RUSSIAN RULE IN GERMANY

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25932, 12 October 1949, Page 5

RUSSIAN RULE IN GERMANY

Military Body To Be Abolished POWERS GIVEN TO NEW STATE ■ (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11 p.m.) LONDON, October fl. General Vassily Chuikov, the Soviet Military Governor in Germany. announced last night that the Russian Military Administration in Eastern Germany would be abolished and replaced by a Soviet Control Commission. Making the announcement to the Lower House of the new East German Parliament, General Chuikov said that the Soviet had decided to hand over to the East German Government the administrative functions hitherto carried out by the Soviet Military Administration. General Chuikov added that the Soviet Government had reached this decision “in accordance with the fourPower Potsdam Agreement,” and that the Soviet Military Administration would be replaced next Monday. “My Government is convinced that you will exercise your new power on the basis of the Potsdam Agreement,” he said. Mr Johannes Diekmann, president of the Lower House, and the Prime Minister (Mr Otto Grotewohl) thanked General Chuikov “in the name of the German people." Mr Diekmann assured General Chuikov that the German people “will always do their best to be worthy of this great demonstration of trust.”

The five Provincial Parliaments of the Soviet zone last night selected 34 representatives to the Upper House. Seventeen were members of the Com-munist-dominated Socialist Unity Party, nine were Liberal Democrats, seven were Christian Democrats, and one was a member of the Peasants’ Party. There will also be seven members for the East sector of Berlin, but these will have no voting powers, as the sector is not yet incorporated ’in the new Republic. Western Powers’ Views The three Allied High Commissioners in Germany last night issued a statement denouncing the East German Government as having no legal basis and no title to represent Eastern Germany. The statement, which was issued after an unexpected meeting of the High Commissioners at Frankfurt, assured Western Berlin that the Allied Powers would “continue to fulfil their mission in the former capital.” The statement said that all steps to ensure political and economic freedom to the inhabitants of Western Berlin would be taken in collaboration with the West German Government, “Events which have taken place in the east will not modify the attitude of the Western Powers,” the .statement added. The statement blamed Russia's refusal to co-operate for the lour-Power failure to reach a common policy for all Germany. The Western Allies, it said, had thus been compelled to take decisions which permitted lhe establishment of the West German Government. The statement said: “The so-called Government of the German Democratic Republic is an artificial creation of a ‘Popular Assembly’ which had no mandate for this purpose. The postponement of the elections for a year is evidently to ensure that when they are held they shall follow the pattern already set in the other satellite States.” A British Foreign Office spokesman said to-day that Britain had rejected the Soviet protest against the lormation of the West German Republic. Russia had complained that the Western Allies, in setting up the Bonn Government. had violated the Potsdam Agreement. The Swedish Foreign Office announced last night that Sweden had accepted an invitation from the High Commissioners to establish diplomatic | relations with the West German Govi ernment. ARMY MANOEUVRES IN GERMANY WEST EUROPEAN FORCES (Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.) . LONDON. October 10. Forty thousand British, American, French. Belgian, and Norwegian troops, together with 10 fighter and bomber squadrons of lhe Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy are taking part in extensive Army manoeuvres in the Brit- | ish zone of Germany. The exercises are "being watched by the Secretary of Slate for War (Mr E. Shinwelli. together with military observers from 1 21 nations. These do not include Russia, although lour Red Army officers attended the fnareh past of the Rhine Army which opened the manoeuvres. Two-thirds of the British troops taking part are national servicemen with only four months’ training. The troops are to-day locked in a giant five-day mock battle between "Redland" and “Blueland” forces near the village of Meerhof, 15 miles southeast of Paderborn. UNION JACK NOT TO BE FLOWN BRITISH CEMETERIES IN ■ GERMANY LONDON, October 10. “To avoid offending Germans the ’ Union Jack will no longer flutter over ; the 12 cemeteries in Germany where 21.500 British c:u >i; ; l> ics of the last war are buried.” says the Berlin correspondent of the “Daily Mail.” "A recent order to British officials said that Germans must not be ‘annoyed or offended.’ Germans contend that the British flag waving over German territory smacks too much of nationalism. “A member of the Bonn Assembly commented to-day: ’We find it in rather bad taste.’ ” ITALY’S ADHESION TO ATLANTIC PACT (Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON. October 10. Britain, in a 60-word Note to Russia. to-day emphatically rejected Soviet • accusations regarding Italy’s adherf ence to the Atlantic Pact. The Soviet Government had alleged that by ad- ! hering to the pact Italy had violated i the It .lian peace treaty. • CAMPAIGN AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS LEGISLATION IN NEW SOUTH WALES (Rec. 7 p.m.) SYDNEY. October 11. The State Cabinet has approved i legislation to enable New South Wales to take part in a Commonwealth-wide campaign against tuberculosis. The Premier (Mr J. McGirr) said • that his Cabinet had decided that sup--1 plementary legislation about compul- ■ sory X-ray examinations and notifications of tuberculosis on suspicion ? should be deferred for •consideration • in the light of future experience. It ; was agreed to provide adequate facilities for the diagno.-is. treatment, and • control nf the disease. The Commonwealth will Reimburse ' the States for approved capital expenditure on land, buildings, equip- , ment, plant, and furniture. The j States have undertaken not to charge ) for accommodation and treatment in public wards.