862.20/6–2149

Paper Prepared by the Foreign Assistance Correlation Committee 1

Germany and MAP

Problem:

What will be the relationship of Germany, and particularly of the economic resources of the Ruhr, to the program for increasing the defensive military strength of the Western European Countries?

Answer:

It is, of course, impossible to predict at this time what will be the future political relationship of Germany to the other Western European Countries and to the regional organizations which they have set up among themselves. It is the hope of the United States Government that Germany will in the future work ever more closely with the other Western European Countries to achieve our common aims of economic strength, peace, and political stability. How this shall come about is a matter which will have to be jointly worked out by Western European Countries and Germany.

The United States Government does not envisage that Germany will be in a position to undertake cooperative military efforts with other Western European Governments, as we are fully committed to the complete and absolute disarmament and demilitarization of Germany. She will not have military forces of her own. She will not have industrial capacity for the production of armaments.

However, Germany is and can to an increasing extent contribute to the general economic strength of the Western European Countries, [Page 478] which is the essential foundation of military strength. This economic contribution is now being made through the joint planning efforts of the OEEC under the ECA Program. This Program now assumes maximum utilization, in producing goods for German consumption and for exports to meet the needs of other European participants, of the industrial facilities of Western Germany, including the Ruhr. The volume of ECA assistance which we are giving assumes the availability of these goods.

It is of course possible, without violating our disarmament and demilitarization policy, for Western Germany to export basic materials for use in producing additional military equipment in the arsenals of other Western European countries and to produce civilian type items required by military forces. It is also of course possible that, as in other countries, there may be idle capacity which cannot immediately be put into production either because of lack of special types of raw materials which must be imported, or because the facilities can only produce items which are not now required in the OEEC program and cannot find export markets outside of Western Europe.

Although precise information is not available, it is the best judgment of persons familiar with the economic situation and prospects of Western Germany that there will not be any substantial volume of civilian type goods which could be produced in Germany with otherwise idle facilities. In point of fact, Germany, not being a participant in the Military Aid Program as a whole, could not be expected to make available goods to members of the MAP without payment. In the circumstances it would appear to be preferable to look to the expansion of German trade with other Western European countries in civilian essentials and industrial materials and products to assist in the process of European recovery and thereby increase the basic economic strength of Western Europe.

  1. The Foreign Assistance Correlation Committee, composed of representatives from the Department of State, the National Military Establishment, and the Economic Cooperation Administration, had come into existence at the end of 1948 as the result of an agreement among the three participants. For documentation relating to its activity and genesis, see volume ii .