zation for the maintenance of international peace and security had been completed.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR DUMBARTON OAKS

CONVERSATIONS

As the construction of the Tentative Proposals was being completed, efforts continued to arrange the necessary major-power negotiations\ concerning general international organization. The beginning of those efforts and their nature to June 2, 1944, has already been described. Diplomatic discussion among the four major powers was concentrated on procedural arrangements for exchange of papers before the informal conference that had been projected and toward obtaining agreement of views on several questions involved, including the time to begin such a conference. The views of the British Foreign Office as received by the Under Secretary through the British Ambassador, Lord Halifax, on June 5, favored having a conference on an "official" or high technical level in the near future, at any date after July 1, and, it was hoped, at a place outside the reach of the Washington heat at that time of year. Preference was expressed for exchange of papers before the actual convening of the conference, and also, if a single meeting of all Four Powers was not acceptable to the Soviet Government, for a conference in two series of Three Power discussions as the United States had proposed to the British Embassy for this contingency. Copies of the telegram setting forth these views were conveyed at once to the President and the Secretary. The sense of urgency so reflected was also being felt by smaller nations. Dr. Eelco van Kleffens, acting on behalf of the Belgian, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Norwegian Governments-in-exile, conveyed through the United States Embassy in London on June 9 a memorandum expressing the desire of these Governments to contribute to the settlement of the questions of the conditions to be imposed on Germany and of the political safeguards to be set up for their future security, possibly within a world-wide international system. He urged "all headway" on these matters. Official exchanges of views, or at least unofficial exchanges, with the Governments named were desired before final decisions were taken. This memorandum, it was stated, represented also the views "of a large number of occupied countries," and it was being conveyed to the British and the Soviet as well as the American Government.

This message arrived just after the Department requested the United States Ambassador in Moscow by telegram, on June 10, to ask Mr. Molotov "how long" before an answer to our invitation of May 30 might be received as "we are anxious to proceed." To this question, Mr. Molotov replied on June 13 that the Soviet Government

was "actively working" and a reply would be made "in the very near future."

A second request was sent on June 27 to Ambassador Harriman to inquire when the Soviet acceptance might be forthcoming and stating we were most anxious to have the discussions initiated between July 15 and August 1, "the sooner the better." No reply being received in answer to this telegram, the request was reiterated in another telegram to the Ambassador on the evening of July 7, expressing the desire that the question of arrangements be taken up immediately with Mr. Molotov. The Ambassador might well recall to the Commissar, it was suggested, that the latter had initiated the suggestion to hold consultations in Washington, and say that the conversations would be informal and that, while we wished in these conversations to arrive at an understanding on major points in regard to the international organization, any understandings would be subject to final acceptance by each of the Governments. We would be glad to make available our drafts on the proposed organization for preparatory study and to receive any drafts from the Soviet Government, as soon as we were informed when the Soviet Government would find it convenient to start the conversations. A reply was also asked to the suggestion for a two-series conference. It was learned the next day that the British Ambassador in Moscow had also recently pressed Mr. Molotov for an answer.

✓ The Soviet reply, dated July 9, 1944, was in the form of an aidemémoire from the Soviet Embassy in Washington received the same day. It expressed readiness to confer on the suggested two-series basis, and agreed to start negotiations with the American and British Governments the beginning of August without preliminary exchange of papers. The Soviet Ambassador to the United States, Andrei A. Gromyko, was authorized to participate. The message proposed to limit discussion to questions of primary importance. In the Soviet view, these, briefly, covered the scope and character of the organization; safety (or security) measures for prevention of threat to and violation of peace and plans of combined actions; and methods and procedures of establishing the organization. These in general conformed with several of the broad questions suggested in the British Summary earlier in the year.

Secretary Hull on the following day informed the Chinese Chargé d'Affaires, Mr. Liu Chieh, of this reply and discussed with him particularly the prospect of two separate informal conferences. He stated that he had cabled London and Moscow that morning of his readiness to start the meeting on August 2. He informed the Chargé that we wished to talk with the British concerning a suitable time to hold meetings with the Chinese and perhaps have some discussion of the matter with the Soviets in order to have all parties satisfied, and he asked to have the suggestions of the Chinese Government after study

of the matter. Thus, on July 10, a probable date of August 2 was being set for the coming informal conference, and it had not been decided whether the "Chinese" series of meetings would be after the "Soviet" series or concurrent with it.

At this juncture, information concerning our plans was conveyed to the governments of all the other American republics, Argentina excepted. A conversation giving background information had already been held by the Secretary with the Ambassadors of the five Central American republics and of Panama on June 26, 1944. Initiation of general consultation with the other American republics, of a background character until it could become substantive after the projected conversations had been held, was undertaken on July 11. That day a telegraphic instruction was sent, after clearance in the Post-War Programs Committee four days earlier, to the United States Embassies in the capitals of all of the nineteen American republics which were members of the United Nations or associated with them." The nineteen Governments thereby apprised of developments were informed that studies were proceeding as rapidly as circumstances permitted and that conversations would shortly be initiated with the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China, to be followed as soon as possible by exchanges of views with the other United Nations and the nations associated with them in the war. The United States, it was said, had devoted particular attention to the special relationship that exists between the United States and the other American republics, which it would take fully into account throughout the forthcoming conversations. It was urged that, for complete success, the subsequent exchanges of views contemplated should be based upon the most careful preparation by all the governments concerned.

