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A Proposal for United States of Europe

SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
ALLIED POWERS EUROPE
PUBLIC INFORMATION DIVISION

NOT FOR RELEASE BRFORE 2130 HOURS 3 JULY 1951 3 July 1951
LONDON AND PARIS TIME

NOTES FOR ADDRESS BY GENERAL DWIGHT D.
EISENHOWER, SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER,
EUROPE, AT THE ENGLISH SPEAKING UNION
DINNER AT GROSVENOR HOUSE, PARK LANE,
LONDON, TUESDAY, 3 JULY 1951

One hundred seventy-five years ago, the founding fathers of the American Republic declared their independence of the British crown, Little could they have known – in the heat and bitterness of the hour – that the severance, accomplished in passion, would through the years flower into an alliance of such fitness and worth that it was never recorded on legal parchment, but in the hearts of our two peoples. The bond that joins us – stronger than blood lines, than common tongue and common law – is the fundamental conviction that man was created to be free, that he can be trusted with freedom, that governance have as a primary function the protection of his freedom.

In the scale of values of the English-speaking people, freedom is the first and most precious right. Without it, no other right can be exercised, and human existence loses all significance. This unity of ours in fundamentals is an international fact. Yet on more than one occasion, it has been obscured in Britain and in my own country by concern with trifles and small disputes, fanned into the flames of senseless antagonisms.

Serious differences in convictions must be beaten out on the anvil of logic and justice. But scarcely need they be dragged into the public forum, in the petty hope of capturing a fleeting local acclaim, at the expense of an absent partner. There are men in this room with whom, in World War II, I had arguments, hotly sustained and of long duration. Had all these been headlined in the press of our two countries, they could have created public bitterness, confusing our peoples in the midst of our joint effort. Decisions were reached without such calamitous results, because those at odds did not find it necessary to seek justification for their personal views in a public hue and cry. Incidentally, a more personal reason for this expression of satisfaction is a later conclusion that my own position in the arguments was not always right. In any case, may we never forget that our common devotion to deep human values and our mutual trust are the bedrock of our joint strength.

In that spirit our countries are joined with the peoples of Western Europe and the North Atlantic to defend the freedom of western civilization. Opposed to us – cold and forbidding – is an ideological front that marshals every weapon in the arsenal of dictatorship. Subversion, propaganda, deceit and the threat of naked force are daily hurled against us and our friends in a globe-encircling, relentless campaign.

We earnestly hope that the call for a truce in Korea marks a change in attitude. If such a welcome development does occur, the brave men of the United Nations forces did much to bring it about. We entered the conflict one year ago, resolved that aggression against free and friendly South Korea would not be tolerated. Certain of the nations furnishing forces had heavy demands elsewhere, including postwar reconstruction at home. Nevertheless, every contingent added evidence of the solidarity and firmness of the free nations in giving an object lesson to aggression. Our success in this difficult and distant operation reflects the fortitude of the Allied troops and the leadership that guided them.

The stand in Korea should serve notice in this area, as well as in the Far East, that we will resist aggression. Our effort to provide security against the possibility of another and even greater emergency – an emergency which will never be of our making – must go forward with the same resolution and courage that has characterized our Korean forces. The member nations in the north Atlantic Treaty Organization need not fear any future or nay Communistic threat if we are alert, realistic and resolute. Our community possesses a potential might that far surpasses the sinister forces of slave camps and chained millions. But to achieve the serenity and confidence that our potential can provide, we must press forward with the mobilization of our spiritual and intellectual strengths, we must develop promptly the material force that will assure the safety of our friends upon the continent and the security of the free world.

This is the challenge of our times that, until satisfactorily met, establishes priorities in all our thoughts, our work, our sacrifice. The hand of the aggressor is stayed by strength – and strength alone.

Although the security of each of us is bound up in the safety of all of us, the immediate threat is most keenly felt in Europe. Half the continent is already within the monolithic mass of totalitarianism. The drawn and haunted faces in the docks of the purge courts are grim evidence of what Communistic domination means. It is clearly necessary that we quickly develop maximum strength within free Europe itself. Our own interests demand it.

It is a truism that where, among partners, strength is demanded in its fullness unity is the first requisite. Without unity, the effect becomes less powerful in application, less decisive in result. This fact has special application in Europe. It would be difficult indeed to overstate the benefits, in those years of stress and tension that would accrue to NATO if the free nations of Europe were truly a unit.

 European leaders, seeking a sound and wise solution, are spurred by the vision of a man at this table – a man of inspiring courage in dark hours, of wise counsel in grave decisions.  Winston Churchill’s plea for a united Europe can yet bear such greatness of fruit that it may well be remembered as the most notable achievement of a carer marked by achievement.

The difficulties of integrating Western Europe of course appear staggering to those who live by ritual.  But great majorities in Europe earnestly want liberty, peace and the opportunity to pass on to their children the fair lands and the culture of Western Europe.  They deserve, at the very least, a fair chance to work together for the common purpose; freed of the costly encumbrances they are now compelled to carry. 

