American policy toward the reunification of Germany, 1949 to 1955

American policy toward Germany between 1949 and 1955, involved many conflicting considerations, including containment of the Soviet Union and advancement of American interests in Europe by defending Western Europe and by building a peaceful and prosperous Europe that would be a valuable trading partner, and that could survive without American support. American policy was affected by domestic political pressures, and by international pressures from France, West Germany, and the United Kingdom, and by the American perception of Soviet intentions. The United States clearly opposed any proposal for a reunited, neutralized Germany since a neutral Germany would not have furthered American goals. The question sought to be answered here, however, is whether the United States, despite its frequent statements to the contrary, was also opposed to the reunification of Germany even as a non-Communist nation aligned with the West. There were several reasons why the United States did not favor German reunification, even on that basis. The French opposed German reunification under any circumstances, and the United States could not afford to lose France as an ally. The United States still feared German hegemony in Europe and feared that a reunited Germany would seek to regain its Eastern territories or could be enticed into association with the Soviet Union based on a promise of markets in the East or a return of the Eastern territories. Dulles perceived any Soviet effort for detente as evidence of the Soviets' need for a respite in the Cold War and he did not favor granting that respite. American conduct under both Truman and Eisenhower demonstrated that the United States did not desire German reunification on any reasonable terms. American proposals for reunification always contained terms that would obviously be unacceptable to the Soviets. Although it is unlikely that, because of pressure from the FRG, Britain and France, the United States would have been able to refuse a proposal for reunification in a form short of what it demanded, the Soviet Union never put the United States to the test, since Soviet proposals contained terms unacceptable either to the FRG or the French.