740.5/2–1051: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Embassy in the Netherlands 1
945. Re Sec’s ltr to Schuman2 you are correct that our position was and is as outlined in Depcirtel 439, Jan. 29.3
FYI only, circumstances surrounding drafting of ltr must be borne in mind and which resulted in weighting ltr on “enthusiastic” side. You will remember protracted negot with Fr re form of Ger participation fol deadlock Def Comite Washington last Oct. While we did not accept their proposal re Eur Army we did agree to give them every opportunity to work out details of plan and further agreed to public ltr to Schuman in order to get Paris Conference off on best foot possible. We have not modified our position that Eur Army plan will have to be fully sound politically and militarily and not delay build of Western strength in order to be acceptable to us. We likewise maintain our position that we will not exert pressure on other nations to accept Fr proposals.