Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, Council of Foreign Ministers; Germany and Austria, Volume II

CFM Files: Lot M–88: Box 2163: CFM(D) (47) (A) Documents

Report by the Deputies for Austria to the Council of Foreign Ministers ³³

secret
C.F.M.(D)(47) (A) 102

London, February 25, 1947.

Draft Treaty for the Re-establishment of an Independent and Democratic Austria

1. The Deputies for Austria held meetings in London from January 14 to February 25, 1947, in accordance with the decision of the Council of Foreign Ministers on December 13, 1946 (C.F.M. (46) (NY) 74) (Revised),³⁴ that the Deputies for Austria should:

a. proceed with the preparation of a Treaty recognising the independence of Austria, taking into consideration the proposals already submitted by the Governments of the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as any further proposals which may be submitted by any member of the Council of Foreign Ministers;

b. hear the views of the Governments of neighbouring Allied States, and of other Allied States which participated with their armed forces in the common struggle against Germany, which wish to present their views on the Austrian problem; and

c. submit proposals on the above matters to the Council of Foreign Ministers by February 25, 1947.

2. The Deputies for Austria, during the period of their meetings in London, received written statements of views from the following Allied Governments reproduced in the following C.F.M. documents:

Belgium	C.F.M.	(D)	(47)	(A)	19
Denmark	“	“	“	“	69
Greece	“	“	“	“	25
Netherlands	“	“	“	“	24
Poland	“	“	“	“	11
Yugoslavia	“	“	“	“	9, 10, 73

They also heard oral statements from the representatives of the following Allied Governments reproduced in the following C.F.M. documents:

Australia	C.F.M.	(D)	(47)	(A)	18
Czechoslovakia	“	“	“	“	21
Greece	“	“	“	“	17
New Zealand	“	“	“	“	44
Poland	“	“	“	“	27
Ukrainian S.S.R.	“	“	“	“	45
Union of South Africa	“	“	“	“	15
Yugoslavia	“	“	“	“	12, 74, 75

They also received statements both written and oral, from the Austrian Government, reproduced in the following C.F.M. documents:

C.F.M.	(D)	(47)	(A)	23
“	“	“	“	54
“	“	“	“	65
“	“	“	“	74

3. After examination of all the views referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 above, the Deputies for Austria prepared a draft Treaty for the Re-establishment of an Independent and Democratic Austria, which is submitted herewith³⁵ for the consideration of the Ministers.

In this draft

(a) the following Articles and Annexes were agreed:

• Article 1—Re-establishment of Austria as a Free and Independent State
• Article 7—Human Rights
• Article 8—Democratic Institutions
• Article 12—Recognition of Peace Treaties
• Article 13—Liquidation of League of Nations
• Article 14—Bilateral Treaties
• Article 15—Restoration of Archives
• Article 19—Prohibition of Military Training
• Article 25—Prohibition of Manufacture of Excess War Material
• Article 28—Prohibition of German and Japanese Civil Aircraft
• Article 30—Duration of Limitations
• Article 50—Settlement of Disputes
• Article 56—Heads of Mission
• Article 57—Interpretation of the Treaty
• Annex I
• Annex II

(b) the following were partially agreed:

• Preamble
• Article 3—Recognition by Germany of Austria’s Independence
• Article 4—Prohibition of Anschluss
• Article 9—Dissolution of [Nazi] and [Fascist]³⁶ Organisations
• Article 10—Special Clauses on Legislation
• Article 17—Limitation of Austrian Armed Forces
• Article 18—Prohibition against Former Members of Nazi and Fascist Organisations Serving in the Armed Forces
• Article 21—Prohibition of Special Weapons
• Article 26—Disposal of War Material of Allied and German Origin
• Article 27—Prevention of German Rearmament
• Article 31—Prisoners of War
• Article 33—Withdrawal of Allied Forces
• Article 36—Restitution by Austria
• Article 49—General Economic Relations
• Article 55—Clauses relating to the Danube
• Article 58—Accession Clause
• Article 59—Ratification of the Treaty
• Annex V

(c) the following were discussed but no agreement was reached:

• Article 2—Preservation of Independence
• Article 5—Austrian Frontiers
• Article 6—Naturalisation and Residence of Germans in Austria
• Article 11—War Criminals
• Article 20—Publication of Military Budget and Strength of the Armed Forces
• Article 35—German Assets in Austria
• Article 37—Restitution to Austria of property removed to United Nations Territory
• Article 42—United Nations Property in Austria
• Article 43—Application of Austrian Law to United Nations property, rights and interests in Austria
• Article 44—Property, Rights and Interests of Minority Groups in Austria.

(d) the following were not discussed:

• Article 16—Displaced Persons
• Article 22—Prohibition of research in certain processes
• Article 23—Prohibition of certain manufactures and experiments
• Article 24—Reduction of the Military-Economic Potential of Austria
• Article 29—Prohibition of Excess Stocks of Certain Raw Materials and Metals
• Article 32—Commission of Military Experts
• Article 34—Reparations
• Article 38—Restitution to Austria by Germany
• Article 39—Renunciation by Austria of Claims against the Allies
• Article 40—Renunciation by Austria of Claims against Germany
• Article 41—German Claims against Austria
• Article 45—Austrian Property in United Nations Territory
• Article 46—Austrian Property in Germany
• Article 47—Definition of Austrian Property, Rights and Interests
• Article 48—Debts
• Article 51—Patents
• Article 52—Transit Facilities
• Article 53—Scope of Application
• Article 54—Force of Annexes
• Annex III
• Annex IV

4. The Deputies for Austria recommend resuming their meetings on this draft in Moscow on March 10, 1947, concurrently with the meetings of the Ministers.

5. The Deputies received a letter of February 13, 1947 from the Czechoslovak Delegation asking whether the submission of a further statement by Czechoslovakia would be precluded if not presented before February 25. The Deputies replied that there would be no objection to the submission of such a further statement to the Council of Foreign Ministers after that date.

6. A letter of February 21, 1947 was also received from the head of the Austrian Delegation requesting, on behalf of the Austrian Government, that representatives of the latter be present in Moscow during the conference to be held there beginning March 10. A similar letter was received from the Yugoslav Delegation. The Deputies considered this letter and decided to refer it to the Ministers for their decision.

Note by the Secretary-General

With regard to the enumeration given in paragraph 2 above, it should be noted that references to Austria were also made by the following Allied Governments in memoranda submitted to the Deputies for Germany:—

Australia	C.F.M.(D)	(47) (G)	5
Brazil	“	“	12, 20
Canada	“	“	6
Union of South Africa	“	“	7

In every case except that of the second Brazilian communication the observations submitted referred to the question of procedure.

33. This Report was approved by the Deputies for Austria at their 29th Meeting, February 25, 1947. This was the final meeting held in London.

    With the exception of the paper cited in the next footnote, none of the documents cited in this report are printed.

34. See Foreign Relations, 1946, vol. ii, p. 1557.
35. The preliminary text of the draft Austrian treaty under reference was not considered by the Council of Foreign Ministers and is not printed here. For the later text of the draft treaty as discussed by the Council at its Moscow Session, see document CFM (47) (M) 82, March 29, 1947, p. 516.
36. Brackets appear in the original.