740.00119 Control (Germany)/9–1846
The Acting Secretary of State to the French Ambassador (Bonnet)92
The Acting Secretary of State presents his compliments to His Excellency the Ambassador of France and has the honor to refer to His Excellency’s aide-mémoire No. 309 of May 7 and No. 384 of June [Page 692] 11, 194693 which announce plans for electoral and administrative developments in the French zone of occupation in Germany and advance proposals for the joint administration of Baden and Wuerttemberg and for modification of the boundaries between the United States and French zones.
While noting with sympathetic understanding the desire of the French Government to introduce administrative changes which would prepare the way for the restoration of the historic states of southwestern Germany, the Acting Secretary of State believes that modifications of the present boundaries and attempts to effect a plan of joint administration of parts of two zones in which there are certain apparent divergencies of objective could only have a prejudicial effect upon the efforts of the United States Government to make progress toward the economic unity of Germany which, in its judgment, must remain an object of its policy.
The present division of Germany into four almost water-tight compartments has placed a progressively heavy burden on the United States Government. It feels obliged at the present time, therefore, to place a prime emphasis on attacking the economic problem of Germany. Because of the little success in quadripartite negotiation this Government, as the Ambassador will doubtless recall, has proposed inter-zonal cooperation as a means of meeting acute problems and as a step toward the unified treatment of German economy which the United States Government holds to be the only practicable means of putting German and European economy on the path of legitimate recovery.
The Acting Secretary of State expresses the hope that the French Government can find it possible to give favorable consideration to the proposal for inter-zonal economic cooperation and to the considerations which bespeak economic integration of the four zones. Once the administrative and political instrumentalities necessary for the functioning of a nation-wide German economy have been firmly established, the Acting Secretary of State foresees no insuperable barrier to a reconsideration of zone boundaries as envisaged in the letter addressed on July 26, 1945 by Ambassador Winant to Mr. Massigli.94
- Although dated September 20, a handwritten note on the file copy by David Harris indicates that this document was handed personally to M. Bérard on September 23; see also the memorandum of conversation by Mr. Harris, September 24, infra.↩
- Neither printed, but for summaries of these documents, see the memorandum by Mr. Harris, June 20, p. 679.↩
- See footnote 63, p. 679. M. René Massigli was French Ambassador in the United Kingdom and French representative on the European Advisory Commission (EAC).↩