Editorial Note
During the latter half of March, representatives from France and Germany held a series of conversations at Paris concerning the dissolution of the Ruhr Authority and the removal of steel production ceilings in preparation for the coming into existence of the European Coal and Steel Community under the Schuman Plan. Chargé Bohlen reported on these conversations in telegram 5804 from Paris, March 30, and added that substantial agreement had been reached, but that it was as yet uncertain whether such an agreement would be incorporated in a letter from Schuman to Adenauer, as previously planned, or whether it would be made the subject of a joint statement of the French and German Governments. (850.33/3–3051)
In telegram Sigto 581 from London, April 10, Ambassador Gifford reported that a French representative on the Steering Committee of the Intergovernmental Study Group on Germany had said that the French Government intended to discuss with the other governments signatory to the Schuman Plan the elimination of duplicate functions between the High Authority of the ECSC and the Ruhr Authority. The French delegate added, off the record, that the French Government would incorporate its proposals in a letter to the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany at the time of the formal signing of the Schuman Plan. (396.1–ISG/4–1051) That same day, in telegram 6076, Chargé Bonsal at Paris sent a translation of the most recent draft letter from Schuman to Adenauer concerning proposals for the dissolution of the Ruhr Authority [Page 114] once the High Authority of the ECSC came into being. Bonsal added that this text had been agreed to by representatives of the French Foreign Ministry and a representative of the German Schuman Plan delegation to the Paris negotiations and that subject to any last minute changes that Schuman and Adenauer might wish to make it should be considered definitive. (850.33/4–1051)
The Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community was formally signed by France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg at Paris on April 18. A copy of this Treaty, including various protocols and the “Exchange of Letters Between the Government of the German Federal Republic and the Government of the French Republic Concerning the Saar”, is in CFM files, lot M–88, box 138, “Treaty (Schuman Plan)”. The Saar letters are also printed in Folliot, Documents on International Affairs, 1951, pages 242–243; for documentation on the Saar, see volume III, Part 2, pp. 1970 ff.
In telegram 6424 from Paris, April 23, Ambassador Bruce reported that after having obtained clearance from Adenauer “and apparently the agreement of the Brit,” French Foreign Minister Schuman had released the text of his letter of April 18 to Adenauer relating to the dissolution of the Ruhr Authority as a necessary prerequisite for the coming into existence of the ECSC. The letter is printed in Europa Archiv, 1951, page 3986. Bruce added that in order to implement the proposals contained in Schuman’s letter the French Government planned to issue an invitation within the month for a meeting in Paris of representatives of the Intergovernmental Study Group on Germany, i.e., the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. (850.33/4–2351)
Secretary Acheson replied in priority telegram 5727, April 27, that there were technical aspects of the Ruhr problem that needed consideration and that it was therefore “politically desirable” to issue invitations promptly for the Paris meeting. (850.33/4–2351) Bruce responded in telegram 6592, April 29, that the French proposed to call a tripartite conference at the ambassadorial level to meet in Paris in mid-May. At this conference the French would, among other things, explain the provisions of the Schuman Plan and the modifications required in German occupation controls to carry it into effect. France would then seek to obtain from the United States and United Kingdom a decision in principle to eliminate all such controls. Bruce added that the formal invitations to the conference would probably be extended within the week. (850.33/4–2951)
The French invitation to the United States to participate in the Paris conference on the Ruhr was formally extended on May 7, with May 21 designated as the opening date. In telegram 5912, May [Page 115] 7, the Department of State informed the Embassy in France that it would accept the French invitation with pleasure and that the Embassy should take up the question of detailed arrangements for the meeting with the French Foreign Ministry. (850.33/5–751) The Department also reiterated its concern, first expressed in telegram 5880 to Paris, May 4, over the limited nature of Benelux participation in the conference. (850.33/4–2951)
The tripartite conference on the termination of the Ruhr Authority convened in Paris on May 21. Philip W. Bonsal, Charles A. Livengood, John D. Tomlinson, Robert R. Bowie, J. Robert Wilson, and Earle A. Cleveland, the latter three of whom were attached to the Office of the United States High Commissioner for Germany, comprised the American Delegation. The British and French Delegations were likewise composed of representatives from both the respective foreign ministries and the offices of the British and French High Commissioners for Germany. In reporting upon the opening session of the Ruhr Conference in telegram 7148 from Paris, May 22, Ambassador Bruce summarized the short speech of welcome delivered by Pierre-Albert Charpentier, French delegate and Director-General of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Charpentier stressed the “need to abolish Ruhr Auth and such occupation controls as were incompatible with new relationship of Germany” to Europe as a result of the imminent establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community. (862.19 Ruhr/5–2251)
During the Conference, which lasted from May to October, negotiations were complicated by British insistence that the proposed abolition of Allied controls over the German coal, iron, and steel industries not compromise the increasingly urgent need for German exports to build up the United Kingdom defense effort. British delegates stressed the particular need of the United Kingdom for a continued flow of German steel scrap and semifinished steel products. The British continually emphasized that “His Majesty’s Government have experienced increasing difficulties with the Germans about the fulfillment of their obligations on this score”. Telegram 7886 from Paris, June 19, transmitted the statement made orally by a member of the British Delegation to the Ruhr Conference “and confirmed later in writing”. (862.19–Ruhr/6–1951)
The Department of State expressed great concern over the British position and, in telegram 6926 to Paris, June 19, repeated to London as 5987, the United States Delegation was instructed to inform the British that it was inappropriate to introduce conditions which “in our view prejudice seriously ratification Schuman Plan in Ger”. (850.33/6–1951) Documentation on the Ruhr Conference is in files 862.19–Ruhr and 850.33 and in lot files M–88 (Council of [Page 116] Foreign Ministers) and 311 (Bonn Mission). The conclusion and results of the Ruhr Conference are summarized in Document 68.