862.00/12–249: Telegram
The United States High Commissioner for Germany (McCloy) to the Secretary of State
priority
4505. For Acheson and Byroade. The Adenauer–Schumacher fracas assumed some rather serious aspects recently which threatened to impair much of the good work done at Paris and at Bonn in connection with the protocol, Acheson’s visit, et cetera. At a series of SPD meetings violent attacks on Adenauer and the occupation policies were made in an effort to counteract the doubtful impression Schumacher’s attitude had created in the Bundestag and elsewhere. The nervous tensions always present in the German post-war scene were substantially increased and in some circles it was felt they might lead to dangerous results. Accordingly though I felt it was not wise to intervene directly with the principals, I took advantage of a dinner meeting with Bluecher, Von Brentano and Hellwege on Wednesday night to point out to them the very unfortunate aspects of this affair; above all the lack of confidence it generated throughout the world in the ability of the Germans even to conduct a serious Parliamentary debate, the threat that this lack of confidence saw [was?], not only to German development but to the settlement of the whole European order, and did not omit to refer to the jeopardy in which it put the continuance of a substantial German aid program. Whether due to this talk or not Von Brentano busied himself yesterday in Bonn and initiated discussions between Adenauer and Schumacher which led to this morning’s published general statement and will probably lead to further action today in the Bundestag.1 I do not suppose that this action will mean anything more than a minor truce but I think it at least will relieve the rather high tensions. I did not report the details of my conversations to my colleagues on the commission though I did advise them both that I had seen these leaders.
- Under reference here is a joint declaration by Schumacher and Adenauer of mutual good will, which also stated that Schumacher’s suspension had been rescinded. The SPD leader conceded that he had been wrong in casting a slur on Adenauer, while the Chancellor stated that he was convinced of the sincerity of Schumacher’s views.↩