Attention was called in this circular instruction to the President's statement of June 15 summarizing the broad views of this Government on the nature and functions of the contemplated organization. It was emphasized that as conversations progressed with other nations, the plans would "probably be modified," as the President had made clear at his press conference on May 30.

The Secretary's own characterization on June 1 of the establishment and maintenance of the proposed international organization as "a mutual affair" in which both the small and the large nations should at all times be especially interested was cited in connection with

'Argentina alone of the American republics was not included among the United and Associated Nations. It had failed to carry out its commitment to cooperate in the defense of this Hemisphere, and the American Ambassador, Norman Armour, had been called home for consultation in June 1944.

'Since the Foreign Minister of Mexico was then in Washington, he was informed directly through the Department, the telegram sent to the Ambassador in Mexico City being simply for his own information. A telegram was also sent to Buenos Aires solely for the information of the Embassy.

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the fact that the first conversations were to be held with the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China. On this point the instruction further stated that since the "major responsibility" for maintaining peace after the war "must inevitably" be borne by these three powers and the United States, no possibility existed of successfully establishing a general organization unless these four powers were prepared to support it. This Government, however, constantly bore in mind, as the President had emphatically stated on June 15, that the hope for an advancing and peaceful world depended on the ability and willingness of both the large and the small peace-loving nations "to work together" in maintaining international peace and security, each bearing responsibility commensurate with its respective capacity.

The instruction commented that it was the consistent policy of the United States to work closely with the other American republics in dealing with postwar problems of common interest and to insist that they have a full participation in international discussions and conferences dealing with policies and institutions of international cooperation. The United States believed that the inter-American system had an even more important role to fill in the future than in the past. Precisely what it would be must await clearer definition of the forms and functions of the general organization. In the meantime, exchanges of views should lay the groundwork for that role. The responses of the governments so approached as received over the next five weeks contained certain views on the character of the desired international organization, on equality of states in the future organization, on the continuation within any general organization of the inter-American system of collaboration, and on related matters.

As this consultation was being initiated, the efforts to arrive at definite negotiating arrangements among the four major powers became so active that telegrams and telephone calls began to cross each other. On July 12, the American Embassies in Moscow, London, and Chungking were instructed to inform the Foreign Offices there of the suggested date of August 2 to open "the conversations" in Washington and of our intention so to announce on July 15 unless there were objections.

A reply was also made on July 12 to the Soviet aide-mémoire of three days before. The replying aide-mémoire referred to the "Topical Outline" of February 17, handed to the Soviets February 19, and stated:

"As indicated in that outline, it is the view of this Government that the primary purpose of the proposed international organization is the peaceable adjustment of disputes, to which end it is recognized that the organization must possess the ultimate authority to use force as a measure of last resort. Consequently, in the view of this Government procedures for a peaceful adjustment of disputes

must necessarily constitute an integral part of any effective scheme for an international organization. It is confidently believed that discussions of the structure of a world organization for the maintenance of peace and security will necessarily extend to consideration of procedures of pacific settlement and this Government will expect in the forthcoming discussions to state fully its views on this subject. This Government also expects during the course of the forthcoming discussions to express its views on the subject of possible arrangements for territorial trusteeship and of those aspects of international economic relations which concern the relationship of specialized economic and social agencies to the general organization, as distinguished from questions involving substantive policies in these fields. It is hoped that upon further consideration the Soviet Government will feel disposed to enter into preliminary discussion of these topics."

In conclusion, emphasis was placed on the following aspects of official United States thought concerning the "Conversations":

"... this Government regards the forthcoming discussions as constituting an informal exchange of views, subject, of course, to eventual acceptance by the governments concerned of any understandings that may be reached. Moreover, it is to be anticipated that subsequent discussions with the other United Nations and continuing interchange of views between the three powers may well lead to modifications of the statements which it is to be anticipated will be jointly formulated as a result of the forthcoming discussions." Ambassador Harriman reported on July 13 that Deputy Foreign Minister Vyshinsky wished formal confirmation that two separate series of conversations were planned, and also that this arrangement should be publicly explained. The British approval of an opening date early in August and of the proposed announcement arrived almost simultaneously with this message from Moscow.

By telephone call and by telegram on the 14th, Ambassador Harriman was told that two sets of concurrent but separate tripartite conversations were presently planned, and the holding of these conversations at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington was specifically mentioned by the Department for the first time. The full text of the proposed United States press statement as sent to Moscow and discussed by long-distance telephone on the 15th, however, spoke of the two series of meetings as being carried on either concurrently or with a short interval between and stated that after these conversations, discussions with the other United Nations would be held.

A new uncertainty now arose over the timing of the proposed announcement, which was to be made as soon as Soviet clearance was received, because of a report on the 15th from the American Embassy on the initial Soviet reaction to the reference to the discussions subsequently to be held with other United Nations. This was regarded by Mr. Vyshinsky as introducing a new element that raised questions of