Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, The British Commonwealth; Europe, Volume III

840.50 Recovery/7–347: Telegram

The Ambassador in France (Caffery) to the Secretary of State

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Paris, July 3, 1947—6 p. m.

2667. Couve de Murville and Alphand¹ have just given me confidentially the text of the invitation agreed to by Bevin and Bidault at their meeting this morning (my 2656, July 3) which they state will be sent to 22 European countries tomorrow (excluding Spain and Russia and including Turkey). They also gave me the text of the proposals which will accompany the invitation. I am transmitting translations of both these documents in my immediately following telegram for the Department’s confidential information.²

Couve told me that I was to be given officially the texts tomorrow.³

Both Couve and Alphand expressed the opinion that the results of the Three Power conference have the gravest implications and that Europe now stands at the crossroads. The Russians, they said, believe that the European nations will not be able to draw up an effective plan and more particularly that the US will be unwilling to advance the credits necessary to make it work because the Soviets believe that the US will undergo a profound depression within the next 18 months. They believe that the Soviets are counting on this depression to put an end to the American aid for European reconstruction. This will mean that European economies will disintegrate and economic, social and political chaos will follow. When this catastrophe occurs the Soviets hope to take over the Western European countries with their well organized Communist Parties.

In conclusion Couve said that the French had for internal political and other reasons never wished to take the lead in establishing a European bloc.

“The Soviets, however, by their actions there have forced Europe to band together to save itself. They are the persons who have established the European bloc. It is now up to the European countries and to the US to see that such a bloc succeeds. We intend to publish all the papers on the Three Power conference in French and English⁴ and we hope they will be widely read and understood by the American people and the American Congress and that Moscow’s desire to sabotage European reconstruction will be as clearly revealed as is our determination to do everything within our power to save ourselves and to profit from the splendid initiative taken by Secretary Marshall.”

Sent Department 2667; repeated London 513, Geneva for Clayton 73, Moscow 404, Rome 158.

Caffery

1. Hervé Alphand, Director of Economic Services, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
2. Paris telegram 2668, July 3, not printed. In Washington, the British Embassy transmitted texts officially to the United States Government in a note of July 4, not printed (840.50 Recovery/7–447). For texts of the invitation and accompanying proposals, see French Yellow Book, pp. 69–74.
3. For text of the French note to the U.S. Embassy, July 4, see French Yellow Book, p. 76.
4. For references to the publications see footnote 1, p. 259.