033.62A11/10–2153
No. 228
The Acting Director of the Office of
German Affairs (Lewis) to the United States High Commissioner
for Germany (Conant)
Dear Mr. Conant: You have probably already received copies of memoranda of the conversations Professor Hallstein had with the Secretary and with the President during his recent visit.1 In addition, Bob Bowie found an opportunity to have a discussion with him and I was able to see him for a little while at a dinner Dr. Krekeler gave.
The matters he seemed to have most on his mind are covered in the two memoranda. However, both Bob and I got the impression that he and the Chancellor really had something else on their minds which did not emerge until just as Hallstein was leaving. Then it came out. The Germans are apparently putting together a number of things and are getting the jitters that the Americans [Page 550] are really thinking seriously of withdrawing from Europe and perhaps adopting some kind of a peripheral concept. I think this feeling explains in part the Chancellor’s quite violent reaction against security guarantees (an idea which he himself put forward back in July2) and probably was the reason Hallstein dragged into the conversation with the Secretary a reference to Russian progress in atomic warfare capabilities. In addition they probably are concerned at newspaper reports of Secretary Wilson’s statement to the effect that we might be able to withdraw some of our troops from Europe because of recent new developments and the publicity given to the re-evaluation of American defense needs by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in light of progress made in the atomic weapons field.
As I say, since this fear never came out in the open during Hallstein’s talk with the Secretary, there was no occasion for the Secretary to reassure the Germans on the point. Bob, of course, did so as soon as he found out what was on Hallstein’s mind. I am passing this on to you with the thought that if you have not already detected the same preoccupation you might consider it wise to reassure the Germans, without, of course, stressing the matter or dragging it in. Similar fears as you know have been expressed in other countries in Europe and I understand that as a consequence Ambassador Hughes has a reassuring statement approved by the President which he is going to discuss confidentially with the permanent representatives to NATO.
Sincerely yours,
- See supra and Document 226.↩
- For text of this proposal, see the memorandum of conversation by Riddleberger, vol. v, Part 2, p. 1606.↩