165. Editorial Note
The Ministerial Meeting of the North Atlantic Council, held in Paris December 16–18, was attended by all Foreign Ministers and NATO Permanent Representatives of the 15 member countries. The U.S. Delegation was headed by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and included Permanent NATO Representative W. Randolph Burgess, Secretary of Defense Neil H. McElroy, and Under Secretary of the Treasury Fred C. Scribner, Jr. A list of the principal members of the delegation is printed in Department of State Bulletin, December 29, 1958, page 1041. Secretary Dulles’ December 12 departure statement is ibid., pages 1041–1042.
The Secretary and his party arrived in Paris on December 13. On December 14, he met with the Foreign Ministers of France, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the United Kingdom to discuss Berlin. An account of this meeting is printed in volume VIII, Document 106. The text of the communiqué issued by the Foreign Ministers on December 14 is in Department of State Bulletin, December 29, 1958, pages 1041–1042.
[Page 372]The most extensive body of documentation on this NATO Ministerial Meeting is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1161–1179. Briefing papers are ibid., CF 1161–1164. CF 1165 contains miscellaneous administrative materials, including documentation on pre-conference arrangements, the Berlin situation, and the Geneva disarmament talks. CF 1166 contains Orders of the Day for the December 12–19 period. Miscellaneous documents are in CF 1167. Summary and verbatim records are in CF 1168 and 1176–1178. CF 1169 contains a set of memoranda of conversation among U.S. officials and between U.S. and foreign officials. Copies of Tosec–Secto, Topol–Polto, and Tedul–Dulte telegrams are in CF 1170, 1171, and 1179, respectively. CF 1172–1178 contain a chronological record of meetings from December 12 through 18. Telegrams and documentation on this Ministerial Meeting are ibid., Central Files, 396.1–PA.
At 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 13, Secretary Dulles met briefly with Burgess, Reinhardt, and Livingston T. Merchant; no record of this conversation has been found. At 4:14 p.m., he met with Secretary General Spaak to discuss the Berlin situation. A memorandum of this conversation (USDel/MC/2) is ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1169 and 1173. At 5:10 p.m., he met with McElroy, Scribner, and other U.S. officials to discuss Berlin. The memorandum of this conversation (USDel/MC/7) is ibid. At 5:15 p.m., Woodbury Willoughby, Director of the Office of British Commonwealth and Northern European Affairs and member of the U.S.–Canada Permanent Joint Board for Defense, and Philip J. Farley, Special Assistant for Disarmament and Atomic Energy Affairs, joined the meeting to discuss plans for the first meeting of the U.S.–Canada Permanent Joint Board for Defense, scheduled for the morning of December 15. A one-sentence memorandum for the record of this meeting is ibid., CF 1173. Burgess, General Norstad, and other officials next joined to discuss MC–70; see Document 166. At 6:20 p.m., Ambassador Bruce, Legal Adviser Loftus E. Becker, and other advisers joined the meeting to discuss Berlin. The memorandum of this conversation (USDel/MC/7) is printed in volume VIII, Document 105. Meanwhile, Merchant talked with Ambassador Alphand on the Algerian resolution in the U.N. General Assembly. The memorandum of this conversation (USDel/MC/1) is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1169 and 1173. Merchant also talked with Douglas Dillon about the Algerian resolution at 7:10 p.m.; no record of this conversation has been found. At 7:15 p.m., McBride met with Ambassador Alphand on the Algerian resolution. The memorandum of conversation (USDel/MC/4) is ibid.
On Sunday, December 14, at 10:30 a.m., Dulles met with Merchant, Reinhardt, Becker, and Director of the Office of German Affairs Martin J. Hillenbrand to discuss the Berlin situation; no record of this conversation [Page 373] has been found. At 11:45 a.m., Merchant and Bruce met with German Foreign Minister Heinrich von Brentano. The memorandum of this conversation (USDel/MC/5) is printed in volume VIII, Document 107. At 12:15 p.m., Dulles met with John Hay Whitney and Greene. They were later joined by Reinhardt, Bruce, Houghton, and Merchant; no record of this conversation has been found.
