The Division of Europe After World War II: 1946

Should the negotiation of the post-World War II peace treaties in Europe be pursued separately or should they be approached within the framework of a general European settlement? The debate on this fundamental foreign policy issue, which has left only faint tracks in the documentary record, is fully explored here for the first time. Walt Rostow describes a meeting that took place on the eve of the departure of Secretary of State James Byrnes for Paris to participate in treaty negotiations. The meeting was probably the only occasion during 1946 when the peace treaty issue was explicitly addressed at a high level.