762A.5/8–1751
The British Foreign Secretary ( Morrison ) to the Secretary of State 1
My Dear Acheson : I was very glad to have your personal message communicated by the United States Embassy about the problems which we face jointly in integrating a German contribution into the defence of Western Europe and in establishing a new contractual relationship with the German Federal Republic.2 I have been giving much thought to these questions and I am happy to see that we are thinking on similar lines.
2. As regards the contractual arrangements, I have only just received the report which the High Commission has prepared and have not yet had time to study it. My first impression is, however, that the United States and British elements are in agreement on the most essential points. Our first objective must be to reach tripartite agreement and I hope this will be possible when we meet in Washington in September. You will already be aware that I have suggested to this end that our meeting in Washington should be preceded by tripartite official talks. Like you I hope that agreement in our tripartite discussions will enable the High Commissioners to conduct and conclude final negotiations with representatives of the German Federal Republic. I would attach importance to the production of a basic agreement with the Federal Republic along broad lines which will be readily understood by the general public.
3. The central problem in the contractual negotiations is that of the retention of supreme authority by the three allies. I agree that the fields in which supreme authority would be retained should be defined. While, however, I am in broad agreement with the four points mentioned in your message, the precise definition of these fields clearly requires further consideration prior to our meeting next month.
4. I agree with you on the urgency of pressing on towards a decision on these questions. The working programme which you suggest is a very tight one. We will do our best to adhere to it, but it is clear that the contractual relationship is not a question that can be considered by itself. As you say, both from our point of view and from the German point of view questions of political equality and military contribution should be finally considered and decided together.
5. As regards a German defence contribution, I agree that the establishment of a European defence force may well offer an acceptable solution. Before we give our full support to this project, however, I [Page 1175] think we must first be sure that it is a practicable proposition and can be satisfactorily organised for the efficient defence of Europe. I note your view that the recent and striking progress made in the Paris Conference makes it possible that a German contribution can be obtained quickly in this way. We have no information on this beyond the interim report of the Conference,3 which is, as you know, vague and incomplete on many points of military detail. We are now looking at it and I am sure it would be valuable to discuss it with Monsieur Schuman in Washington. In the meantime, since the time factor is important, I think it would be useful if our national representative on the Standing Group could study it from a practical military point of view. At the same time, I think they should make use of the report from the High Commission on their discussions with the German representatives at Bonn, since it contains much useful practical material on the possibilities of a German defence contribution.
6. We shall of course have to consider the big issue of Germany’s admission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation at a later stage in the light of the progress achieved in regard to her new political status and her defence contribution.
7. I am bound to say that the final phases of your proposed timetable strike me as a bit ambitious, given the complexity of the subject. But you may be sure that my colleagues and I, for our part, will do our best.
Yours sincerely,