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Following the termination of hostilities in World War II, the Allied Powers were in control of the defeated Axis countries. Anticipating the defeat of Germany and Japan, they had already set up the European Advisory Commission and a proposed Far Eastern Advisory Commission to make recommendations for the post war period. Accordingly they managed their control of the defeated countries through Allied Commissions, consisting of representatives of the major Allied Powers.

Italy

Under the provisions of Article 37 in the Armistice with Italy Instrument of Surrender, September 29, 1943, the Control Commission for Italy was established on November 10, 1943 and was dismantled following the conclusion of the Italian Peace Treaty in 1947.

Rumania

In The Armistice Agreement with Rumania September 12, 1944, it was stipulated in Article 18 that "An Allied Control Commission will be established which will undertake until the conclusion of peace the regulation of and control over the execution of the present terms under the general direction and orders of the Allied (Soviet) High Command, acting on behalf of the Allied Powers. In the Annex to Article 18, it was made clear that "The Rumanian Government and their organs shall fulfill all instructions of the Allied Control Commission arising out of the Armistice Agreement." and that The Allied Control Commission would have its seat in Bucharest. In line with Article 14 of the Armistice Agreement two Romanian People's Tribunals were set up to try suspected war criminals. The Treaty of Peace with Romania was signed on February 10, 1947 and entered into force on September 15, 1947.

The Commission, placed under the nominal leadership of Soviet general Rodion Malinovsky (represented by Vladislav Petrovich Vinogradov), was dominated by Red Army leaders.

Finland

The Allied Control Commission (ACC) arrived in Finland on September 22 1944 to observe Finnish compliance to Moscow armistice. It consisted of 200 Soviet and 15 British members and was led by Col. Gen. Andrei Zhdanov. Immediately after its inception, the commission required Finland to take more vigorous action to intern the German forces in Northern Finland. Finland's compliance with the commission resulted in Lapland War. Simultaneously, Finland was required to demobilize, which was also required by the commission.

ACC provided Finland with a list of war criminals against whom Finland had to start judicial proceedings. Although this required Finnish post-facto legislation, Finland was the only country on the losing side of the war that was allowed to try its own war criminals. The ACC interfered with the war-responsibility trials by requiring longer prison sentences than the preliminary verdict would have contained. ACC also strove to change the Finnish political life by requiring a number of allegedly fascist (practically anti-Soviet) organizations to be banned, among them Civil Guard. As a more minor matter, the ACC required the forced return of all Soviet citizens (including Estonians, Polish, U.S.) to the Soviet Union.

After the war, Finnish military stored part of the weapons of the demobilized troops into several hundred caches distributed around the country. The caches would have been used to arm guerillas in case of a Soviet occupation. When the matter leaked into public, the commission required Finnish authorities to investigate and prosecute the officers and men responsible for the caching. The Weapons Cache Case was followed closely until the ACC determined that the case was purely a military operation. The Allied Control Commission left Finland September 26, 1947, when the Soviet Union finally ratified the Paris Peace Treaty.

Bulgaria

The Armistice Agreement with Bulgaria October 28, 1944 stipulated Article 1 that "On the conclusion of hostilities against Germany the Bulgarian armed forces must be mobilized and put on a peace footing under: supervision of the Allied Control Commission.". Article 11 stipulated that property taken from United Nations territory must be returned to those territories under the supervision of the Control Commission. Article 13 stipulated that property belonging to the Axis powers of Germany and Hungary must not be returned without permission of the Control Commission. Article 18 stipulated that the Commission would "regulate and supervise the execution of the armistice terms under the chairmanship of the representative of the Allied (Soviet) High Command. ... During the period between the coming into force of the armistice and the conclusion of hostilities against Germany, the Allied Control Commission will be under the general direction of the Allied (Soviet) High Command.".

