London, January 28, 1945. Dear Mr. President, At a conference called by Mr. Eden at the Foreign Office nearly three years ago, to which he invited Maisky and myself, the idea of a coordinated policy of the three great Powers in relation to Europe was discussed. At that meeting Maisky stated that there were two ways of approaching the European problem. One was to agree that all questions affecting Eastern Europe and within the area of Russian military action could be the primary consideration of his country and that problems affecting Western Europe within an area of future Anglo-American military control could be a responsibility of Great Britain and the United States, or (two) that the three nations should work together to destroy Fascist and Nazi domination and to restore and rehabilitate Europe to conditions of peace. Maisky went on to say that his Government supported the concept of tripartite action. I believe it was in part as a result of these informal conversations that the idea of the Moscow Conference emerged. One of the results of that Conference was the establishment of the European Advisory Commission. It was while we were at Teheran, fourteen months ago, that you made me a member of that Commission. The Russians were not members of the Combined Chiefs of Staff, and the creation of the European Advisory Commission gave them representation on a continuing body to study and recommend joint policies for the treatment of Germany and Austria and of the satellite s Each of the three countries appointed Advisers to their respective representatives from their State Departments The President. |