Editorial Note
During the North Atlantic Council meeting at Lisbon in February 1952, British Foreign Secretary Eden transmitted to Secretary Acheson an invitation from Oxford University to receive an honorary degree. The Secretary of State decided to accept this invitation and similar ones that had been pending from Mayor Reuter to lay the cornerstone of the American Memorial Library in Berlin, from Chancellor Figl to visit Vienna, and from Foreign Minister Neves da Fontoura to come to Brazil.
Secretary Acheson and his principal advisers, Ambassador Jessup, Assistant Secretary Perkins, Paul Nitze of the Policy Planning Staff, and his special assistant, Lucius Battle, left Washington aboard the presidential plane, the Independence, on June 22, and arrived in London on the following day where they were joined by Ambassador Dunn from Paris and Ambassador Kennan from Moscow. For the text of the Secretary’s remarks at National Airport before his departure, see Department of State Bulletin, July 7, 1952, page 6. On June 24, four bilateral conversations were held with British officials on subjects that had been suggested by both sides. At the first session, Eden and Acheson discussed the ratification of the agreements which had been signed at Bonn and Paris in May, the response to the Soviet note of May 24, the situation in Berlin, the Saar, Trieste, and Egypt. In the remaining sessions, the Foreign Ministers and their advisers considered the Middle East, Egypt, and Iran. For documentation on the interest of the United States in the ratification of the Paris Agreements, see pages 1464 ff.; documentation on the contractual arrangements signed at Bonn on May 26, on the exchange of notes with the Soviet Union concerning German unity, on the situation in Berlin, and on the status of the Saar is presented in volume VII; documentation on the policy of the United States with respect to the Middle East including United States concern over British controversies with Egypt is presented in volume IX; documentation on the concern of the United States over the British controversy with Iran is presented in volume X.
On June 25 Secretary Acheson attended Encaenia at Oxford and received an honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law. The following day, two more bilateral sessions were held with the British. At the first, the Middle East, Korea, and Indochina were considered; while [Page 1545] at the second, Secretary Acheson spoke briefly to a British-American Parliamentary Group on subjects concerning various areas of the world. Documentation on the policy of the United States with respect to Korea and Indochina is presented in volumes XV and XIII, respectively. That section of the Secretary’s remarks to the Parliamentary Group which deals with Korea is printed in Department of State Bulletin, July 14, 1952, page 60.
Trilateral Foreign Ministers meetings were held on June 27. In the morning session, Eden, Schuman, and Acheson discussed the Soviet note of May 24 and the German situation; in the afternoon session, they considered further what reply should be sent to the Soviet note and dealt with the situation in Korea and Indochina.
June 28 was given over entirely to bilateral discussions. In the morning, Acheson talked with Foreign Minister Kraft of Denmark about the delivery to Poland of a tanker built by the Danes, and with Foreign Minister Schuman concerning Ambassador Kennan’s views on the Soviet Union, the Soviet note, Southeast Asia, Tunisia, Morocco, and the Middle East Defense Organization (MEDO). Documentation on Ambassador Kennan’s views on the Soviet Union is presented in volume VIII; documentation on the interest of the United States in the Middle East Defense Organization (MEDO) is presented in volume IX; documentation on the interest of the United States in the situation in Tunisia and Morocco is presented in volume XI.
Documentation on the Ministerial talks in London, designated by the series indicator MTL, including records of all the meetings enumerated above, telegrams to and from the Secretary of State while in the United Kingdom, and various briefing and background papers prepared for the talks is in the Conference files, lot 59 D 95, CFs 111–113 and in the CFM files, lot M 88, box 162. Incomplete records of the meetings in London are also available in decimal files 396.1 LO and 110.11 AC. Secretary Acheson reported to President Truman on this part of the trip by letter, June 28, infra.
Acheson, Jessup, Perkins, and Battle left London on the afternoon of June 28, arriving in Berlin later the same day. Following a reception by General Mathewson, United States Commandant for Berlin, the Secretary of State attended a dinner given by Mayor Reuter and presented a bound volume of the correspondence between Karl Schurz and President Lincoln. On the following day, he had breakfast with High Commissioner McCloy and German State Secretary Hallstein, at which the tripartite reply to the Soviet note of May 24 was discussed, held a press conference, and spoke at the ceremonies for the laying of the cornerstone of the American Memorial Library in Berlin. In his speech, Secretary Acheson stated inter alia that the United States, the United Kingdom, and France would remain in Berlin until they were satisfied that the freedom of the city was secure. [Page 1546] For the text of Secretary Acheson’s remarks at Mayor Reuter’s dinner and at the site of the library, see Department of State Bulletin, July 7, 1952, pages 3–6. A record of the breakfast with McCloy and Hallstein was transmitted in Secto 50 from Vienna, June 29, not printed. (110.11 AC/6–2952) A verbatim text of the press conference, not printed, was transmitted in telegram 1574 from Berlin, June 29. (662A.00/6–2952) For further documentation on the Secretary’s visit to Berlin, see volume VII.
Secretary Acheson and his advisers departed Berlin early in the afternoon of June 29 and arrived in Vienna later the same day, where they were greeted by Chancellor Figl and Vice Chancellor Schaerf. June 30 was devoted to conversations with the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, President Körner, Foreign Minister Gruber, and other Austrian officials; a press conference; and a formal state dinner. A transcript of the press conference, not printed, was transmitted in an unnumbered telegram from Vienna, July 1. (Conference files, lot 59 D 95, CF 113) Further documentation on Secretary Acheson’s visit to Vienna is presented in volume VII. For Secretary Acheson’s report to President Truman on his visits to Berlin and Vienna, see the letter, June 30, page 1548.
Secretary Acheson left Vienna on July 1, stopped overnight at Dakar where he talked with French High Commissioner Cornut-Gentille, and flew on to Brazil, pausing briefly at Recife to pick up Assistant Secretary Miller. The Secretary of State spent 4 days in Bio de Janeiro, flew to Sao Paulo on July 7 and departed for the United States on July 8. For the text of Acheson’s speech on United States-Brazilian relations at a banquet given by Brazilian Foreign Minister Joao Neves da Fontoura on July 3, see Department of State Bulletin, July 14, 1952, pages 47–51; for text of his address to the Brazilian Senate, and excerpts from his remarks to the Chamber of Deputies on July 4, and his speech at a banquet given by Lucas Garces, Governor of the State of Sao Paulo on July 7, see ibid., July 21, 1952, pages 87–91.
For Secretary Acheson’s own account of this trip, see Acheson, Present at the Creation, pages 658–670.