740.5/9–551: Telegram
The Ambassador in Italy (Dunn) to the Secretary of State 1
1097. In my conversation yesterday with Prime Min I stressed again interest of our government in rapid conclusion of arrangements with respect to European army. Signer De Gasperi said that Italy was represented in present meeting in Paris and Ital Govt was firmly dedicated to principle integration of Europe, both along lines of defense arrangements, [Page 880] as well as political unification. He said comprehensive plan for integration and equalization of European armed forces at present before European army conference in Paris raised difficult constitutional questions in Italy. The derogation of power and control over Ital armed forces would not be welcomed by Ital Parliament nor in fact was he at all sure that any such derogation could be achieved under the constitution.
Another phase which would be difficult to have accepted by Parliament here was appropriation of funds by Ital Govt for expenditure by some other authority. He said Ital Govt accepted the principle of all of these ideas but that he did not feel it was practicable to attempt to have them approved by Parliament here as he was sure a prolonged discussion would take place and there would be interminable delays largely based upon constitutional issues. He said, and I am not at all sure this has been proposed (apparently only recently has this matter come up to him personally), that Itals want to have a solution to this problem found promptly and one way of achieving this might be to separate what might be called the political administration of the European army from military command headquarters. Headquarters could then be set up providing for international general staff on an equality of status and pay according to their respective ranks. General Eisenhower or his designate put in supreme command, the necessary schools and training arrangements centralized under this general staff, and forces of each country in their present respective national status as far as concerns rank and pay be placed entirely under military jurisdiction of this general staff and whole matter of integrating of European forces be proceeded with immediately. He said he thought this was one way of advancing progress toward unification of forces and command and matter of what might be called political administration of defense forces left for continued discussion and development subsequently.2
Signor De Gasperi said that one of the most important elements in obtaining prompt solution of this matter was to bring about an assurance that Germans would make their maximum contribution to defense of Europe. He said in his opinion it was tremendously important to do everything possible to support Adenauer in Germany, that Adenauer was losing in his position as the strongest political leader in Germany today, and that it would be fatal for the whole future of Western Europe to lose Adenauer.
[Page 881]He said probable successors to Adenauer, the Socialists, would make same portentous mistake of building on a nationalist platform which he felt might easily develop into inevitable German strong-arm govt. He said he appreciated that United States particularly was working along lines of freeing German Govt from restrictions and putting them more on their own. He said from his own experience in Italy he felt that that was the only way in which Adenauer’s position could be maintained as a real democratic leader of Germany.
I said that we were very much in favor of removing restrictions from Germany and setting up its govt in authority and control, but that of course it was essential that some arrangement be arrived at for not only the defense of Germany but the mutual defense of Germany and other Western European countries.
He said he felt sure that Adenauer would be able to bring about full cooperation of Germans in such a defense arrangement, but to do so he must have authority to act as a German Government and not be continually accused of not standing up sufficiently in defense of German national interests in the face of allied controls.
- This telegram was repeated for information to Paris, London, and Frankfurt.↩
- Telegram 1598, September 12, from Paris, not printed, reported that the Embassy had been informed that the Italian Delegation to the Conference on a European Defense Community had received new instructions from its government which were based on a “strong European approach” and authorized the Italian Delegation to go beyond the Conference Interim Report of July 24 (p. 843) in seeking solutions to Italian problems, especially in the financial field, in the organization of a European Defense Community (740.5/9–1251).↩