Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Western Europe and Canada, Volume VI, Part 2

740.5/10–2152: Telegram

No. 548
The Ambassador in France (Dunn) to the Department of State

secret
niact

Paris, October 21, 1952—7 p.m.

2458. Pinay has just had me to luncheon with himself and Pleven. He asked me to his private apartment rather than to the office of the presidency in order to have a friendly and intimate discussion of present situation.

He said in the first place that he hoped I had not been worried by recent attacks against EDC by Herriot, Daladier, Faure and others. He wished to assure us that attitude of govt had not changed in any way from their firm determination to bring EDC treaty before Parliament for ratification and to insist on its approval. He said there were appropriate answers they could make to attacks directed on particular articles of treaty and the entire govt is prepared to support ratification in every way.

He said there was one point of attack, however, which would be very difficult to meet, and he felt that our assistance was essential in that regard. He said that this referred to the position taken by the opponents of ratification that because of the heavy drain on Fr resources of manpower and expenditures in Indochina, Fr would be entering the European community in such a weakened state that it wld be unable to maintain its position as one of the leading nations in that community. He said this brought into relation with the question of ratification of the treaty, the amount of assistance that wld be given to Fr defense arrangements, including both Fr itself and Indochina. Pinay said the three great difficulties he had to face in the parliamentary session now reopening were EDC, the military budget and Indochina. He said all of these things were tied together and that if the reduction in American aid below the 650 mil dol figure he spoke of in his letter of Aug 8¹ were to be maintained, he feared the advantage with regard to the question of an inferior Fr going into the EDC wld be on the side of the opponents of ratification. He said that this was not a question of figures, because only experts and those who had a profound knowledge of the subj know what the figures in the case mean, but that the very idea that American aid was less than had been counted upon was an idea that wld permeate public opinion. He said that the full amount of aid contemplated and already included in the budget estimates, that is 650 mil dol, could make an overwhelming case for Fr being able to carry on effectively in Indochina and build up to the force goals for 1953 which were within the picture projected by NATO and also and even more particularly within the picture with respect to the position of Fr in EDC. He therefore felt that if this matter were given full and careful consideration by our govt, and all the facts of the present picture carefully laid before them, we wld realize the strong advisability of not allowing a reduction of aid of a comparatively small percentage to bring about the failure of the Fr Govt to accomplish the objectives for the future peace of Europe in which we were all so vitally interested.

The Prime Minister said, and in this he was seconded by Pleven, that the Fr Govt was fully confident that it could bring about the ratification of the treaty after full and frank discussion of articles on their merits, provided he could meet this one objection which had such a strong effect upon public opinion, that is, of Fr entering the community with inferior resources.

Pleven said that he considered this situation so dangerous for the parliamentary picture that, although the general budget was to be presented these days for discussion, he was unwilling to present the military budget on basis of present figures, that is, fitted to a reduced American level of aid, and that he wld have to ask for an extension of time for presentation of the military budget.

I am reporting foregoing on most urgent basis, and my comments will follow.²

Dunn

1. Transmitted to the Department of State in Document 535.

2. For Dunn’s comments on this meeting, see telegram 2556 from Paris, Oct. 24, infra.

   In a memorandum to Perkins, dated Oct. 22, Ridgway B. Knight gave his reaction to this telegram. He stated that regardless of the right and wrong of the legitimate irritation “over tactics which border on open blackmail” the United States would find ways of supplying an additional $125 million if that would ensure ratification of the EDC. If the money were supplied, he asked, what assurances would the United States have that there would not be additional French requests along the same lines. (751.5 MSP/10–2252)