After lunch, at 2:30 p.m., a tripartite meeting on the Berlin question convened, attended by Dulles, Lloyd, and Couve de Murville and their advisers. This discussion was reported in Secto 10, December 14; see ibid., Document 108. A quadripartite meeting of the Foreign Ministers on the Berlin question began at 4:30 p.m. The meeting was reported in Secto 9 and Secto 6; see ibid., Document 109. A verbatim record of this four-power meeting is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1174. Following this meeting, Dulles discussed the Israeli-Syrian situation with Lloyd. Their conversation was reported in Secto 7, December 14. (ibid., Central Files, 684A.86B/12–1458)
On Monday, December 15, the U.S.-Canadian Ministerial Committee on Joint Defense met at the Canadian Embassy Chancery at 9:30 a.m.; see Document 292. At 10:30 a.m., Hillenbrand met with Willy Brandt, Mayor of Berlin, concerning Brandt’s possible visit to the United States. The memorandum of this conversation (USDel/MC/12) is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1169 and 1175. At 12:05 p.m., Dulles met with General Norstad. Memoranda of their conversation on Berlin (USDel/MC/8), De Gaulle (USDel/MC/9), the U.S. defense posture (USDel/MC/10), and IRBMs in Germany (USDel/MC/11) are ibid. Regarding USDel/MC/8, see volume VIII, Document 111. Regarding USDel/MC/9, see Part 2, Document 80. Regarding USDel/MC/10, see footnote 2, Document 166. Dulles summarized this meeting in a message to President Eisenhower; see Part 2, Document 82.
At 3 p.m., a meeting of the full U.S. Delegation was held; no record of this meeting has been found. At 3:45 p.m., Dulles met with McElroy, Burgess, and other members of the delegation. According to the delegation’s chronology, the first part of the discussion was on McElroy’s statement for the NATO Ministerial Meeting; the second part was on the Secretary’s forthcoming meeting with De Gaulle. No further record of this meeting has been found. At 4:15 p.m., Joseph J. Wolf, Director of Political Affairs at USRO, met with J.A. de Ranitz, Alternate Dutch Permanent Representative to NATO, and discussed Berlin, Indonesia, and military defense. The memorandum of their conversation (USDel/MC/6) is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1169 and 1175. At 4:30 p.m., Dulles called on De Gaulle; see Part 2, Document 81. Dulles summarized this meeting in a message to President Eisenhower; see Part 2, Document 82. At 5 p.m., McElroy and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs John N. Irwin, II, met [Page 374] with British Defense Minister Duncan Sandys and Sir Richard Powell, Permanent Secretary in the British Ministry of Defense.
On Tuesday, December 16, Irwin met with Dutch Defense Minister Staf at 9:30 a.m. Their discussion was summarized in Polto 1721, December 16. (Department of State, Central Files, 740.5612/12–1758) At 9:45 a.m., Dulles met with Italian Prime Minister Fanfani. Memoranda of their discussion of the free trade area (USDel/MC/19), the Middle East (USDel/MC/17), and IRBMs for Italy (USDel/MC/16) are ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1169 and 1176. For a memorandum of their discussion on the De Gaulle memorandum, see Document 166.
The opening plenary session of the NATO Ministerial Meeting began at 10:15 a.m.; see Document 168. The restricted session began discussion on Berlin at 10:30 a.m. A summary of this session was transmitted in Polto 1718, December 17, printed in volume VIII, Document 112. At 12:50 p.m., Secretary Dulles met with Lloyd. Secto 16, December 17, summarized their conversation on Archbishop Makarios. (Department of State, Central Files, 847C.413/12–1758) Secto 17, December 17, summarized their attitudes on De Gaulle and tripartite talks. (ibid., 762.00/12–1758) Secto 24, December 17, contains a summary of the whole conversation. (ibid., 756D.5622/12–1758) At 1:20 p.m., Timmons conducted a debriefing, presumably for the U.S. Delegation, on the opening session, Hillenbrand on the Berlin situation; no record of this debriefing, or subsequent ones, has been found.
