June 2, 1952
To the Senate of the United States:
I transmit herewith for the consideration of the Senate a copy of the Convention on Relations between the Three Powers and the Federal Republic of Germany, signed by the United Kingdom, the french Republic, the United States, and the Federal Republic of Germany at Bonn on May 26, 1952, to which is annexed the Charter of the Arbitration Tribunal. I also transmit a copy of a protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty covering security guarantees to the members of the European Defense Community by the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty, signed at Paris on May 27, 1952. I request the advice and consent of the Senate to the ratification of these two documents.
In addition, I transmit for the information of the Senate a number of related documents, including a report made to me by the Secretary of State; three additional Conventions with the Federal Republic of Germany related to the main Convention; the Treaty Constituting the European Defense Community; a declaration made by the United States, the United Kingdom and the french Governments at the time of the signing of this Treaty; and the Treaty Constituting the European Coal-and-Steel Community.
Together these documents constitute a great forward stride toward strengthening peace and freedom in the world. They are all concerned directly with Europe, but they have world-wide significance.
Three main purposes will be accomplished by these documents:
First, they will restore the Federal Republic of Germany to a status which will enable it to play a full and honorable part in the family of nations.
Second, they Will Create a Common defense organization for six European countries, including the Federal Republic of Germany, and associate that common defense organization with the North Atlantic Treaty. This will greatly strengthen the defense of Europe and the free world against any aggression.
Third, they will constitute additional major steps toward unity among the countries of Western Europe--which is so important for peace and progress in that area.
These purposes are all interrelated, and they all serve the common objective of the free nations to create conditions of peace, based on freedom and justice, in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter.
It has been a major objective of the United States to help bring about an independent, democratic, and united Germany, and to conclude a treaty of peace with such a Germany. That is still our policy, and will continue to be. Unfortunately, as all the world knows, the Soviet Union, while professing a desire for German unification, has by its actions and policies prevented unification and the creation of a free all-German Government with which a treaty of peace could be negotiated.
Under these circumstances, the United States, France, and Great Britain, 4 years ago, gave the people in Western Germany the chance to create their own democratic Government. They worked out their own constitution, and since September 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany has taken an increasing responsibility for governing the three-fourths of the German people who are free from Soviet control. During this time, the German Government has demonstrated that it is democratic and responsive to the will of the free people of Germany, and that it is able and ready to take its place in the community of free nations and to do its share toward building peaceful and cooperative relationships with other free countries. Over the last 3 years, there has been a continuing process of relaxing occupation controls on the one hand and increasing the scope of the German Federal Government's responsibilities on the other. Last October, the United States and many other countries concerned ended the technical state of war which had existed with Germany. In these ways, we have gradually been moving away from the original relationship of conqueror and conquered, and moving toward the relationship of equality which we expect to find among free men everywhere.
Now we are taking another major step in this direction. By the Convention on Relations between the Federal Republic and the United States, France, and Great Britain, we are restoring to the free German people control over their domestic and external affairs, subject only to certain limited exceptions made necessary by the present international situation. These exceptions relate to the stationing and security of Allied forces in Germany, to Berlin, and to questions of unification, a peace settlement, and other matters concerning Germany as a whole. When the new Convention goes into effect, the Occupation Statute will be repealed, the Allied High Commission will be abolished, and relations between the Federal Republic and other countries will be placed on the customary diplomatic basis.
But the Convention on Relations was not, and could not be, prepared as an isolated document, because it does not meet the full problem confronting the free people of Germany and those of other free countries. In order to provide for the security of the Federal Republic, and to ensure against any revival of militarism, arrangements were worked out under which the Federal Republic is joining in establishing the European Defense Community--the common defense organization of six continental European countries. As a member of this Community, the Federal Republic will be able to make a vital contribution to the common defense of Western Europe without the creation of a national German military establishment. The European Defense Community, with a common budget and common procurement of military equipment, common uniforms and common training, is a very remarkable advance, representing as it does a voluntary merging of national power into a common structure of defense.
As an additional vital safeguard for peace and freedom in Europe, the German Federal Republic, as a member of the European Defense Community, is joining in reciprocal commitments between the members of that Community and the members of the North Atlantic Treaty organization. The protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty extends the application of the guarantee of mutual assistance expressed in Article 5 of the Treaty by providing that an attack on the territory of any member of the European Defense Community, including the German Federal Republic, or on the Community's forces, shall be considered an attack against all the parties to the Treaty. A reciprocal guarantee is extended to the North Atlantic Treaty partners by the members of the Community in a protocol to the Treaty Constituting the European Defense Community.
