80. Message From the Supreme Commander, Allied Forces, Europe (Gruenther) to the President’s Staff Secretary (Goodpaster)1
Eyes only for Colonel Goodpaster from General Gruenther. Please inform the President that Ambassador Blankenhorn came to see me this morning. He spoke from handwritten notes and this was the substance of his conversation:
“Since you are about to return to the United States, the Chancellor would like to have you deliver an oral message from him to the President. In the first place, he is most appreciative of the recent actions which President Eisenhower has taken to restore unity to the West. It is as important to restore this unity among the Three as it is among the Fifteen.
“As he sees the situation now, the big problem we have facing us is to improve our methods of political consultation. If we had achieved greater progress in that direction some time ago, it is doubtful if the Suez crisis would have happened. The Middle East problem is now one of our great difficulties, and we must solve it. The Chancellor is willing to help the President in every possible way.
“With respect to the details for improving political consultation, the Chancellor hopes to have a specific proposal ready to make at the [Page 175] December Ministerial meeting in Paris. (Blankenhorn added here, “I think it is the Chancellor’s intention to have Ambassador Krekeler submit this proposal in advance to Washington if he can get it ready in time.”)
“The United Nations Forces should not leave the Middle East until a final settlement has been made of the Israeli-Arab problem. Otherwise the Soviets will be able to make great progress in that area.
“The Chancellor feels that an economic solution must be found for the Middle East—a sort of Colombo plan2—whereby the Middle East countries are made economic partners with the West.
“With respect to the situation in middle Europe it is important that we remain patient and calm, and that we not push things too hard or too fast. This is creating a mild problem for the Chancellor since he must continuously hold ‘his own boys’ back. It is important that we not try to reach a solution by forceful means.
“Military. The Chancellor wants the President to know of his regret that the Federal Republic has not been able to make better progress militarily. However, the political situation has been such that he has had to move more slowly than he had originally hoped. He now has a good Defense Minister in Strauss. However, he is not so well satisfied with his generals. They have not thus far shown enough imagination and push and pull. The military program is now being carefully re-examined and the Germans hope to have a reasonably effective fighting force by the end of 1957, but not before. The enlisted material is excellent.
“The Chancellor believes that it would have a good effect on the West if the United States Forces in Europe could be reinforced. He realizes that this is a difficult matter for the United States, but he thinks it is desirable, at least for the next one or two years.
“Contact with Washington. The Chancellor feels that it is highly important during this critical period that there be close contact between Bonn and Washington. He would like to go to Washington during the second half of January if the President considers it useful.
“The Chancellor is grateful for what General Gruenther said at his press conference on November 13th. It had a very good effect on German public opinion, which was getting jittery. He regretted that Minister Strauss ‘popped off at the same time, but he does not think that it caused any harm. German public opinion is now considerably calmer over what it was ten days ago.
[Page 176]“In conclusion: The next few months are going to be difficult, but the situation can be handled if the contacts between the governments remain close. For that reason he would like to go to Washington in the second half of January if the President feels that such a visit would be helpful.”
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, International Series. Secret; Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals; Eyes Only. The source text is presumably a copy of a telegram sent through Department of the Army channels.↩
- The Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic Development in Southeast Asia, inaugurated by the United Kingdom in 1950, included Ceylon, India, Pakistan, and the British territories of Malaya and Borneo.↩