Office of the Historian

92. Memorandum of a Conversation, White House, Washington, February 26, 19571

Washington, February 26,1957

PARTICIPANTS

  • The President
  • Mr. Ollenhauer, Chairman, German Social Democratic Party
  • Mr. Fritz Heine, Press Chief of Social Democratic Party
  • Mr. C. Burke Elbrick, Assistant Secretary

During his call on the President, Mr. Ollenhauer raised the question of German reunification and European security. He said that it is apparent that there can be no reunification of Germany without the agreement of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union is unwilling to contemplate a reunited Germany in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He, as the leader of the Social Democratic Party in Germany, felt that it is entirely possible that present Soviet opposition to reunification can be overcome by an agreement “acceptable to both sides”. He felt that it is most important to strive to reach such an agreement in order that Germany may develop normally. The President observed that the difficulty with this thesis is the fact that, while the Western Powers would observe the terms of any such agreement, Soviet behavior has taught US that the Soviet Union would violate such an agreement whenever it might feel that it was to its advantage to do so. For this reason, the President said, we feel strongly that the Western Powers can only talk to the Soviet from a position of strength. For this reason also, NATO is an indispensable defense structure which enables US to deal confidently with Russia.

Mr. Ollenhauer said that the Social Democratic Party in Germany does not favor unilateral talks between the Federal Republic and the Soviet Union on the subject of reunification. His party recognizes that Germany’s very close connections with the West demand that any negotiation in this field be conducted with the Western Powers. He did not want the President to be in any doubt about this. The President said that Germany is one of the strongest of the European countries and that, since this is so, it is inconceivable that Germany can be a “neutral” country. While it would be most undesirable for Germany to revert to the militaristic policies of former years, it is important that it not remain unarmed and that it form a part of a peaceable but strong European defense structure. The President said further that the preservation of peace is the basis for our deep interest in the matter of European integration. The uniting of European countries can, he believed, assure the peace of the world. Mr. Ollenhauer agreed that it is impossible to contemplate a neutral Germany.

[Page 202]

He was in complete agreement with the President on the great importance of European unity and he felt that present efforts at integration should be carried further and include all European countries and not only six of them. The President felt that once the six have joined together in a European community other countries would be attracted to that nucleus. It is possible that such a community would exercise a peaceful influence on the satellite countries of Eastern Europe. He felt that the development of a real European community would be the greatest imaginable step forward.

  1. Source: Department of State, Presidential Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 66 D 204. Confidential. Drafted by Elbrick.↩