Hungary

• Armistice Agreement with Hungary January 20, 1945
  • Article 1: "On the conclusion of hostilities against Germany, the Hungarian armed forces must be demobilized and put on a peace footing under the supervision of the Allied Control Commission.
  • Article 6: property taken from United Nations territory must be returned to those territories under the supervision of the Control Commission.
  • Article 8: property belonging to the Axis power of Germany must not be returned without permission of the Control Commission.
  • Article 11: Hungary should pay for the Allied Control Commission and that "The Government of Hungary will also assure, in case of need, the use and regulation of the work of industrial and transport enterprises, means of communication, power stations, enterprises and installations of public utility, stores of fuel and other material, in accordance with instructions issued during the armistice by the Allied (Soviet) High Command or the Allied Control Commission."
  • Article 17: "Hungarian administrative bodies undertaking to carry out, in the interests of the reestablishment of peace and security, instructions and orders of the Allied (Soviet) High Command or Allied Control Commission issued by them for the purpose of securing the execution of these armistice terms."
  • Article 18: "For the whole period of the armistice there will be established in Hungary an Allied Control Commission which will regulate and supervise the execution of the armistice terms under the chairmanship of the representative of the Allied ( Soviet ) High Command ... During the period between the coming into force of the armistice and the conclusion of hostilities against Germany, the Allied Control Commission will be under the general direction of the Allied (Soviet) High Command."

• Allied Control Commission in Hungary; January 20, 1945

Germany

The Allied Control Council (ACC) for Germany oversaw the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany. The ACC was established by agreement of June 5, 1945, supplemented by agreement of September 20 of that same year, with its seat in Berlin. Its members were Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States of America. Decision could only be made by consensus. Cooperation by the ACC broke down, as the Soviet representative withdrew on March 20, 1948. After that date, the ACC, even though in existence, no longer met, thus paving the way for the partition of Germany into two states.

After the breakdown of the ACC, West Germany (and West Berlin) was ruled by the Allied High Commission with membership from Britain, France, and the United States, while East Germany (and East Berlin) was ruled by the Chairman of the Soviet Control Commission, later the Soviet High Commissioner. The role of the High Commissioners ceased when each German state gained full sovereignty.

The ACC convened again in 1971, leading to agreement on transit arrangements in Berlin. During the talks for unification of Germany in late 1989, it was decided to convene the ACC again as a forum for solving the issue of Allied rights and privileges in Germany. The disbanding of the ACC was officially announced by the Two Plus Four Agreement of September 12, 1990, effective as of March 15, 1991.

Austria

The Allied Commission for Austria was established by the Agreement on control machinery in Austria signed in the European Advisory Commission in London on July 4, 1945. It entered into force on July 24, 1945 on the day that the United States gave notification of approval, the last of the four powers to do so. It was supplemented by an agreement of June 28, 1946.

Austria was divided into 4 Zones: American, British, French and Russian. Vienna, being the capital, was similarly divided but at its centre was an International Zone, sovereignty of which alternated at regular intervals between the 4 Powers. The commission had its seat in Vienna.

It was dismantled following the conclusion of the Austrian State Treaty on May 15, 1955.

Japan

It was agreed at the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers, and made public in communique issued at the end of the conference on December 27, 1945 that the Far Eastern Advisory Commission (FEAC) would become the Far Eastern Commission (FEC), it would be based in Washington, and would oversee the Allied Council for Japan. This arrangement was similar to those that the Allies had set up for overseeing the defeated Axis powers in Europe. In a mirror image of those Axis countries, like Hungary, which fell to the Soviet Union and were occupied by the Red Army alone, Japan having fallen to the United States and occupied by the U.S. Army, the United States was given the dominant position on the Tokyo based Allied Council for Japan. The change in name of the FEAC to FEC was significant because as the U.S. Secretary of State James F. Byrnes reported after the Conference "As early as August 9 we invited the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and China to join with us in carrying out the objectives of the Potsdam Declaration and the Terms of Surrender for Japan. The Far Eastern Advisory Commission was established in October, but Great Britain had reservations regarding its advisory character, and the Soviet Union requested a decision regarding control machinery in Tokyo before joining the work of the Commission." . As agreed in the communique the FEC and the Allied Council were dismantled following the Japanese Peace Treaty of September 8, 1951.

Footnotes

1. http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/decade/decade19.htm Interim Meeting of Foreign Ministers, Moscow: Report by Secretary Byrnes, December 30,1945, on Moscow Meeting]
2. US proposals for The Far Eastern Advisory Commission Terms of Reference (SWNCC 65/7) August 21, 1945

See also

• Petersberg agreement
• Potsdam Agreement (1945)
• Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers (1945)
• Paris Peace Treaties, 1947

• Aftermath of World War II
• Allied occupation of Germany
• American influence in post-WWII Europe