Confidential report from John A. Belton to Seán Nunan (Dublin)
(Secret)

In all the confusion that has followed the defeat of EDC in the Chambre de Deputés, the one clear point that seems to have emerged is the peremptory claim of Dr. Adenauer to the complete sovereignty of Western Germany within the near future. The question that activates the mind of the German public is whether the indivisibility of such sovereignty can and will be recognised by the Allied Powers, particularly by France. The concept of sovereignty normally admits of no imposed restrictions. There is, for example, no real derogation of the sovereignty of Holland, if that country, for certain purposes, voluntarily agrees to place its armed forces under an external international control. There is, however, real derogation of sovereignty if a country is compelled, through the pressure of another country, to abandon one of the basic rights to sovereignty, namely the right to raise, maintain and control its own armed forces.

Admitting, as we now must, that the EDC concept has finally and completely failed, it seems to me that the only intelligent solution is the grant of full sovereignty to Germany on the understanding that its armed forces will form an integral part of NATO in the same way as the other members of that organisation. That there will be violent French opposition to this solution is clear and the danger arising out of such opposition being overridden by the USA and Great Britain is equally clear. It would be an obvious disaster if the extreme anti-Germanism of the de Gaullistes and the Communists were to remove France from NATO and throw it into the willing arms of Soviet Russia.

Mr. Eden is starting his European tour today and will be in Bonn to-morrow. Presumably he has some form of solution of all these problems in mind. What it is we will learn later, but we can be sure that Dr. Adenauer will not lightly retreat from his claim to full sovereignty. This is his only comeback to the shipwreck of his EDC policy. The forthcoming elections in Schleswig-Holstein should give some indication of German feelings, but should not be overestimated from that point of view as Schleswig-Holstein is not only almost entirely Socialist but almost entirely Protestant and consequently an area in which Dr. Adenauer can count on the least sympathy and support. He and the coalition party are doing their utmost to stave off defeat, but his opponents are not idle.

The Social Democratic Party which is the Chancellor’s main opposition in Schleswig-Holstein as everywhere else in West Germany, has been hammering away at the ‘breakdown’ of Dr. Adenauer’s foreign policy.

The Social Democrats are demanding a new East-West conference with Russia for the purpose of trying to obtain the re-unification of Germany.

Erich Ollenhauer,² the Social Democratic chief, a bitter end opponent of the EDC plan for integrating West German and French military forces, has adopted in Schleswig-Holstein the role of defender of Franco-German relations.

Last week, in a speech in the town of Schleswig, he criticized the Chancellor’s sharp attitude toward the French régime of Pierre Mendès-France since the EDC fell through. He said that the Chancellor’s tactics toward M. Mendès-France and the French Parliament are creating ‘the most serious danger’ to future Franco-German relations.

In Kiel, Mr. Ollenhauer said on another night:-

‘The Bonn government forgets that it must still negotiate with the occupation powers and that France is one of these powers. The Adenauer government is even flattering itself that it can obtain sovereignty and rearmament for West Germany without France and, accordingly, against France. This means that West Germany is heading toward a third partition of Germany,’ by which Mr. Ollenhauer meant that the French could theoretically cut off their zone of occupation from the American and British Zones.

The result of the election is bound to be regarded as a test of the strength of Dr. Adenauer, even though the Germans realise that the venue is not favourable.