740.5/9–1454
The Secretary of State to Foreign Secretary Eden 1
Dear Anthony: I appreciate your keeping me informed of developments on your travels.2 I am glad that you feel progress was made at Brussels and Bonn and I agree with you that Paris is where the greatest difficulty is in store.
I gather that the proposal regarding entrance of Germany into NATO which you are putting forward to our friends follows the line of Document 6 of the Study Group which met in London last July. I do not think that our thoughts are far apart on this general approach on the modalities of this matter. I realize that we have not yet given you in any formal or official fashion our comments on this document but I hope to do so soon after taking into account the views of our military.
I do however have certain firm convictions which influence all my thinking on tactics and methods. The first is that we must restore full sovereignty to Germany and do it promptly. I agree with Adenauer that the time is past when the position could be held by placing the contractual agreements in effect. From this it would follow that any secret limitations or conditions on German rearmament which were imposed or gave the appearance of being imposed on Germany would be a dangerous error. A voluntary and public declaration of self-imposed limitations would of course be another matter.
My second conviction is that we can only make Europe a permanently [Page 1193] secure place by merging significant governmental functions, including French and German, into supranational institutions. This was always to me the most important aspect of EDC. I hope we will not lose sight of this purpose and objective in seeking arrangements to restore German sovereignty including her right to participate in her own defense. Any arrangement which fails to move along on this European road I would regard as a makeshift and one which we on this side of the ocean would have to examine very carefully. I know that our Congress feels very strongly about this phase of the matter.
This leads me to another point on which I must confess some puzzlement. This is your reference to the Brussels Treaty and its enlargement to bring in Italy and Germany. As traditional treaties go I have always felt Brussels to be a good one but I read nothing in it of a supranational character nor can I see that its enlargement merely in terms of membership would add anything to the North Atlantic Treaty. If on the other hand your thought is to invest it with supranational features so that it might become in fact a true substitute for EDC, I would be deeply interested in your thoughts on this subject.
Now for your suggestions regarding a Nine Power meeting in London, I have felt, as you know, that it was a mistake to go into any such meeting without adequate spade work in advance. Some of this you are now of course doing. I have also felt and I gather that you agree that such a meeting should be considered as a preliminary to the special meeting of the North Atlantic Council which on August 31 I suggested be convened. The French rejection of EDC has created a situation of gravity for the entire membership of NATO and it is right that we should all meet together. I welcome your suggestion that before any London meeting you and I have the opportunity to spend some time together. I also feel I should see Adenauer since he has indicated to me his desire for such a meeting.
The date you suggest of September 22 for the 9-power meeting in London makes difficulty. I do not feel that I can go into that meeting and adequately represent the US position unless I have first talked with you and with Adenauer and then have an opportunity to digest what I learn and to discuss the resultant position with the President and with our Defense people. Without that I could only play the role of an observer and I gather that you and the others would want something more than that. Also, as you know, the General Assembly opens in NY on September 21 and I feel that there is some embarrassment in staging a major meeting in London which would attract many of the Ministers who would ordinarily take part in the General Assembly general debate.
[Page 1194]My suggestion is that I should leave here tomorrow, Wednesday afternoon, for Bonn and spend the afternoon and evening with Adenauer if he is free, then come on to London and spend Friday with you if you are free, coming back Friday night, which would give me a weekend of rest which I need rather badly. Then I could take part in the general debate at the UN and have my talks in Washington with the possibility of returning for the 9-power conference during the succeeding week if you felt it could wait until then.
Please let me know immediately your reaction as this program would require me to leave a few hours after you get this message.
Sincerely yours,
- The source text was transmitted to Rome in niact telegram 880, Sept. 14, with instructions that it be personally delivered to Eden who was there for talks with the Italian Government; the text was repeated in telegrams to Paris, London, and Bonn.↩
- This is a reference to Eden’s letter to Dulles of Sept. 13, p. 1184.↩