BERLIN CONFERENCE DEVELOPMENTS - V

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91T01172R000300340005-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 21, 2006
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: April 17, 1999
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2007/10/23: CIA-RDP91TO1172R000300340005-4
~ '... ' T
OCI NO. 1523
COPY NO. 10
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
1 February 1954
BERLIN CONFERENCE DEVELOPMENTS - V
East German Memorandum to Berlin Conference: The 30
January memorandum of the East German government, which re-
peats in detail past proposals by the Soviet Union for a peace
treaty and elections controlled by a provisional government,
again suggests that the Kremlin is not prepared to make any
significantly new proposals on Germany at Berlin.
The proposed peace treaty duplicates that submitted
by the Soviet Union on 10 March 1952 and resubmitted on 15
August 1953, including provisions for maintaining the Oder-
Neisse boundary, prohibiting German participation in military
alliances, and withdrawing foreign troops and bases one year
after the treaty is signed.
The 15 August 1953 Soviet plan for a provisional all-
German government is repeated nearly verbatim, with the ex-
ception of the previous suggestion that the East and West Ger-
man governments could continue to function. There is no pro-
posal on the proportion of East and West German representation.
One of the new features of this memorandum is the clari-
fication of the Communist concept of free elections. They
must be conducted by the provisional government without any
interference from foreign powers. As a further prerequisite,
the memorandum demands the abrogation of the Bonn and Paris
treaties, described as the main obstacles to free elections.
The memorandum specifies that conditions in West Germany
provide a threat to free elections and require additional safe-
guards. All "militarist" and "fascist" organizations must be
prohibited. "Humanist" literature must be disseminated
throughout Germany, but literature containing incitements to
war and "revanchism" must be prohibited. Monopolists and
large estate owners are to be prevented from giving financial
aid to political parties, and no one may be persecuted for
"democratic views or activities." These provisions recall
Molotov's recent statement to Eden that the important thing
was to decide what kind of government would result from
elections before they took place.
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Approved For Release 2007/10/23: CIA-RDP91TO1172R000300340005-4
 Approved For Release 2007/10/23: CIA-RDP91T01172R000300340005-4
The memorandum further calls for a peace conference in
1954 with the participation of all countries that took part in
the war against Germany. But it clarifies early Soviet pro-
posals for such a conference by specifying that the four powers
and the provisional government should prepare beforehand a
treaty to submit to the conference.
A new demand which reflects current Communist propa-
ganda is that no atomic or bacteriological weapons shall
be developed, manufactured or stationed on German soil.
Other demands which reflect Communist charges of West German
remilitarization are that there shall be no German troops
or rearmament until a peace treaty is signed and that no German
shall participate in any foreign military organization, even
on German soil.
The use of the East German government to offer this
proposal continues the fiction of a popular German voice
in the conference contained in the original demand for German
representation at the conference. It also gives Molotov
somewhat more flexibility in maneuvering than if he had made
the initial maximum demands. Nevertheless, the uncompromising
nature of these proposals and the weakness of the Soviet posi-
tion in Germany suggest that whatever concessions Molotov may
make will be minor.
S
Approved For Release 2007/10/23: CIA-RDP91T01172R000300340005-4