740.5/10–253: Telegram
No. 649
The Secretary of
State to the Office of the United
States High Commissioner for Germany, at Bonn1
1107. Developing situation favorable to French ratification EDC November and extreme importance agreement on Saar and its timing (Paris tels 1335, 1339, 13402) leads Department to concur with views expressed by Dillon that time has come to have frank talk with Adenauer.
Although we cannot rule out possibility need for our exerting pressure on French at appropriate time to accept reasonable Adenauer proposals, key to realization European policies appears now squarely in Adenauer’s hand. We hope you can convince him that this opportunity must be grasped quickly (meeting with Bidault about October 20 and Hague EPC meeting by end of October) and that it is in interest entire western world that early agreement be reached. As indicated Paris 1339, framework of possible agreement for French Government remains approximately that given last spring to Adenauer by Mayer and Bidault. We strongly hope German position can be adapted to this and that in any event any German efforts to modify framework should take place in course of conversations with French as mutually agreed rather than frozen beforehand.
- Drafted by Fisher of WE and Kidd and cleared with Bonbright. Repeated to London and Paris.↩
- Telegram 1339, supra. Telegram 1335 transmitted the substance of a conversation with Reynaud concerning the importance of a Saar settlement. Telegram 1340 examined trends in the French National Assembly concerning the EDC. (740.5/10–253)↩