56. Editorial Note

The Ministerial meeting of the North Atlantic Council held at Bonn, May 2–4, was attended by the Foreign Ministers of the 15 member countries. The United States Delegation was headed by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, United States Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization George W. Perkins, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs C. Burke Elbrick, Assistant Secretary of State for Policy Planning Robert R. Bowie, and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Mansfield D. Sprague.

Secretary Dulles and his advisers left Washington on April 30. In his departure statement, Dulles said that the Council’s decision to hold its spring meeting in Bonn emphasized the partnership of the Federal Republic of Germany in the mutual pact for peace. He stressed the importance of the full exchange of views which occurred when the Foreign Ministers of the 15 nations met. For text of this statement, see Department of State Bulletin, May 20, 1957, page 804.

The most extensive body of documentation on this meeting is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 62 D 181, CF 870–886A. CF 870 and 871 contain a set of briefing and position papers for the delegation on matters to be discussed at the meeting. CF 872 and 875 have copies of the meeting agenda and some of the reports discussed. CF 873 contains a copy of the Secretary General’s Report and CF 874, 877, and 879 have documents pertaining to administrative details of the meeting. CF 876 contains the verbatim records for the Council meetings held on May 2. CF 878 has the memoranda of conversation which describe the bilateral talks Dulles had with other Foreign Ministers. CF 880 and 881 contain copies of the DulteTedul and SectoTosec telegrams, respectively, which summarized the meetings and bilateral talks. CF 882, 883, 884, and 885 which contain the schedules of bilateral talks and Council meetings for May 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively, also have copies of the verbatim records of the Council meetings and the telegrams and memoranda of conversation summarizing the talks held on those days. Reports and documents which discuss preparations for the meeting and summarize the proceedings, and copies of some of the telegrams described above are also in ibid., Central Files, 740.5.

During his stay in Bonn, Dulles discussed problems of mutual concern with some of the Foreign Ministers. On May 1, he met with Lloyd. Secto 4, May 1, summarizes their discussion about the Egyptian administration of the Suez Canal. The Secretary met later with Martino and discussed the four-power working group. The memorandum of conversation, USDel/MC/1 of May 1, reports this conversation. On May 2, Dulles met with Averoff to discuss the Cyprus [Page 168] question. Secto 12, May 2, summarizes this conversation. The Secretary conversed with Lloyd about the Suez situation on May 2 and again on May 3. Dulte 3, May 2, and Secto 14, May 3, summarizes these conversations.

On May 4, Dulles called on Chancellor Adenauer at Villa Schaumberg where they discussed defense strategy, the British plan to withdraw troops from Germany, disarmament, and the Middle East. The memorandum of conversation of May 4, USDel/MC/6, and Dulte 9 of the same date describe this discussion. That afternoon, Dulles flew to Paris where he spent part of May 6 meeting with the American Ambassadors in Europe at their annual meeting. While in Paris on May 6, Dulles met with Mollet and Pineau at the Hotel Matignon where they discussed the recent NATO meeting, nuclear equipment for NATO powers, Suez, and Algeria. The memorandum of conversation of May 6, USDel/MC/7, describes this discussion. Some of the memoranda and telegrams cited here are scheduled for publication in the relevant compilations of forthcoming Foreign Relations volumes.

The North Atlantic Council began its meeting with a public session on the morning of May 2 where Chancellor Adenauer welcomed the Foreign Ministers. Secretary General Ismay then reported on NATO’s achievements in the previous 5-year period. Following that session, the Council met in four plenary sessions on May 2, 3, and 4. The Foreign Ministers spent the first three sessions discussing the significance for NATO of trends in Soviet policy, developments in Europe, the Middle East, and other areas, and the question of disarmament. The Council noted that since its last meeting, the Soviets had launched a campaign to induce public opinion in NATO countries to oppose the modernization of defense forces in the Alliance. The representatives denounced Soviet attempts to intimidate the Alliance, but stated with satisfaction that the Allies had not been deluded and had firmly replied to these Soviet maneuvers.

In a lengthy statement on May 3, Dulles stressed the need to make NATO a durable alliance. He said its members must not only guard against assaults and attacks from without, but also be aware of strains within the Alliance. He spoke of disagreements and differences among the Allies over the Middle East, Cyprus, and the British Government’s plan, announced in the White Paper on defense policy published on April 4, to cut drastically its defense budget, to rely on the nuclear deterrent, and to reduce its forces on the continent. (For text of the White Paper, see the New York Times, April 5, 1957.) The Secretary of State argued that they must prevent problems of the moment from disrupting the solidarity of NATO and reiterated his pleasure that the members had lived through the worst period of strain.

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The Council discussed the question of balance between conventional and atomic weapons, reiterating the position taken the previous September that NATO must be in a position to meet any attack which might be launched against it. To reassure the Allies in light of the British Government’s decision to reduce their forces on the continent, Dulles stated that the President had no plans to withdraw United States forces from Europe.

The Council agreed NATO’s defense policy did not preclude limitation of armaments. But as Dulles reported to the President on May 3, the continental countries, excluding Germany, were fearful of any nuclear disarmament because it might have left them dominated by Soviet ground forces and dependent upon German ground forces for their security. Dulles stated that there was much concern that the West would adopt atomic disarmament measures which were not foolproof and which were not equally connected with a dependable limitation of conventional armament. “Indeed” wrote Dulles, “if the point of view reflected here were to be controlling, there would not be a chance, in my opinion, of any disarmament at all. I argued for controlling what was controllable and not abandoning the task because some elements were perhaps uncontrollable.” (Dulte 5 from Bonn, May 3; Department of State, Central Files, 320.5774/5–357)

At the final meeting on May 4, the Council discussed and praised the Secretary General’s report and approved the final communiqué. The Council expressed satisfaction that useful progress and concrete results had been achieved in political consultation under new procedures inaugurated as a result of the recommendations of the Report of the Committee of Three on Non-Military Co-operation in NATO, dated December 14, 1956. Regarding this report, see footnote 4, Document 47. After paying tribute to Ismay for his 5 years of service to the Alliance, the Council adjourned.

In summing up the meeting for the President, Dulles wrote that the Council meeting had been a good one, perhaps the best of all he had attended. He said there were points of discord, most notably over the question of British troop withdrawals from Germany and Cyprus. Some of the basic issues which had been avoided before were discussed more openly at the meeting “with a greater degree of frankness and unstudied expression than has been the case heretofore.” (Dulte 5 from Bonn, May 3; Department of State, Central Files, 320.5774/5–357)

Upon his return to Washington on May 7 from the meetings in Bonn and Paris, Dulles issued a brief statement which expressed his satisfaction with the scope and tone of the discussions at the NAC meeting. The text of this statement of May 7 and the final communiqué, of May 4 are printed in Department of State Bulletin, May 27, 1957, pages 839–840.