration of the Polish State and for such purposes should not be considered as part of the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany.
X. Conclusion of peace treaties and admission to the United Nations Organization
The Conference agreed upon the following statement of common policy for establishing, as soon as possible, the conditions of lasting peace after victory in Europe:
The Three Governments consider it desirable that the present anomalous position of Italy, Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary and Rumania should be terminated by the conclusion of Peace Treaties. They trust that the other interested Allied Governments will share these views.
For their part the Three Governments have included the preparation of a Peace Treaty for Italy as the first among the immediate important tasks to be undertaken by the new Council of Foreign Ministers. Italy was the first of the Axis Powers to break with Germany, to whose defeat she has made a material contribution, and has now joined with the Allies in the struggle against Japan. Italy has freed herself from the Fascist regime and is making good progress towards the reestablishment of a democratic government and institutions. The conclusion of such a Peace Treaty with a recognized and democratic Italian Government will make it possible for the Three Governments to fulfill their desire to support an application from Italy for membership of The United Nations.
The Three Governments have also charged the Council of Foreign Ministers with the task of preparing Peace Treaties for Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary and Rumania. The conclusion of Peace Treaties with recognized democratic Governments in these States will also enable the three Governments to support applications from them for membership of the United Nations. The three Governments agree to examine each separately in the near future, in the light of the conditions then prevailing, the establishment of diplomatic relations with Finland, Rumania, Bulgaria, and Hungary to the extent possible prior to the conclusion of peace treaties with those countries.
The three Governments have no doubt that in view of the changed conditions resulting from the termination of the war in Europe, representatives of the Allied press will enjoy full freedom to report to the world upon developments in Rumania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Finland.
As regards the admission of other states into the United Nations Organization, Article 4 of the Charter of the United Nations declares that:
Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving States who accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations;
the admission of any such State to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
The Three Governments, so far as they are concerned, will support applications for membership from those States which have remained neutral during the war and which fulfill the qualifications set out above.
The Three Governments feel bound however to make it clear that they for their part would not favor any application for membership put forward by the present Spanish Government, which, having been founded with the support of the Axis Powers, does not, in view of its origins, its nature, its record and its close association with the aggressor States, possess the qualifications necessary to justify such membership.
XI. Territorial trusteeships
The Conference examined a proposal by the Soviet Government concerning trusteeship territories as defined in the decision of the Crimea Conference and in the Charter of the United Nations Organization.
After an exchange of views on this question it was decided that the disposition of any former Italian territories was one to be decided in connection with the preparation of a peace treaty for Italy and that the question of Italian territory would be considered by the September Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
XII. Revised Allied Control Commission procedure in Rumania, Bulgaria, and Hungary
The Three Governments took note that the Soviet Representatives on the Allied Control Commissions in Rumania, Bulgaria and Hungary, have communicated to their United Kingdom and United States colleagues proposals for improving the work of the Control Commission, now that hostilities in Europe have ceased.
The Three Governments agreed that the revision of the procedures of the Allied Control Commissions in these countries would now be undertaken, taking into account the interests and responsibilities of the Three Governments which together presented the terms of armistice to the respective countries, and accepting as a basis the agreed proposals.
XIII. Orderly transfers of German populations
The Conference reached the following agreement on the removal of Germans from Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary:
The Three Governments, having considered the question in all its aspects, recognize that the transfer to Germany of German populations, or elements thereof, remaining in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, will have to be undertaken. They agree that any transfers that take place should be effected in an orderly and humane manner.
Since the influx of a large number of Germans into Germany would increase the burden already resting on the occupying authorities, they consider that the Allied Control Council in Germany should in the first instance examine the problem with special regard to the question of the equitable distribution of these Germans among the several zones of occupation. They are accordingly instructing their respective representatives on the Control Council to report to their Governments as soon as possible the extent to which such persons have already entered Germany from Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, and to submit an estimate of the time and rate at which further transfers could be carried out, having regard to the present situation in Germany.
The Czechoslovak Government, the Polish Provisional Government and the Control Council in Hungary are at the same time being informed of the above, and are being requested meanwhile to suspend further expulsions pending the examination by the Governments concerned of the report from their representatives on the Control Council.
