840.00/1–1348
The British Ambassador (Inverchapel) to
the Secretary of State
top secret
personal
Washington, January 13, 1948.
Dear Mr. Secretary: I am writing this letter
to you since I understand that it will not be possible for me to see you
personally in the next day or two.
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You will recall that, after the breakdown of the Council of Foreign
Ministers in London, Mr. Bevin gave you an outline of his proposals for
a Western Union.1 He has since given further thought to this
important problem and has embodied his ideas in a paper,1 of
which he has asked me to give you very secretly the attached
summary.
As the first step towards the realisation of this wide project, Mr. Bevin
is suggesting to M. Bidault forthwith that the British and French
Governments should make a joint offer of a treaty to Belgium, Holland
and Luxembourg. If M. Bidault agrees, Mr. Bevin proposes that they
should at once concert a draft treaty which should, in Mr. Bevin’s view,
follow the lines of the Treaty of Dunkirk.2 (I attach for
easy reference a copy of this Treaty).
Having thus created a solid core in Western Europe, consideration should
then be given to the best means of developing the system which Mr. Bevin
has in mind and to associating with it other states including Italy,
other Mediterranean countries, and Scandinavia. In this way Mr. Bevin
plans to link together the non-communist countries of Western Europe
with the Middle East.
On the economic side Mr. Bevin hopes that the European Recovery
Programme3 will be brought to fruition and will lead to the economic
integration of the resources of Western Europe. Everything possible
should be done to achieve this. The economic recovery and integration of
Western Europe should be supplemented by a plan of development of
Africa. With this end in view and as a preliminary step, Colonial talks
between the British and French Governments are taking place this
month.
Mr. Bevin trusts that the policy outlined above and the initial steps
which he proposes to take will commend themselves to you.
I should be glad of an opportunity to discuss this plan with you at a
very early date.
Yours sincerely,
[Enclosure]
Summary of a Memorandum Representing Mr.
Bevin’s Views on the Formation of a Western Union
The Soviet Government has formed a solid political and economic
block. There is no prospect in the immediate future that we shall be
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able to re-establish and
maintain normal relations with European countries behind their line.
These countries are dominated by the communists, although they are
only a minority in each country. Indeed we shall be hard put to it
to stem the further encroachment of the Soviet tide. It is not
enough to reinforce the physical barriers which still guard our
Western civilisation. We must also organise and consolidate the
ethical and spiritual forces inherent in this Western civilisation
of which we are the chief protagonists. This in my view can only be
done by creating some form of union in Western Europe, whether of a
formal or informal character, backed by the Americas and the
Dominions.
It is clear that from secure entrenchments behind their line the
Russians are exerting a constantly increasing pressure which
threatens the whole fabric of the West. In some Western countries
the danger is still latent, but in others the conflicting forces are
already at grips with one another. The Soviet Government has based
its policy on the expectation that Western Europe will sink into
economic chaos and they may be relied upon to place every possible
obstacle in the path of American aid and of Western European
recovery. Our course is equally clear. I have done and will continue
to do all I can to bring the Marshall Plan to fruition. But
essential though it is, progress in the economic field will not in
itself suffice to call a halt to the Russian threat. Political and
indeed spiritual forces must be mobilised in our defence.
I believe therefore that we should seek to form with the backing of
the Americas and the Dominions a Western democratic system
comprising, Scandinavia, the Low Countries, France, Italy, Greece
and possibly Portugal. As soon as circumstances permit we should, of
course, wish also to include Spain and Germany without whom no
Western system can be complete. Almost all the countries I have
listed have been nurtured on civil liberties and on the fundamental
human rights. Moreover, most Western European countries have such
recent experience of Nazi rule that they can apprehend directly what
is involved in their loss. All in a greater or lesser degree sense
the imminence of the communist peril and are seeking some assurance
of salvation. I believe, therefore, that the moment is ripe for a
consolidation of Western Europe. This need not take the shape of a
formal alliance, though we have an alliance with France and may
conclude one with other countries. It does, however, mean close
consultation with each of the Western European countries, beginning
with economic questions. We in Britain can no longer stand outside
Europe and insist that our problems and position are quite separate
from those of our European neighbours. Our treaty relations with the
various countries might
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differ, but between all there would be an understanding backed by
power, money and resolution and bound together by the common ideals
for which the Western Powers have twice in one generation shed their
blood.
I am aware that the Soviet Government would react against this policy
as savagely as they have done against the Marshall Plan. It would be
described as an offensive alliance directed against the Soviet
Union. On this point I can only say that in the situation in which
Ave have been placed by Russian policy half measures are useless. If
Ave are to preserve peace and our own safety at the same time, Ave
can only do so by the mobilisation of such a moral and material
force as will create confidence and energy on the one side and
inspire respect and caution on the other. The alternative is to
acquiesce in continued Russian infiltration and helplessly to
witness the piecemeal collapse of one Western bastion after
another.
The policy I have outlined will require a lead from us. The countries
of Western Europe will look to us for political and moral guidance
and for assistance in building up a counter attraction to the
baleful tenets of communism within their borders and in recreating a
healthy society, wherever it has been shaken or shattered by the
war.
I have already broached the conception of what I called a spiritual
union of the West tentatively to Mr. Marshall and M. Bidault, both
of whom seemed to react favourably without, of course, committing
themselves. I now propose to ventilate the idea in public in my
speech in the forthcoming Foreign Affairs Debate and thereafter to
pursue it, as occasion demands, with the governments concerned.