Thus, these various documents constitute an integrated whole. The United States is a party only to the Convention on Relations (and the related Conventions) and to the protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty, but the Treaty Constituting the European Defense Community is an essential factor in the new relationship which the Conventions establish. It is expressly provided that the Conventions with the Federal Republic, the Treaty Constituting the European Defense Community, and the protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty will come into force simultaneously, thus assuring the complete interrelationship of all of them. The participation of the Federal Republic in the European Coal-and-Steel Community (the Schuman Pian) and the European Defense Community, and the resultant transfer to European agencies of authority over the basic industries of the participating countries and over military activities are the strongest safeguards for the future security of Western Europe. The successful creation of these European institutions makes possible the removal of special restraints which have heretofore been imposed on the Federal Republic and thereby enables the latter to participate in Western defense on a basis of equality.
Thus, while not a party, the United States has a direct and abiding interest in the success and effectiveness of the Treaty Constituting the European Defense Community and in the continuing existence of this Community as constituted. By virtue of the North Atlantic Treaty and the Convention on Relations between the Three Powers and the Federal Republic of Germany, the United States has demonstrated its lasting interest and binding ties with the Atlantic and European communities of nations. By its adherence to the Treaty Constituting the European Defense Community and the Convention on Relations, the Federal Republic has linked its future with that of the Community and of the participating countries. It is therefore evident that the United States has acquired a very great stake in the maintenance of the institutions and relationships thus established and would consider any act which would affect their integrity or existence as a matter of fundamental concern to its own interests and security. I stress this point in order to make clear the relationship between the Conventions, the Treaty Constituting the European Defense Community, and the North Atlantic Treaty, and between the parties to these various agreements.
The documents I am transmitting to the Senate today are real and significant steps forward toward peace and security in Europe and the whole free world. These actions threaten no one; their only targets are fear and poverty. They will allow almost 50 million free German people to take a further great stride toward independence and self-government, and to join with their neighbors in self-defense. These moves are clearly in the direction of a just and lasting peace; only those with aggressive intent could have any objection to them.
The actions represented by these documents will not, of course, wipe out the basic conflicts of policies which underlie the current tense international situation. But they will, when ratified by the various countries concerned, bring about a fundamental change in the relationships between the free people of Germany and their friends in the free countries of the world. Under this new relationship we will all be able to work together more fully and more effectively to combine our strength not only to deter aggression, but also to bring about the economic and social progress, and the more harmonious and friendly international relations, to which all free men aspire.
I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to the Convention on Relations and to the protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty transmitted herewith, and give its advice and consent to their ratification in order that this great contribution to the strength and unity of the free world can become a reality.
HARRY S. TRUMAN
NOTE: The text of the convention, the protocol, and the related documents is printed in Executives Q and R (82d Cong. 2d sess.).
To the Senate of the United States:
I transmit herewith for the consideration of the Senate a copy of the Convention on Relations between the Three Powers and the Federal Republic of Germany, signed by the United Kingdom, the french Republic, the United States, and the Federal Republic of Germany at Bonn on May 26, 1952, to which is annexed the Charter of the Arbitration Tribunal. I also transmit a copy of a protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty covering security guarantees to the members of the European Defense Community by the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty, signed at Paris on May 27, 1952. I request the advice and consent of the Senate to the ratification of these two documents.
In addition, I transmit for the information of the Senate a number of related documents, including a report made to me by the Secretary of State; three additional Conventions with the Federal Republic of Germany related to the main Convention; the Treaty Constituting the European Defense Community; a declaration made by the United States, the United Kingdom and the french Governments at the time of the signing of this Treaty; and the Treaty Constituting the European Coal-and-Steel Community.
Together these documents constitute a great forward stride toward strengthening peace and freedom in the world. They are all concerned directly with Europe, but they have world-wide significance.
Three main purposes will be accomplished by these documents:
First, they will restore the Federal Republic of Germany to a status which will enable it to play a full and honorable part in the family of nations.
Second, they Will Create a Common defense organization for six European countries, including the Federal Republic of Germany, and associate that common defense organization with the North Atlantic Treaty. This will greatly strengthen the defense of Europe and the free world against any aggression.
Third, they will constitute additional major steps toward unity among the countries of Western Europe--which is so important for peace and progress in that area.
These purposes are all interrelated, and they all serve the common objective of the free nations to create conditions of peace, based on freedom and justice, in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter.
It has been a major objective of the United States to help bring about an independent, democratic, and united Germany, and to conclude a treaty of peace with such a Germany. That is still our policy, and will continue to be. Unfortunately, as all the world knows, the Soviet Union, while professing a desire for German unification, has by its actions and policies prevented unification and the creation of a free all-German Government with which a treaty of peace could be negotiated.
Under these circumstances, the United States, France, and Great Britain, 4 years ago, gave the people in Western Germany the chance to create their own democratic Government. They worked out their own constitution, and since September 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany has taken an increasing responsibility for governing the three-fourths of the German people who are free from Soviet control. During this time, the German Government has demonstrated that it is democratic and responsive to the will of the free people of Germany, and that it is able and ready to take its place in the community of free nations and to do its share toward building peaceful and cooperative relationships with other free countries. Over the last 3 years, there has been a continuing process of relaxing occupation controls on the one hand and increasing the scope of the German Federal Government's responsibilities on the other. Last October, the United States and many other countries concerned ended the technical state of war which had existed with Germany. In these ways, we have gradually been moving away from the original relationship of conqueror and conquered, and moving toward the relationship of equality which we expect to find among free men everywhere.