XIV. Military talks
During the Conference there were meetings between the Chiefs of Staff of the three Governments on military matters of common interest.
Approved:
J. V. STALIN
HARRY S. TRUMAN
C. R. ATTLEE
List of delegations
For the United States
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The President:
Harry S. Truman -
The Secretary of State:
James F. Byrnes -
Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, USN, Chief of Staff to the President
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Joseph E. Davies, Special Ambassador
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Edwin Pauley, Special Ambassador
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W. Averell Harriman, Ambassador to the USSR
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General of the Army, George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, United States Army
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Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, USN, Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet
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General of the Army, H. H. Arnold, U.S. Army Air Forces
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Lieutenant General Brehon B. Somervell, Commanding General, Army Service Forces
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Vice Admiral Emory S. Land, War Shipping Administrator
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William L. Clayton, Assistant Secretary of State
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James C. Dunn, Assistant Secretary of State
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Ben Cohen, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State
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H. Freeman Matthews, Director of European Affairs, Department of State
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Charles E. Bohlen, Assistant to the Secretary,
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(together with political, military and technical advisers).
For the United Kingdom
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The Prime Minister:
Mr. Winston S. Churchill, MP
Mr. C. R. Attlee, MP -
The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs:
Mr. Anthony Eden, MP
Mr. Ernest Bevin, MP -
Lord Leathers, Minister of War Transport
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Sir Alexander Cadogan, Permanent Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
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Sir Archibald Clark Kerr, H.M. Ambassador at Moscow
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Sir Walter Monckton, Head of the U.K. Delegation to Moscow Reparations Commission
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Sir William Strang, Political Adviser to the Commander-in-Chief, British Zone in Germany
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Sir Edward Bridges, Secretary of the Cabinet
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Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff
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Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Sir Charles Portal, Chief of the Air Staff
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Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Cunningham, First Sea Lord
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General Sir Hastings Ismay, Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence
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Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander, Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theatre
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Field Marshal Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, Head of the British Joint Staff Mission at Washington
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and other advisers
[For the Soviet Union]
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[The Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars:
J. V. Stalin -
People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs:
V. M. Molotov -
Fleet Admiral N. G. Kuznetsov, People’s Commissar, the Naval Fleet of the USSR
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A. I. Antonov, Chief of Staff of the Red Army
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A. Ya Vyshinski, Deputy People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs
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S. I. Kavtaradze, Assistant People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs
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I. M. Maisky, Assistant People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs
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Admiral S. G. Kucherov, Chief of Staff of the Naval Fleet
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F. T. Gusev, Ambassador of the Soviet Union in Great Britain
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A. A. Gromyko, Ambassador of the Soviet Union in the United States of America
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K. V. Novikov, Member of the Collegium of the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, Director of the Second European Division
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S. K. Tsarapkin, Member of the Collegium of the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, Director of the United States Division
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S. P. Kozyrev, Director of the First European Division of the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs
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A. A. Lavrishchev, Director of the Division of Balkan Countries, Commissariat for Foreign Affairs
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A. A. Sobolev, Chief of the Political Section of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany
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I. [M.] Z. Saburov, Assistant to the Chief of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany
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A. [S.] A. Golunsky, Expert consultant of the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs
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and also political, military, and technical assistants.]
Log of the President’s Trip to the Berlin Conference
Thursday, August 2:
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The President and his party left the Little White House at 0715 by motor car for Gatow Airfield. We arrived at the airfield at 0740. All hands immediately embarked in their respective planes. Ambassador Harriman and General Parks were among those on hand to see the President off. By special request of the President, no honors were rendered him at the airport.
At 0755 Plane No. 2 (a C-54, Major Jesse Hayes pilot) departed for St. Mawgan Airport in Southwest England. The principal passenger was Secretary Byrnes. With him were: Mr. Ross, Mr. Matthews, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Russell, Mr. Brown, Lt-Colonel McIntire, Major Mitchell, Lt. Elsey, Lt. Edelstein, Captain Graham, Lt. Rigdon, CWO Stoner, CWO Caldwell, Sgt. Philler, Agents Holmes, Haman, Campion, Waters, Spicer, Kearney and Gilliam, and Mr. Romagna.
