740.5/9–954: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the President, at the Summer White House, Denver, Colorado 1
Following are brief memoranda on subjects your letter September 3:2
EDC . Keeping in mind the principal objectives of the EDC package, we are considering two alternative approaches. The first would bring Germany directly into NATO. The size, composition and disposition of German defense forces would be controlled principally by NATO agreement on non-discriminatory safeguards. The Germans would also undertake certain voluntary commitments unilaterally as [Page 1161] part of the terms of their admission to NATO. We would move concurrently to restore sovereignty to West Germany.
The second alternative would be used if, as is possible, the French prevent the first. This second alternative provides for steps by the US, UK, and Germany (including possibly Benelux and Italy) to proceed without French concurrence with German rearmament under a defense agreement along the lines of the Yugoslav-Greek-Turk Pact.3 While negotiating this agreement actual training of German cadres could begin in the US and UK Zones. These steps might induce a welcome change in the French position.
We would continue to encourage European integration.
Our tactics and timing would be to reach as wide as possible agreement before a full NATO Ministerial Meeting early in October. At the NATO Meeting we would attempt to secure the preferred first alternative.
[Here follow a second section concerning Latin America and a third section dealing with Trieste; for the text of the paragraphs concerning Trieste, see volume VIII.]
- The first section of the source text dealing with the EDC was drafted in EUR.↩
- Ante, p. 1145.↩
- Documentation concerning this subject is presented in volume viii.↩