At 3:15 p.m., the NATO Ministerial Meeting reconvened to discuss Spaak’s Report on Political Consultation and review of the international situation; see Documents 169 and 170. Dulles summarized the first day’s session in a message to President Eisenhower; see Document 171. During the afternoon, Dulles also met with Belgian Foreign Minister Pierre Wigny to discuss the possibility of “rationalizing” the European organizations. [Page 375] The memorandum of this discussion (USDel/MC/13) is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1169 and 1176. At 7:20 p.m., Timmons and Wolf conducted a debriefing session on Spaak’s report and review of the international situation.
On December 17, Dulles met with Couve de Murville at 9:30 a.m. Memoranda of their discussion on Berlin (USDel/MC/20), Indonesian arms (USDel/MC/21), and De Gaulle’s memorandum (USDel/MC/22) are ibid., CF 1169 and 1177. For USDel/MC/20, see volume VIII, Document 114. The plenary session of the NATO Ministerial Meeting opened at 10:27 a.m. to discuss the NATO military effort; see Document 172. At 1 p.m., Russell Fessenden, Deputy Director of the Office of European Regional Affairs, conducted a debriefing on this session. Meanwhile, Dulles met with Couve de Murville and discussed nuclear submarines. The memorandum of this conversation (USDel/MC/14a) is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1169 and 1177.
At 3 p.m., Secretary Dulles and McBride met with Norwegian Foreign Minister Lange. Memoranda of their conversation on the free trade area (USDel/MC/23) and a proposed Merchant marine policy conference (USDel/MC/24) are ibid. The plenary session of the Ministerial Meeting reconvened at 3:30 p.m.; see Documents 173 and 174. At 5:30 p.m., discussion on the review of the international situation resumed; see Document 175. At some point during the day on December 17, Becker met with Icelandic Permanent Representative to NATO Andersen to discuss the Iceland-United Kingdom fishing dispute; see Document 176. At 7:07 p.m., Dana B. Orwick of USRO and Timmons conducted a debriefing on the day’s sessions. Dulles summarized the sessions in a message to the President; see Document 177.
On Thursday, December 18, at 9:15 a.m., the Secretary met with Becker; no record of their conversation has been found. At the same time, Merchant met with Von Brentano on the coal situation. Their conversation was reported in Secto 27, December 18. (Department of State, Central Files, 862A.2552/12–1858) At 9:28 a.m., Dulles met with Dutch Foreign Minister Luns on the Indonesian situation. The memorandum of their conversation (USDel/MC/25) is ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1169 and 1178. Dulles reported on this conversation in Secto 26, December 18, scheduled for publication in volume XVII. Dulte 6, December 18, contains Dulles’ appraisal of the Soviet Ambassador to the Netherlands. (Department of State, Central Files, 601.6156/12–1858) At 10:15 a.m., the restricted session of the NATO Ministerial Meeting convened to discuss the review of the international situation, other business, the NATO tenth anniversary meeting, and the present status of the NATO military effort; see Documents 178–180. At 1:15 p.m., Fessenden conducted a debriefing of the morning session.
At 2:30 p.m., Dulles met briefly with Becker, Merchant, Greene, and Hillenbrand to discuss the quadripartite reply to the November 27 Soviet note (see Department of State Bulletin, January 19, 1959, pages 81–89). The restricted session of the NATO Ministerial Meeting resumed at 3 p.m.; see Document 181. Dulles then held a press backgrounder at 6:30 p.m. The transcript was transmitted in Polto 1760, December 19. (Department of State, Central Files, 396.1–PA/12–1958) Dulles’ summary of the session is printed as Document 182.
Dulles and his party returned to Washington at 12:15 a.m. on December 19. His departure statement at Paris is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1178.
The following documents are arranged in the order in which the meetings were held.