Plane No. 1 (a C-54, Lt-Col. H. T. Myers pilot) departed Gatow at 0805 for St. Mawgan. Passengers were: The President, Admiral Leahy, Judge Rosenman, General Vaughan, Captain McMahon, Mr. Maloney, Mr. Drescher and Mr. Hipsley.
0815: Plane No. 3 (C-54) with all other members of our party departed Gatow for England. Lieut. McCarthy returned to Plymouth with us in this plane.
Our route from Gatow was via Magdeburg, Kassel, Brussels, Cape Gris Nez, Newhaven, over the Isle of Wight and Portland.…
Our plans to land at St. Mawgan, where an official welcoming committee (including Ambassador Winant and Admirals Stark and McCann and General Lee and British civic officials) awaited us, were thwarted by the weather. When our planes were over Harrowbeer – about 10 miles outside Plymouth – we received word that the airport at St. Mawgan was closed at the moment because of fog. Observing that Harrowbeer was clear, the President decided to take no chance on the weather and instructed his pilot to set his plane down there. Plane No. 1 landed at Harrowbeer at 0940. Planes No. 2 and No. 3 followed in shortly afterwards in that order. (Distance traveled, Berlin to Harrowbeer, approximately 800 miles.)
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Transportation was soon assembled and the President left Harrowbeer at approximately 1020 for the drive to Plymouth.…
The President arrived at Mill Dock, Plymouth, at 1105. He was met here by Admiral Sir John [Ralph] Leatham, Commander in Chief, Plymouth. The President, Secretary Byrnes, Admiral Leahy and Admiral Leatham embarked in Admiral Leatham’s barge and left immediately for the Augusta, then at anchor in Plymouth Roads. They arrived on board the Augusta at 1120.
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At 1131 Ambassador Winant, Admiral Stark, General Lee and Admiral McCann arrived on board the Augusta and called on the President. They had been at St. Mawgan awaiting us, but on learning of the President’s landing at Harrowbeer, had hurried on to Plymouth.
The British battle cruiser Renown and the USS Philadelphia were at anchor in Plymouth Roads with the Augusta. King George VI was in the Renown. He had come down from London by train this forenoon especially to welcome the President to England.
At 1235 the President, Secretary Byrnes and Admiral Leahy left the Augusta for the Renown to call upon the King. They lunched with the King on board the Renown. Other guests were Lord [Sir Alan] Lascelles, Viscount [the Earl of] Halifax, Admiral Leatham and Captain Campbell.…
1400: Lieut. McCarthy was dispatched to Washington via air with White House mail.
At 1504, King George VI, accompanied by the Earl of Halifax, Sir Alan Lascelles, Admiral Leatham and Captain Campbell, came on board the Augusta to call on the President.…
The King was greeted on the quarterdeck by the President, Secretary Byrnes, Admiral Leahy and Captain Foskett. He inspected the Marine Guard and made a brief tour of inspection of personnel on the weather decks forward. The party then retired to the President’s cabin.
The visit concluded, the King and his party left the ship at 1534, at which time full honors were again rendered. After the King had left the Augusta the British White Ensign was hauled down.
The Augusta got underway at 1549 and stood out of the harbor. The Philadelphia got underway at 1555 and followed in column astern.…
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The President met with the members of the press (White House Correspondents Smith, Nixon, Vacarro and Beatty) shortly after our clearing the harbor and discussed the conference with them.
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The Syonan Shimbun (August 3, 1945)
Enemy unit attacking Samarinda Road believed almost wiped out
Fighting on main Balikpapan front stalemated
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91 more foe Superforts shot down, crippled in Nippon skies
Enemy raiders continue to pay heavy toll
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Potsdam parties issue 7,000-word report
LISBON (Domei, Aug. 2) – A 7,000-word report was issued by the conferees on the conclusion of the Potsdam Conference which came to a formal end at half an hour past midnight last night after a session lasting a fortnight, according to a Berlin dispatch.
A communique, which was simultaneously released in London, Washington, Moscow and Berlin, announced agreed plans for the complete and final destruction of the Nazi creed, the German general staff and the entire range of Germany’s war-manufacturing potential.
It also announced the formation of a Council of Foreign Ministers of Britain, Russia, Chungking, France and the United States, with a permanent secretariat in London, to prepare peace treaties with Italy and other former Axis countries, and plan further settlement with Germany.
