Potsdam Agreement Obstructed

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 66, Issue 280, 7 September 1946, Page 5

Potsdam Agreement Obstructed

“I hope the German people' will never again make the mistake of believing tlijat because the American people are peace loving they will sit back hoping for peace,” continued Mr Byrnes. “If any nation uses force or the threat of force to acquire dominion over other people and Governments we intend to continue our interest in the affairs of Europe and the world. We intend to support the United Nations with :all our power and resources.” Mr Byrnes emphasised that the United States was prepared to carry out fully the principles outlined in the Potsdam Agreement regarding demilitarisation and reparations, but said there should be changes in the levels of industry agreed to by the Allied Control Council if Germany were to be administered as an economic unit as the Potsdam Agreement contemplated and required. Mr Byrnes said the agreement provided that the German war potential should be reduced to the point that Germany would be left with levels of industry capable of maintaining average European living standards without assistance from other countries. The carrying out of the Potsdam Agreement, however, had been obstructed by the Allied Control Council’s failure to take the necessary steps to enable German economy to function as an economic unit. Essential cehtral German administrative departments had not been established, although this was expressly required by the agreement and the equitable distribution of essential commodities between the various zones in order to produce a balanced economy and reduce the need for imports had not been arranged. 1 . * The United States firmly believed Germany should be administered as an economic unit, continued Mr Byrnes. Also, zonal barriers should be obliterated as far as Germany’s

economic life was concerned. .The time would come when zonal boundaries should be regarded as defining only the areas to be occupied for 1 security purposes. That was the course the American Government intended to follow to the full limit of its authority. Mr Byrnes said that as far as many vital questions were concerned the Control Council was neither governing Germany nor allowing Germany to govern herself.

Mr Byrnes expressed the need for a common financial policy to control inflation. He said that as provided in the Potsdam Agreement there should be a central control for transportation, communications, agriculture, and domestic and foreign trade. The United States did not want Germany to become any Power’s satellite or live under a dictatorship, domestic or foreign. Austria should continue to be independent. The United States supported the Soviet annexation of Koenigsberg and adjacent areas unless Russia changed her mind, and also revision in favour of Poland on the east German frontiers.

Mr Byrnes added that the United States did not feel she could deny France’s claim to the Saar, but if France annexed the Saar, the French reparations claims should be readjusted. Beyond these points the United States did not support any further encroachment of territory" indisputably German or any division of Germany not genuinely desired by the people concerned. The United States did not oppose the Ruhr and Rhineland people’s desire to remain with Germany. The United States favoured control of the whole of Germany, including the Ruhr and Rhineland, to prevent their resources being used for destructive purposes. The American people did not desire to enslave the Germans.