Europe cannot attain the towering material stature possible to its peoples’ skills and spirit so long as it is divided by patchwork fences. They foster localized instead of common interest.  They pyramid every cost with middlemen, tariffs, taxes, and overheads. Barred, absolutely, are the efficient division of labor and resources and the easy flow of free trade.  In the political field, these barriers promote distrust and suspicion.  They serve vested interests at the expense of peoples and prevent truly concerted action for Europe’s own obvious good.

This is not to say that, as a commander, I have found anything but ready cooperation among the Governments of Western Europe.  Time and again, I have saluted from my heart the spirit of their armed services – of officers and men alike – from the mountains of Italy to the fjords of Norway, from Normandy to the Curtain.  Within political circles, I have found statesmen eager to assure the success of their current defense programs.  I have no doubts as to the capacity of NATO to surmount even the formidable obstacles imposed upon us by the political facts of present day Europe.  Yet with the handicaps of enforced division, it is clear that even the minimum essential security effort will seriously strain the resources of Europe.  We ignore this danger at our peril since the effects of economic failure would be disastrous upon the spiritual and material strength alike. True security never rests upon the shoulders of men denied a decent present and the hope of a better future.

But with unity achieved, Europe could build adequate security and, at the same time, continue the march of human betterment that has characterized western civilization.  Once united, the farms and factories of France and Belgium, the foundries of Germany, the rich farmlands of Holland and Denmark, the skilled labor of Italy, will produce miracles for the common good.  In such unity is a secure future for these peoples.  It would mean early independence of aid from America and other Atlantic countries.  The coffers, mines and factories of that continent are not inexhaustible.  Dependence upon must be minimized by the maximum cooperative effort.  The establishment a workable European federation would go far to create confidence among people everywhere that Europe was doing its full and vital share in giving this cooperation.

Any soldier contemplating this problem would be moved to express the opinion that it cannot be attacked successfully by slow infiltration, but only by direct and decisive assault, with all available means.

The project faces the deadly danger of procrastination, timid measures, slow steps and cautious stages.  Granted that the bars of tradition and habit are numerous and stout, the greatest bar to this, or any human enterprise, lie in the minds of men themselves. The negative is always the easy side, since it holds that nothing should be done.  The negative is happy in lethargy, contemplating almost with complacent satisfaction, the difficulties of any other course.  But difficulties are often of such slight substance that they fade into nothing at the first sign of success.  If obstacles are of greater consequence, they can always be overcome when they must be overcome.  And which of these obstacles could be so important to as peace, security and prosperity for Europe’s populations?  Could we not help?  We the people of the British Commonwealth and of the United States have profited by unity at home.  If, with our moral and material assistance, the free European nations could attain a similar integration, our friends could be strengthened, our own economies improved and the laborious NATO machinery of mutual defense vastly simplified.

A solid, healthy, confident Europe would be the greatest possible boon to the functioning of the Atlantic Pact.

But granting that we can not reach maximum security without a united Europe, let us by no means neglect what is within our immediate grasp or depreciate the achievements already attained.

Look back, I ask you, over a space of two years only.  Consider the dangerous level to which morale and defensive defense had descended; the despairing counsel of neutralism, appeasement and defeatism that then existed.  Against such a backdrop, the accomplishments of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are magnificent; manifest.  We are joined together in purpose and growing determination; we know the danger, we have defined our goals.  Each day we make headway.  The basic economies of European nations are on the upswing; the chaos and floundering of the postwar years are definitely behind.  The international forces of the Atlantic defense are no longer merely figures on paper; the international organization is no longer a headquarters without troops.  The forces – ground, naval and air – are assembling.  They are training together and the spirit of mutual respect and cooperation that marks their joint maneuvers is hearting and encouraging.  Still far to few in numbers and short of equipment, their ranks are filling; machines and weapons reach them in steady stream.  The military and political leaders of the participating nations no longer slowly feel their way forward in an endeavor without guiding precedent.  Caution that is inescapable in a new and unique enterprise has ben replaced by confidence born out of obstacles overcome. The Allied Powers in Europe are constituting a team for defense; one capable of assuring a lasting and secure peace.

The winning of freedom is not to be compared to the winning of a game – with the victory recorded forever in history.  Freedom has its life in the heart, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be duly earned and refreshed – else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.

All of us have pledged our word, one to the other, that this shall never be.  We have cut the pattern for our effort – we are devoting to it available resources for its realization.  We fight not only our own battle – we are defending for all mankind those things that allow personal dignity to the least of us – those things that permit each to believe himself important in the eyes of God.  We are preserving opportunity for men to lift up their hearts and minds to the highest places – there must be no stragglers in such a conflict.

The road ahead may be long – it is certain to be marked by critical and difficult passages.  But if we march together, endure together, share together, we shall succeed – we shall gloriously succeed together!

© Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission, Washington, DC, 2004