The communique disclosed that Poland’s future frontiers will await peace settlement and in the meantime Poland will administer territory east of the river Oder and Nisse.
The report offers membership of the United Nations to qualified neutral countries with the sole specific exception of the Spanish government, which it says lacks the necessary qualification owing to its previous association with Germany.
No mention of the Far East was made in the communique.
Salzburger Nachrichten (August 3, 1945)
Potsdamer Konferenz abgeschlossen
Deutschland soll nie wieder den Frieden der Welt bedrohen
LONDON, 2. August (Reuter/OWI) – Die Pläne zur endgültigen und völligen Vernichtung des nationalsozialistischen deutschen Generalstabes und des gesamten deutschen Kriegspotentials zusammen mit „allen anderen notwendigen Maßnahmen, die verhindern sollen, dass Deutschland je wieder den Frieden der Welt bedrohe,“ sind in einem 7000 Worte umfassenden Bericht niedergelegt. Dieser Bericht wurde heute Nacht zum Abschluss der Potsdamer Konferenz der „Großen Drei“ herausgegeben und in London, Washington, Moskau und Berlin veröffentlicht.
Die gesamten deutschen Streitkräfte auf dem Lande, zur See und in der Luft, welcher Art sie auch immer sein mögen, sollen vollkommen aufgelöst werden. Alle Waffen, die gesamte Munition und das übrige Kriegsmaterial werden von den Alliierten übernommen oder zerstört werden. Sämtliche Einrichtungen und Gesetze der Nazis sind für ungültig erklärt. In der nächsten Zeit darf keine deutsche Zentralregierung gebildet werden. Die Herstellung von Waffen aller Art, sowie von Flugzeugen und Seeschiffen, wird verboten, die mächtigen deutschen Handelskartelle und Syndikate sollen zerschlagen und die deutsche Wirtschaft dezentralisiert werden. Die Erzeugung soll sich auf die Landwirtschaft und eine die Friedensgüter erzeugende Industrie beschränken.
Deutschland wird dazu gezwungen werden, alle Vorbereitungen zu treffen, „um in größtmöglichem Umfang die Schäden und Verluste, die es verursacht hat, wieder gutzumachen.“ Es werden ihm aber trotzdem genügend Hilfsmittel für eine Existenz ohne auswärtige Hilfe gelassen werden. Kriegsverbrecher werden einer „raschen und sicheren Justiz“ unterworfen und die erste Zusammenstellung der kommenden Verhandlungen wird noch vor Ende dieses Monats veröffentlicht.
Deutschland soll nicht versklavt werden
Die „Großen Drei“ erklärten: Es ist nicht die Absicht der Alliierten, das deutsche Volk zu vernichten oder zu versklaven, sondern ihm Gelegenheit zu geben, den Wiederaufbau seiner Existenz auf einer demokratischen und friedlichen Basis vorzubereiten, so dass es im Laufe der Zeit seinen Platz unter den freien und friedliebenden Völkern der Welt einnehmen kann. Zu diesem Zweck soll das deutsche Erziehungswesen auf neue und demokratische Grundlagen gestellt und eine lokale demokratische Selbstverwaltung wiederhergestellt werden. Soweit es die militärische Sicherheit zulässt, soll Rede-, Presse- und Religionsfreiheit gestattet sein.
Während der Besetzungsdauer, deren Länge noch nicht feststeht, soll Deutschland als ein einheitliches Wirtschaftsgebiet unter alliierter Wirtschaftskontrolle behandelt werden. Der Bericht kündigt auch die Bildung eines Rates der Außenminister Von Großbritannien, Sowjetrussland, China, Frankreich und den Vereinigten Staaten mit einem ständigen Sekretariat in London an. Der Rat der Außenminister der fünf ständigen Ratsmitglieder der vorgeschlagenen Organisation der Vereinten Nationen wurde ermächtigt, den Friedensvertrag mit Italien, Rumänien, Bulgarien, Ungarn und Finnland zu entwerfen. Außerdem wurde der Rat ermächtigt, einen „Vorschlag zur Regelung der zum Zeitpunkt der Beendigung des Krieges in Europa ungelösten territorialen Fragen“ zu konzipieren.
