740.00119 EAC/l–1845
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State for European, Far Eastern, Near Eastern, and African Affairs (Dunn)
Mr. Michael Wright, Counselor of the British Embassy, came in this morning and left with me the attached memorandum,82 which makes the following two points:
- a)
- That the European Advisory Commission is the proper forum for the discussion of long-range policy toward Germany;
- b)
- That at the forthcoming meeting83 of the President, the Prime Minister, and Marshal Stalin, agreements should be arrived at to give an extra impetus to the work of the European Advisory Commission with a view to expediting the discussion in that body of our long-term policy, particularly toward the treatment to be accorded German industry.
I told Mr. Wright that it has always been our view that the European Advisory Commission, according to the terms of reference under which it was established by the Moscow Conference, is the proper place for the discussion of long-range policy toward Germany including the question of what to do with German industry, I recalled that we fully expected the Commission to go into the discussion of this long-range policy as soon as it had completed its work of preparing recommendations as to the control machinery to be set up in Germany after the surrender.
[Page 395]I also stated that although it did not seem necessary in my opinion for this matter to be brought up in the forthcoming high level meeting, there would be no objection as far as I could see to the British trying to obtain from the Russians an agreement to give a further impetus to the work of the Commission in an effort to have the discussion on long-range policy taken up as soon as possible.
[For memorandum from the Department of the Treasury dated January 19, 1945, elaborating a long-range policy for Germany, the memorandum by the Ambassador in the Soviet Union dated January 20, 1945, reporting a conversation with the Assistant People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union concerning Soviet views on the treatment of Germany, and the Department of State papers “Treatment of Germany: Summary”, dated January 12, 1945, and “Economic Policies Toward Germany: Summary”, not dated, see Conferences at Malta and Yalta, pages 175–193.]