Rival Governments and Recognition in Washington

When competing governments claimed to speak for the same country, Washington had to decide whom to receive, which representatives could act officially, and who could control diplomatic property. Recognition did not always follow control of a capital, nor did contact necessarily require an embassy. Russia, China, and divided Germany show three different outcomes: prolonged nonrecognition followed by a new embassy, a transfer of formal recognition after liaison arrangements, and simultaneous relations with two states before reunification. [1] [2] [12]

Russia: Representation after the Government Fell

Washington had recognized Russia’s Provisional Government after Nicholas II abdicated. Following its overthrow, President Woodrow Wilson instructed American representatives to avoid direct communication with the Bolshevik authorities. Boris Bakhmeteff nevertheless remained the recognized Russian ambassador in Washington until June 1922. When Ludwig Martens claimed to represent Soviet Russia in 1919, the State Department announced that it had neither received nor recognized him and warned American businesses about the uncertain status of concessions obtained from the new authorities. [1] [4] [3]

Bakhmeteff wrote in 1922 that he had worked with Treasury and State to settle obligations undertaken by the Russian government. As that work wound down, he proposed leaving property in the custody of financial attaché Serge Ughet. Ughet retained recognized status and responsibility for the embassy building after the ambassador departed. [5] [3]

When the United States recognized the Soviet Union on 16 November 1933, it also ended its recognition of Ughet as Russian financial attaché, a step he had already requested. The State Department had assumed custody of the embassy building when he could no longer maintain it, and records had been moved for use in the new discussions. [6] [3]

China: Liaison before a Transfer of Recognition

In February 1973, Zhou Enlai and Henry Kissinger discussed a People’s Republic of China liaison office in Washington with political functions beyond trade. Zhou sought diplomatic immunities while keeping the office outside the full formal activities of an embassy; Kissinger offered a channel to the White House. [8]

Reciprocal liaison offices opened that year while the Republic of China embassy continued operating in Washington. [7] [2]

The agreement announced in December 1978 established U.S.-PRC diplomatic relations from 1 January 1979, with embassies and an exchange of ambassadors scheduled for 1 March. Washington recognized the PRC government as the sole legal government of China while maintaining cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan. The communiqué distinguished recognition of the government from acknowledgement of the Chinese position on Taiwan. [9] [10] [11] [2]

Germany: Two Recognized States and Reunification

The division of Germany after the Second World War presented a different recognition problem. The United States supported the Federal Republic of Germany in the west and initially refused to recognize the German Democratic Republic in the east. Full diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic began on 6 May 1955, when its Washington mission became an embassy under Heinz Krekeler. The American embassy in Bonn followed later that month. [13]

Improved relations between the two German governments made a second diplomatic relationship possible. On 4 September 1974, the United States and the German Democratic Republic announced recognition and diplomatic relations. Washington retained its relations with the Federal Republic and continued to regard it as the legitimate successor of the historical German state. Recognition of East Germany thus created parallel representation; it did not transfer the West German embassy’s authority to its rival. [12]

The settlement of 1990 ended that parallel arrangement. The two German governments and the four wartime occupying powers negotiated the Two Plus Four Treaty, while East Germany’s constituent states joined the Federal Republic. The United States treated the enlarged Federal Republic as a continuing state and did not issue a new recognition. Its relations with East Germany ended with unification, while its embassy to Germany remained in Bonn until the move to Berlin in 1999. [13] [12]