Soweit es durchführbar ist, soll die Bevölkerung in ganz Deutschland in gleicher Weise behandelt werden. Der Zweck der Besatzung ist die vollkommene Entwaffnung und Entmilitarisierung Deutschlands sowie die Beseitigung des Einflusses aller jener deutschen Industrien, die zur Erzeugung von Kriegsmaterial dienen könnten. Zu diesem Zweck müssen alle deutschen Streitkräfte sowie alle übrigen militärischen Organisationen, Vereine und Verbände, welche die militärische Tradition in Deutschland am Leben erhalten könnten, aufgelöst werden.
Alle Mitglieder der Nazipartei, die mehr als nur gewöhnliche Mitläufer waren, sollen aus verantwortungsvollen Positionen entfernt und durch Personen, die den demokratischen Einrichtungen würdig erscheinen, ersetzt werden. Die deutsche Erziehung soll so vollkommen überwacht werden, als zur völligen Ausschaltung von militaristischen und Nazi-Lehren notwendig ist und eine erfolgreiche Entwicklung der demokratischen Ideen gewährleistet. Das Gerichtssystem wird in Übereinstimmung mit den Prinzipien der Demokratie reorganisiert werden. Das Verwaltungswesen in Deutschland soll auf eine Dezentralisierung des politischen Aufbaus und auf eine Entwicklung einer geteilten Verantwortung hingelenkt werden. Alle demokratischen politischen Parteien sollen in ganz Deutschland erlaubt und gefördert werden. Das Vertretungs- und Wahlprinzip soll in der Regional-, Provinzial- und Landesverwaltung eingeführt werden.
Kontrolle über die deutsche Wirtschaft
Die deutsche Wirtschaft soll einer alliierten Kontrolle unterworfen werden, jedoch nur, soweit dies notwendig ist‚ um die industrielle Abrüstung, Entmilitarisierung und die Reparationen sicherzustellen und die Erzeugung von Gütern und Aufrechterhaltung von Leistungen zu garantieren. Diese Leistungen müssen den Bedürfnissen der Besatzungsmächte und der Umgesiedelten entsprechen und sind notwendig, um Deutschland eine durchschnittliche Lebenshaltung zu sichern, die über die durchschnittliche Lebenshaltung anderer europäischer Länder nicht hinausgeht.
Es sollen ehestens Maßnahmen ergriffen werden, um das Transportwesen wieder in Ordnung zu bringen, die Kohlenproduktion zu steigern, einen Höchstertrag der Landwirtschaft zu erzielen und um die dringendsten Reparaturen an den Wohnhäusern und öffentlichen Einrichtungen vorzunehmen. Der Kontrollrat wird geeignete Maßnahmen ergreifen, um einen Überblick über die deutschen Auslandsguthaben zu bekommen und darüber zu verfügen. Die Reparationszahlungen sollen dem deutschen Volke hinreichende Mittel belassen, um ohne ausländische Hilfe leben zu können. Zur Bezahlung der bewilligten Einfuhr soll in erster Linie der Ertrag der Ausfuhr herangezogen werden.
Die Kriegsentschädigungen
Über dies wurde ein Abkommen über zu leistende Kriegsentschädigungen erzielt, das folgenden Inhalt hat:
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Die Ansprüche Sowjetrusslands auf Kriegsentschädigungen sollen durch Sachgüter, die aus der russischbesetzten Zone Deutschlands entnommen werden sowie durch deutsche Auslandsguthaben befriedigt werden.
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Sowjetrussland verpflichtet sich, die Ansprüche Polens auf Kriegsentschädigung durch einen entsprechenden Teil der ihm geleisteten Reparationen zu befriedigen.
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Die Ansprüche der Vereinigten Staaten, Großbritannien und anderer zu Kriegsentschädigungen berechtigter Staaten sollen durch Leistungen, die aus der westlichen Zone entnommen werden, und durch deutsche Auslandsguthaben befriedigt werden.
