European Advisory Commission - 1944

1944

The EAC had its seat in London at Lancaster House and started its work on January 14, 1944. William Strang was the British delegate, while on the American and Soviet side the respective ambassadors were the delegates, John G. Winant and Feodor T Gousev. The American military advisor was Cornelius Wickersham. George F. Kennan was a member of the American delegation in 1944.

At the Tehran Conference it was decided to hand over a large portion of German territory to Poland with the Oder–Neisse line as the eastern border of post-war Germany, and discussion about a possible partition of Germany were initiated by Roosevelt. Based on these premises, the EAC worked out the following recommendations during 1944:

• Partition of Germany into three occupied zones, each controlled by one power.
• Creation of the Allied Control Council (ACC)
• The ACC could only act in consensus.
• Partition of Berlin in three sectors.
• Separation of Austria which would also undergo a tripartite occupation, and Vienna to be occupied by three powers.
• Establishment of an Allied Commission for Austria.
• Draft instructions for the “unconditional surrender of Germany”
• Proposals for control machinery for administration.
• Establishment of an Allied Commission for Italy.