Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Germany and Austria, Volume VII, Part 1

740.5/5–1353: Telegram

No. 186
The United States Permanent Representative on the North Atlantic Council (Draper) to the Department of State¹

secret priority

Paris, May 13, 1953—7 p.m.

Polto 2225. Limited distribution. During my call on Chancellor Adenauer this morning (reported in separate telegram²) he said he would leave for London tomorrow where he will make two speeches, one to International Press Association and one to Inter-Parliamentary Union in House of Commons. He said he had been obliged to revise speeches previously prepared as result Churchill’s foreign policy speech in Commons May 11.³ Chancellor felt he could not openly take issue with Churchill in his speeches and had decided to touch only upon those points raised in Churchill’s speech with which he was in substantial agreement, ignoring those with which he disagreed. Though he did not say so, his attitude toward Churchill’s speech probably influenced by thought that proposal for early four power meeting plays into hands of German Parliamentary opposition which has long advocated such a meeting.

At close our talk Adenauer requested that I give a message to President Eisenhower and Secretary Dulles to the effect that he is disturbed over recent signs of disagreement between London and Washington. He expects so to inform Churchill discreetly and diplomatically and to point out to latter vital importance of continued unity of Western powers in dealing with Soviet. He was most earnest in this and requested that I transmit message personnally to President and Secretary Dulles.⁴

Draper

1. Sent to Washington for Smith and Merchant; repeated to Bonn eyes only for Conant; to London eyes only for Aldrich; and to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem eyes only for Secretary Dulles. Dulles traveled to the Middle East in May.
2. Polto 2223 from Paris, May 13. (740.5/5–1353) It discussed the EDC, the EPC, and the Saar.
3. For text of Prime Minister Churchill’s speech to the House of Commons on May 11, during which he proposed a four-power conference at the highest level to discuss world problems, see H.C. Deb 5s, vol. 515, cols. 883–898.
4. On May 16 Acting Secretary Smith took a memorandum to President Eisenhower summarizing the contents of this telegram. A copy of this memorandum is in Secretary’s Letters, lot 56 D 459, “Jan–June 1953.”