48. Editorial Note
Between July 18 and 23, the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union attended the Geneva Conference. The delegations at this Geneva “Summit” Conference, as it is usually called, were headed by President Eisenhower; Sir Anthony Eden, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Edgar Faure, French Prime Minister; and N. A. Bulganin, Chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers.
[Page 163]Disarmament was the major subject of discussion at the fifth plenary meeting on July 21 and, to a lesser degree, at the sixth, seventh, and eighth plenary sessions on July 22 and 23. The most dramatic statement on disarmament was President Eisenhower’s proposal that the United States and the Soviet Union should agree to supply the other with a complete blueprint of military establishments and then allow unarmed planes to fly over the other’s territory and take photographs. Such reconnaissance flights, Eisenhower argued, would reduce the possibility of major surprise attack and serve as a first step toward the attainment of a comprehensive and effective system of inspection, which was indispensible for any viable arms limitation agreement. Eisenhower also urged the heads of government to instruct their representatives in the United Nations Subcommittee of the Disarmament Commission to give high priority to the study of inspection and reporting. A key portion of his speech, which became known as the “Open Skies” proposal, reads:
“I should address myself for a moment principally to the Delegates from the Soviet Union, because our two great countries possess, admittedly possess this new and terrible weapon in quantities which do give rise in other parts of the world or reciprocally to the risks and dangers of surprise attack. I propose, therefore, that we take a practical step, and we begin an arrangement, very quickly, as between ourselves, immediately. These steps would include: To give to each other a complete blueprint of our military establishments, from beginning to end, from one end of our countries to the other, lay out the establishments and provide them to each other. Next, to provide within our countries facilities for aerial photography to the other country—we to provide you the facilities within our country, ample facilities for aerial reconnaisance, where you can make all the pictures you choose and take them to your own country to study; you to provide exactly the same facilities for us and we to make these examinations, and by this step to convince the world that we are providing as between ourselves against the possibility of great surprise attack, and so lessening the dangers, relaxing tensions, and making more easily attainable a more definite and comprehensive and better system of inspection and disarmament, because what I propose, I assure you, would, I think, be but a beginning.
“Now, from my statements, I believe you will anticipate my suggestion. It is that we instruct our representatives in the Subcommittee on Disarmament in discharge of their mandate from the United Nations to give priority effort to the study of inspection and reporting. Such a study could well include a step by step testing of inspection and reporting methods.
“The United States is ready to proceed in the study and testing of a reliable system of inspections and reporting, and when that system is proved, then to reduce armaments with all others to the extent that the system will provide assured results.
[Page 164]“The successful working out of such a system would do much to develop the mutual confidence which will open wide the avenues of progress for all our peoples.” (Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 63 D 123, CF 510)
For documentation on the conference, including the discussions pertaining to disarmament, see volume V. Additional documentation, particularly on the origins of United States disarmament proposals before the conference, is in Department of State, Disarmament Files: Lot 58 D 133, under the following folder titles: Disarmament Policy, U.S. Disarmament Proposals, Four Power Meetings (Heads of Government), Country Files—France, and Country Bilateral Conversations—United Kingdom.