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Sowjetrussland soll überdies aus den deutschen Westgebieten folgende Leistungen erhalten:
a) 15 Prozent aller brauchbaren und vollständigen Anlagen der Metallindustrie, sowie der chemischen und Maschinenindustrie, soweit sie nicht für die deutsche Friedenswirtschaft erforderlich sind, sind gegen entsprechende Zufuhren von Nahrungsmitteln, Kohle, Kali, Zink, Bauholz, Tonwaren und Petroleumprodukten einzutauschen;
b) 10 Prozent der Industrieanlagen, soweit sie nicht für die deutsche Friedenswirtschaft unbedingt erforderlich sind, sind der Regierung Sowjetrusslands zur Verfügung zu stellen, wobei diese Leistung auf die Kriegsentschädigung angerechnet wird, ohne dass irgendeine Gegenleistung dafür zu erfolgen hat.
Termin für Kriegsentschädigungen
Der Wert der industriellen Anlagen, die aus den westlichen Gebieten bezogen werden, muss in Anrechnung auf die Kriegsentschädigung innerhalb von 6 Monaten festgesetzt werden. Der Abtransport der industriellen Anlagen soll sobald als möglich beginnen und innerhalb von 2 Jahren nach dem festgesetzten Zeitpunkt abgeschlossen sein. Die Lieferung der in Abschnitt (A) genannten Erzeugnisse soll durch die Sowjetunion innerhalb 5 Jahren in festgelegten Raten durchgeführt werden. Die Festlegung, der Höhe und Art der industriellen Einrichtungen, die für Kriegsentschädigungen verwendet werden können, soll durch den Kontrollrat unter Teilnahme Frankreichs vorgenommen werden. Sie ist außerdem noch der endgültigen Prüfung durch die Befehlshaber der betreffenden Zone, aus der diese Einrichtungen abtransportiert werden sollen, unterworfen.
Bevor die endgültige Höhe der abzuliefernden Einrichtungen bestimmt ist, sollen durch den Kontrollrat vorläufige Lieferungen festgelegt werden. Die Regierung Sowjetrusslands verzichtet auf alle Ansprüche in Bezug auf Aktien deutscher Unternehmen in der eigenen und in den westlichen Zonen und auf die deutschen Guthaben im Ausland.
Die Regierungen Großbritanniens und der USA verzichten auf ihre Wiedergutmachungsansprüche, auf Anteile an den deutschen Unternehmen, die in der Ostzone gelegen sind sowie auf die Auslandsguthaben in Bulgarien, Finnland, Ungarn, Rumänien und Österreich. Die Sowjetregierung erhebt Anspruch auf das durch die alliierten Truppen in Deutschland erbeutete Gold.
Polens Grenzen
Die zukünftige Grenze Polens wird erst im Friedensschluss festgelegt werden, doch soll Polen das Gebiet östlich der Flüsse Oder und Neiße verwalten. Polen, die Tschechoslowakei und Ungarn werden ersucht, die Umsiedlung von Bevölkerungsgruppen bis zur weiteren Klärung der Lage vorläufig einzustellen. Der Bericht bietet den qualifiert neutralen Staaten die Mitgliedschaft in den Vereinten Nationen an, mit ausdrücklichem Ausschluss der spanischen Regierung. Es wird festgestellt, dass die Regierungen der Vereinigten Staaten‚ Sowjetrusslands und Großbritannien ein Ansuchen der gegenwärtigen spanischen Regierung um Mitgliedschaft in den Vereinten Nationen „nicht unterstützen würden, da diese durch die Unterstützung der Achsenmächte begründet Worden ist und da sie angesichts ihres Ursprungs, ihrer Natur‚ ihrer Haltung in der Vergangenheit und ihrer nahen Beziehung zu den Angreifer-Staaten nicht die Eignung hat, die erforderlich ist, um eine solche Mitgliedschaft zu rechtfertigen.“
Im Hinblick auf die Provisorische Polnische Regierung der Nationalen Einheit bestätigte der Bericht, dass die frühere polnische Regierung in London nicht mehr besteht und stellte fest, dass die Regierungen von Großbritannien und den Vereinigten Staaten Maßnahmen ergriffen hätten, um die Interessen der Provisorischen Polnischen Regierung als der anerkannten Regierung des polnischen Staates zu schützen. Der Provisorischen Polnischen Regierung wird volle Förderung zuteilwerden zwecks Durchführung aller ordentlichen und gesetzmäßigen Maßnahmen zur Wiedererlangung des Besitztums des polnischen Staates, dass diesem Widerrechtlich enteignet worden ist. Die drei Mächte sind besonders bestrebt, der Provisorischen Polnischen Regierung zu helfen, alle Polen im Auslande so rasch wie möglich zurückzuführen, soweit sie dies selbst wünschen, einschließlich der Angehörigen der polnischen Wehrmacht und der Handelsmarine.
