Ask the Scholar
Page 2 of 3
I can add historical knowledge about this page.
Page image
OCR
TRIMAN
S x R Es T
ARCHIVES "NATIONAL RECORDE AND ONLY
- 2 -
SERVICE"
something
willing to make, that is, a different attitude in the
United Nations, relaxation of the blockade of Berlin,
and acceptance of the fact that nothing could be
initiated until after the Atlantic Pact had come into
force. The Polish Representative replied that the
Soviet Union was cognizant of these conditions and
thought that they would be acceptable. Mr. Bech
thought that this episode was past history, but said
he had wanted to bring it to my attention.
I said that I had heard briefly of this approach
but that I appreciated the information he had reported.
Mr. Bech then addressed himself to the question of
Germany. He was worried and somewhat alarmed by the fact
that there seemed to be on the part of the German people
a growing insolence toward the Western powers and toward
the East. It seemed that the Germans had convinced them-
selves, not without some foundation, that the Soviet
Union was desirous of doing anything it could to gain
their allegiance and that the Western powers likewise
were desirous of gaining wholehearted support in Germany.
The result, corroborated by many of his own citizens who
had traveled in Germany, was that the German people had
developed an extremely insolent and demanding attitude.
I stated that Mr. Kennan, who had just returned from
a
trip to Germany, had noticed this sentiment and was
quite alarmed by the attitude of the Germans.
Mr. Bech doubted that there was danger of revolution
in Germany. He thought that the Germans were courageous
only when in uniform but cowards as citizens. He thought
that as long as there was "visible occupation" in Germany
with continued American participation, there was no real
danger of German resurgence. On the other hand, he ex-
pressed the belief that his country as well as the rest
of Europe needed German industrial rehabilitation. His
idea was that the Western European nations would be bene-
fited by a reintegration of the German economy, producing
for the benefit of Western Europe, but he thought that the
German Government should be decentralized.
I observed that such an arrangement seemed to be
almost impossible in the modern world. The idea of economic
integration with political decentralization had proved im-
practical. I cited the United States as an example and
observed
S E T
Page data
- Page
- 2
- Source index
- 0
- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- 0e1e8629e146e512
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 183390313
- Core
- doc
- Type
- document
DTO data
{
"id": "183390313",
"sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/183390313",
"contentType": "document",
"title": "Memorandum of Conversation with Secretary of State Dean Acheson, the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg, and Others",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/183390313",
"collections": [
"Dean Acheson Papers",
"Secretary of State Files"
],
"iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-da/201181/1721907/1721907-01-01.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-da/201181/1721907/1721907-01-01.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-da/201181/1721907/1721907-01-01.jpg",
"imageCount": 3,
"hasImages": true,
"source": "import",
"hasTranscription": false
}
Context sent to Scholar
Document identity
{
"localId": "183390313",
"label": "Memorandum of Conversation with Secretary of State Dean Acheson, the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg, and Others",
"core": "doc",
"dtoType": "document",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/183390313"
}
Document source metadata
{
"id": "183390313",
"sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/183390313",
"contentType": "document",
"title": "Memorandum of Conversation with Secretary of State Dean Acheson, the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg, and Others",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/183390313",
"collections": [
"Dean Acheson Papers",
"Secretary of State Files"
],
"iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-da/201181/1721907/1721907-01-01.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-da/201181/1721907/1721907-01-01.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-da/201181/1721907/1721907-01-01.jpg",
"imageCount": 3,
"hasImages": true,
"source": "import",
"hasTranscription": false
}
Document source extras
{
"url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/183390313",
"naId": 183390313,
"levelOfDescription": "item",
"productionDates": [
{
"day": 1,
"logicalDate": "1949-04-01",
"month": 4,
"year": 1949
}
],
"recordType": "description",
"ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}
Page context
{
"seq": 2,
"pageIndex": 0,
"type": "photo",
"url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-da/201181/1721907/1721907-01-02.jpg",
"mediaId": "0e1e8629e146e512",
"ocrText": "TRIMAN\nS x R Es T\nARCHIVES \"NATIONAL RECORDE AND ONLY\n- 2 -\nSERVICE\"\nsomething\nwilling to make, that is, a different attitude in the\nUnited Nations, relaxation of the blockade of Berlin,\nand acceptance of the fact that nothing could be\ninitiated until after the Atlantic Pact had come into\nforce. The Polish Representative replied that the\nSoviet Union was cognizant of these conditions and\nthought that they would be acceptable. Mr. Bech\nthought that this episode was past history, but said\nhe had wanted to bring it to my attention.\nI said that I had heard briefly of this approach\nbut that I appreciated the information he had reported.\nMr. Bech then addressed himself to the question of\nGermany. He was worried and somewhat alarmed by the fact\nthat there seemed to be on the part of the German people\na growing insolence toward the Western powers and toward\nthe East. It seemed that the Germans had convinced them-\nselves, not without some foundation, that the Soviet\nUnion was desirous of doing anything it could to gain\ntheir allegiance and that the Western powers likewise\nwere desirous of gaining wholehearted support in Germany.\nThe result, corroborated by many of his own citizens who\nhad traveled in Germany, was that the German people had\ndeveloped an extremely insolent and demanding attitude.\nI stated that Mr. Kennan, who had just returned from\na\ntrip to Germany, had noticed this sentiment and was\nquite alarmed by the attitude of the Germans.\nMr. Bech doubted that there was danger of revolution\nin Germany. He thought that the Germans were courageous\nonly when in uniform but cowards as citizens. He thought\nthat as long as there was \"visible occupation\" in Germany\nwith continued American participation, there was no real\ndanger of German resurgence. On the other hand, he ex-\npressed the belief that his country as well as the rest\nof Europe needed German industrial rehabilitation. His\nidea was that the Western European nations would be bene-\nfited by a reintegration of the German economy, producing\nfor the benefit of Western Europe, but he thought that the\nGerman Government should be decentralized.\nI observed that such an arrangement seemed to be\nalmost impossible in the modern world. The idea of economic\nintegration with political decentralization had proved im-\npractical. I cited the United States as an example and\nobserved\nS E T"
}