Office of the Historian

124. Letter From Chancellor Adenauer to Secretary of State Dulles1

Bonn, March 13, 1956.

Mr. Secretary: The coming disarmament negotiations in London2 that will take place in a moment of increased international tension, will be of eminent importance for the further development of the global political situation and particularly for the policy of the West vis-à-vis the Soviet Bloc. This development will also affect the future of Germany, whose reunification is the declared aim of the Free World. The negotiations, moreover, will involve essential questions of the military security of the Federal Republic. The Federal Republic is not represented in the Disarmament Sub-Committee of the United Nations and, therefore, has no possibility to express her views. I believe, however, that her cooperation is necessary in the interest and the spirit of Atlantic solidarity.

In view of the fact that no measures concerning Germany’s political and military status and her territory can be taken without her approval, I should like to ask you to enable the Federal Republic to follow the course of the negotiations and to maintain her standpoint with the Western Governments in due time.

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In my opinion, the seriousness of the situation and the importance of the disarmament negotiations urgently require to materialize our proved close cooperation also in this matter.3

Very sincerely yours,

Adenauer4
  1. Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204, German Officials with Dulles/Herter 1953–61. The following typed notation appears on the source text immediately before the letter: “The German Ambassador presents his compliments to the Acting Secretary of State and has the honor to forward the following confidential letter of Chancellor Adenauer to the Secretary of State.” In a note to Merchant, March 14, Earl D. Sohm, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State, noted that the letter had been delivered by Werner Rouget, Third Secretary of the German Embassy, on behalf of the German Ambassador. (Ibid.)↩
  2. See footnote 2, supra.↩

  3. In a letter to Dulles, April 20, Adenauer acknowledged U.S. cooperation on the matter:

    “Thank you very much for the understanding with which you have received my message of March 13. I am very pleased that the Federal Government is being informed promptly and extensively on the negotiations of the Disarmament Committee of the United Nations in London. I consider this as a new confirmation of an established close political cooperation.” (Ibid.)

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  4. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