State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee ( SWNCC , pronounced "swink") was an inter-ministerial committee of the US government in the final phase of World War II and the immediate post-war period. It consisted of representatives from the State Department , the War Department and the Navy Department and played an important role in the formulation of US policy towards the occupied enemy states of the Axis powers . Renamed the State-Army-Navy-Air Force Coordinating Committee ( SANACC ) after the National Security Act of 1947 , it existed until 1949 when its responsibilities were taken over by the National Security Council .

Origins

In the final phase of World War II, questions of future occupation policy became increasingly important in the US government. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had previously largely trusted the advice of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on this issue , but they were not sufficiently familiar with the foreign policy implications and were also overwhelmed by the many problems that an occupation would bring with it. Inter-ministerial contacts mostly took place through informal meetings between the heads of department or through subordinate committees such as the JCS Joint Postwar Committee , which could do little to resolve the urgent issue.

Even before Edward Stettinius took office as Foreign Secretary in early December 1944, he sent letters to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal on November 29, with the aim of bringing about a more formal cooperation between the three ministries. In December 1944, the SWNCC was thus brought into being. It consisted of three civilian assistant secretaries from the ministries involved and a secretariat and was advised by non-governmental experts in working groups. In January 1945 regional sub-committees for Europe, the Far East, Latin America, and the Near and Middle East were formed. In mid-March 1945, a special Informal Policy Committee on Germany (IPCOG) with the participation of representatives from the Ministry of Finance and the Foreign Economic Administration was formed to deal with questions relating to the occupation of Germany.It existed until August 1945 and decisively determined the early occupation policy towards Germany.

activities

The activities of the SWNCC / SANACC generally included the treatment of politico-military issues that would determine the foreign policy and security environment in the post-war period. These included the surrender conditions for Japan and the immediate post-war policy towards this country, the division of the zones of occupation in Germany and Austria, prosecution of war criminals, support for the allies of the anti-Hitler coalition , securing of US military bases abroad, aid for economic reconstruction in Europe, etc.

In the spring of 1945, the SWNCC played a key role in formulating the original occupation directive for the US zone, JCS 1067 , as well as the successor directive from 1947, JCS 1779 . It worked closely with the Civil Affairs Division in the US War Department under John H. Hilldring .

The vast majority of the hundreds of issues dealt with by the SWNCC were resolved by consensus within the committee or sub-committee. In only six cases, open issues were referred to the White House for decision.

Important directives (selection)

  • SWNCC 150/4: United States Initial Post-Surrender Policy for Japan of August 29, 1945
  • SWNCC 228: Reform of the Japanese Governmental System, January 7, 1946
  • SWNCC 269/5: Long-Range Policy Statement for German Reeducation of June 6, 1946

literature

  • Lieutenant Colonel Robert F. Kolterman: Interagency Coordination: Past Lessons, Current Issues, and Future Necessities. US Army War College, 2006.