Now we are taking another major step in this direction. By the Convention on Relations between the Federal Republic and the United States, France, and Great Britain, we are restoring to the free German people control over their domestic and external affairs, subject only to certain limited exceptions made necessary by the present international situation. These exceptions relate to the stationing and security of Allied forces in Germany, to Berlin, and to questions of unification, a peace settlement, and other matters concerning Germany as a whole. When the new Convention goes into effect, the Occupation Statute will be repealed, the Allied High Commission will be abolished, and relations between the Federal Republic and other countries will be placed on the customary diplomatic basis.
But the Convention on Relations was not, and could not be, prepared as an isolated document, because it does not meet the full problem confronting the free people of Germany and those of other free countries. In order to provide for the security of the Federal Republic, and to ensure against any revival of militarism, arrangements were worked out under which the Federal Republic is joining in establishing the European Defense Community--the common defense organization of six continental European countries. As a member of this Community, the Federal Republic will be able to make a vital contribution to the common defense of Western Europe without the creation of a national German military establishment. The European Defense Community, with a common budget and common procurement of military equipment, common uniforms and common training, is a very remarkable advance, representing as it does a voluntary merging of national power into a common structure of defense.
As an additional vital safeguard for peace and freedom in Europe, the German Federal Republic, as a member of the European Defense Community, is joining in reciprocal commitments between the members of that Community and the members of the North Atlantic Treaty organization. The protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty extends the application of the guarantee of mutual assistance expressed in Article 5 of the Treaty by providing that an attack on the territory of any member of the European Defense Community, including the German Federal Republic, or on the Community's forces, shall be considered an attack against all the parties to the Treaty. A reciprocal guarantee is extended to the North Atlantic Treaty partners by the members of the Community in a protocol to the Treaty Constituting the European Defense Community.
Thus, these various documents constitute an integrated whole. The United States is a party only to the Convention on Relations (and the related Conventions) and to the protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty, but the Treaty Constituting the European Defense Community is an essential factor in the new relationship which the Conventions establish. It is expressly provided that the Conventions with the Federal Republic, the Treaty Constituting the European Defense Community, and the protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty will come into force simultaneously, thus assuring the complete interrelationship of all of them. The participation of the Federal Republic in the European Coal-and-Steel Community (the Schuman Pian) and the European Defense Community, and the resultant transfer to European agencies of authority over the basic industries of the participating countries and over military activities are the strongest safeguards for the future security of Western Europe. The successful creation of these European institutions makes possible the removal of special restraints which have heretofore been imposed on the Federal Republic and thereby enables the latter to participate in Western defense on a basis of equality.
Thus, while not a party, the United States has a direct and abiding interest in the success and effectiveness of the Treaty Constituting the European Defense Community and in the continuing existence of this Community as constituted. By virtue of the North Atlantic Treaty and the Convention on Relations between the Three Powers and the Federal Republic of Germany, the United States has demonstrated its lasting interest and binding ties with the Atlantic and European communities of nations. By its adherence to the Treaty Constituting the European Defense Community and the Convention on Relations, the Federal Republic has linked its future with that of the Community and of the participating countries. It is therefore evident that the United States has acquired a very great stake in the maintenance of the institutions and relationships thus established and would consider any act which would affect their integrity or existence as a matter of fundamental concern to its own interests and security. I stress this point in order to make clear the relationship between the Conventions, the Treaty Constituting the European Defense Community, and the North Atlantic Treaty, and between the parties to these various agreements.
The documents I am transmitting to the Senate today are real and significant steps forward toward peace and security in Europe and the whole free world. These actions threaten no one; their only targets are fear and poverty. They will allow almost 50 million free German people to take a further great stride toward independence and self-government, and to join with their neighbors in self-defense. These moves are clearly in the direction of a just and lasting peace; only those with aggressive intent could have any objection to them.
The actions represented by these documents will not, of course, wipe out the basic conflicts of policies which underlie the current tense international situation. But they will, when ratified by the various countries concerned, bring about a fundamental change in the relationships between the free people of Germany and their friends in the free countries of the world. Under this new relationship we will all be able to work together more fully and more effectively to combine our strength not only to deter aggression, but also to bring about the economic and social progress, and the more harmonious and friendly international relations, to which all free men aspire.
I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to the Convention on Relations and to the protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty transmitted herewith, and give its advice and consent to their ratification in order that this great contribution to the strength and unity of the free world can become a reality.
HARRY S. TRUMAN
NOTE: The text of the convention, the protocol, and the related documents is printed in Executives Q and R (82d Cong. 2d sess.).