Über die Kriegsverbrecher
Die drei Regierungen bestätigen nochmals ihre Absicht, Hauptkriegsverbrecher, deren Verbrechen auf kein bestimmtes geographisches Gebiet beschränkt waren, einer raschen Aburteilung zuzuführen. Sie hoffen, dass die Verhandlungen in London zu einem raschen Ergebnis führen werden und betrachten es als eine Angelegenheit von großer Bedeutung, dass der Prozess gegen die Hauptkriegsverbrecher möglichst früh beginnen soll. Die erste Liste der Angeklagten soll vor dem 1. September veröffentlicht werden.
Österreich
Die Konferenz prüfte den Vorschlag der Sowjetregierung, die Zuständigkeit der vorläufigen österreichischen Regierung auf ganz Österreich auszudehnen und kam darin überein, diese Frage erst nach dem Einzug der britischen und amerikanischen Streitkräfte in Wien zu prüfen.
L’Aube (August 3, 1945)
Le communiqué des « Trois » a été public cette nuit –
La France participera à l’élaboration des traités de paix dans un conseil des cinq grandes puissances qui siégera en permanence à Londres
Amputée d’importants territoires et de son potentiel industriel l’Allemagne restera un État centralisé
Le communiqué publié à l’issue de la conférence de Potsdam précise les points suivants :
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Un conseil des ministres des Affaires étrangères de Russie, des États-Unis, de Grande-Bretagne, de France et de Chine siégera en permanence à Londres. Il préparera le texte des traités de paix et mettra au point les questions dont les Trois Grands n’ont pas achevé l’étude.
Sa première réunion aura lieu avant le 1er septembre.
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Les principes politiques et économiques d’une politique alliée commune à l’égard de l’Allemagne sont énoncés, les cadres administratifs sont réorganisés, la production de guerre supprimée et l’agriculture encouragée.
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Les quatre puissances occupantes prendront leur part de réparations dans leurs zones respectives d’occupation.
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La frontière occidentale de Pologne sera fixée par les traités de paix. Une frontière provisoire est prévue. Elle longe l’Oder et la Neisse.
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Le traité de paix avec l’Italie sera conclu le premier.
L’Italie sera alors admise comme candidate à l’organisme des Nations Unies, Puis viendra le tour de la Bulgarie, de la Finlande, de la Hongrie et de la Roumanie, L’Espagne franquiste ne sera pas admise parmi les Nations Unies.
Disparition du « Reich » militariste et industriel
LONDRES, 2 août – L’accord de Potsdam est considéré à Londres comme extrêmement complet en ce qui concerne le règlement du statut de l’Allemagne, mais comme encore assez vague relativement à un certain nombre de points que l’on pensait devoir être tranchés par les Trois Grands. Au sujet du sort de l’Allemagne, on souligne que la solution du démembrement est maintenant définitivement écartée, mais que l’Allemagne bismarckienne sera cependant méconnaissable à la suite : 1° des fortes amputations territoriales pré vues notamment à l’est ; 2° de la transformation presque totale de ce pays en puissance essentiellement agricole, ce qui doit découler des clauses militaires, économiques et de réparations prévues à Potsdam.
Les gouvernements français et chinois ont été tenus au courant
LONDRES, 2 août – On précise dans les milieux bien informés londoniens que les gouvernements français et chinois ont été respectivement informés de toutes les décisions de la conférence de Potsdam qui les intéressaient directement au fur et à mesure qu’elles ont été adoptées.
Truman et George VI ont conféré hier en mer pendant trois heures et demie
Le président vogue vers les États-Unis
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The Pittsburgh Press (August 3, 1945)
Japan completely blockaded
Large number of ships sunk in enemy ports by B-29-planted mines
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