Foreign Relations of the United States, 1948, Western Europe, Volume III

Executive Secretariat Files

Report by the National Security Council¹

[Extract]

top secret

[Washington,] September 3, 1948.

NSC 28/1

The Position of the United States With Respect to Scandinavia

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

conclusions

9. It is in the security interests of the United States that Norway, Denmark and Sweden remain free from Soviet domination.

10. The United States should endeavor by all appropriate measures:

a. To strengthen the present tendency of Norway and Denmark to align themselves with the Western Powers.

b. To make perfectly clear to Sweden our dissatisfaction with its apparent failure to discriminate in its own mind and in its future planning between the West and the Soviet Union: to influence Sweden to abandon this attitude of subjective neutrality and look toward eventual alignment with other Western Powers in such form as may be found collectively acceptable; and at the same time to refrain from forcing Sweden into an attitude which would be unnecessarily provocative toward the Soviet Union.

11. As one means of implementing the policy stated in the preceding paragraph, the United States should explore with the members of Western Union the problem of increasing the security of Norway, Denmark, and, if appropriate, Sweden, through their integration into or association in some form with the Brussels Treaty system or otherwise.

12. The United States should continue to support Norway and Denmark by measures such as the following:

a. Extension of economic aid by means of favorable U.S. foreign trade policies.

b. Providing equipment first to strengthen Norway and Denmark’s military posture as a deterrent to Soviet armed aggression, and second to enable the Norwegian and Danish forces to resist actively an actual attack. A small amount of equipment should be furnished promptly as an immediate measure of encouragement to the Norwegian and Danish Governments.^* Further provision of equipment should be dependent upon their participation in the Western Union or some similar collective defense arrangement, consistent with over-all availability and with priorities to be established for other Western European nations.

c. Aggressive combatting of Communist propaganda by a vitalized, highly selective and intensified U.S. information program.

13. With respect to Sweden, the United States should follow for the time being a policy of according priority, on the limited amount of available military aid, to those countries and regional groupings envisaged by Senate Resolution 239 of June 11, 1948 (Vandenberg Resolution). Sweden’s requirements would be considered only after those of countries which have given indication of intention to cooperate with the U.S. or Brussels Treaty signatories in security arrangements.

14. It is essential that present U.S. base rights in Greenland be retained and extended as rapidly as politically expedient.

15. United States security interests in the Spitsbergen Archipelago lie in supporting Norway in maintaining her sovereignty over these islands and preventing their military use by a hostile power.

1. At its 19th meeting on September 2, the Council considered a draft report on this subject (NSC 28, not printed) and adopted it in this revised form. The Conclusions here printed were approved by the President on September 4, 1948.
2. Action on these two matters will be delayed pending the negotiation of matters with respect to Greenland and Spitzbergen. [Footnote in the source text. This footnote was deleted by action recommended in NSC 32/1, “Current Position of the US Respecting Base Negotiations with Denmark and Norway,” approved by the President on December 3, 1948, not printed.]