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‘I am the Servant of the Council’: Lord Ismay and the Making of the NATO International Staff

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2019

Linda Risso Open the ORCID record for Linda Risso [Opens in a new window]
Linda Risso*
Affiliation:
Institute of Historical Research, University of London, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
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[email protected]
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Abstract

Based on analysis of Lord Ismay's private papers and on documents from the NATO archives and the Foreign Office archives, this article examines the role of Lord Ismay as the first Secretary General of NATO. As the first person to occupy the role, with little guidance from the national governments and no previous examples to use as a guiding light, Ismay had the opportunity – and the challenge – to shape the new role and to lay the basis for the long-term development of the International Staff. This article argues that Ismay's careful approach was essential in cementing political consensus within the North Atlantic Council at a time in which the members of the Alliance were still learning to work together.

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Article
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Contemporary European History , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , August 2019 , pp. 342 - 357
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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References

1 For up-to-date discussions of this issue, see Piquemal, Marcel, The International Civil Service: Current Problems (Montreuil: Editions du Papyrus, 2000)Google Scholar; Trondal, Jarle, Marcussen, , Larsson, Torbjörn and Veggeland, Frode, Unpacking International Organisation: The Dynamics of Compound Bureaucracies (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2010)Google Scholar. Mouritzen, Hans, The International Civil Service: A Study in Bureaucracy: International Organisations (Dartmouth: Datmouth University Press, 1990)Google Scholar; Weiss, Thomas G. ‘International Bureaucracy: The Myth and Reality of the International Civil Service’, International Affairs, 58, 2 (Spring 1982), 287–306CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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3 Sayle, Timothy Andrews, Enduring Alliance: A History of NATO and the Postwar Global Order (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2019)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Risso, Linda, ed., NATO at 70: A Historiographical Approach (London: Taylor and Francis, 2019)Google Scholar.

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5 Skinner, Quentin, Vision of Politics. Vol. 1: Regarding Method (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002)Google Scholar.

6 The only exception was the Defence Committee, which according to Article 9 should be established immediately so to be able to implement Articles 3 and 5. The Committee's executive body was the Standing Group (representatives of Chiefs of Staff of France, United Kingdom and United States), which formulated military policy for the Alliance.

7 Milloy, John C., The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, 1948–1957: Community or Alliance? (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006)Google Scholar; Kaplan, Lawrence S., NATO before the Korean War: April 1949–June 1950 (Kent OH: Kent State University, 2013)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

8 The international budget was approved in May 1951 and the International Secretariat was set up in July of the same year. For the terms of reference, see ‘Composition and Terms of Reference for the Working Group for the Establishment of an International Budget for NATO’, 13 Feb. 1951, NATO Archives (henceforward NATO), DD(51)45.

9 Historians have amply shown this. See, for example, Lafeber, Walter, ‘NATO and the Korean War: A Context’, Diplomatic History, 13, 4 (1989), 461–77CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Kaplan, NATO before the Korean War. See also Kaplan, Lawrence, NATO Before the Korean War: April 1949–June 1950 (Kent: Kent University State Press, 2013)CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Milloy, John, The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 1948–1957: Community or Alliance? (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006)Google Scholar.

10 Standing Group memorandum (NATO archives online) SGM-0545-52, 17 Mar. 1952. http://archives.nato.int/uploads/r/null/1/2/121172/SGM-0545-52_ENG_PDP.pdf. NSC 135, N. 3. Report prepared by the Office of the Director of Mutual Security (Harriman), 18 Aug. 1952. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v01p1/d162 (last accessed 29 Apr. 2019).

11 ‘North Atlantic Council, Rome, 14–28 November 1951, Final Communiqué’, 28 Nov. 1951.

12 ‘Record of a Meeting’ 5 Feb. 1952, NATO, DR(52)5 (Final). Ismay, Five Years. Final Communiqué of the Ninth Session of the North Atlantic Council (‘The Lisbon Decisions’), 25 Feb. 1952.

13 Final Communiqué of the Ninth Session of the North Atlantic Council (‘The Lisbon Decisions’), 25 Feb. 1952. And Telegram 740.5/2–2552. The United States Delegation to the Department of State. Lisbon, 25 Feb. 1952 – midnight. Foreign Relations of the United States (henceforward FRUS), 1952–1954, vol. V, part 1. See also, Ismay, Five Years, Chapter 6: ‘The Civil Structure’.

14 See ‘NATO Reorganization. Memo by the US Deputy’, 14 Jan. 1952. NATO, DD(52)17 and ‘Re-organization of NATO. Memorandum of the UK Deputy’, 15 Jan. 1952, NATO, DD(52)19; Risso, Linda, ‘A Difficult Compromise: American and European plans for NATO Anti-Communist Propaganda and Intelligence’, Intelligence and National Security, 26, 2–3 (2011), 330–54CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

15 Summary Record of a Meeting of the Council of Deputies, held at 13 Belgrave Square, London, SW1, on Mon., 21 Jan. 1952, 5 Feb. 1952, NATO, DR(52)5 (Final); and Summary Record of a Meeting of the Council of Deputies, held at 13 Belgrave Square, London, SW1, on Wed. 23 Jan. 1952, 5 Feb. 1952, NATO, D-R(52)6-FINAL.

16 Summary Record of a Meeting of the Council of Deputies, held at 13 Belgrave Square, London, SW1, on Mon., 21 Jan. 1952. 5 Feb. 1952, NATO, DR(52)5 (Final); and Summary Record of a Meeting of the Council of Deputies, held at 13 Belgrave Square, London, SW1, on Wed. 23 Jan. 1952, 5 Feb. 1952, NATO, D-R(52)6-FINAL. For interesting comments on the choice of Paris see, Stikker, D.U., Men of Responsibility: A Memoir (New York: John Murray, 1966), 309–10Google Scholar.

17 The United States Delegation to the Department of State. Telegram. Lisbon, 25 Feb. 1952. FRUS, 1952–1954, vol. V, Part I, doc. 740.5/2–2552.

18 ‘Sir O. Franks Declines’ The Times, 27 Feb. 1952. See also Daniel Clifton, ‘Franks Rejection of Post Confirmed’, The New York Times, 28 Feb. 1952. Stikker, Men of Responsibility, 309.

19 Sir Edwin Plowden, Chief Planning Officer at the Treasury and chairman of the Economic Planning Board, had also been asked. ‘Proposed Appointment of Dr Stikker as Secretary-General’, The National Archives, Kew (henceforward TNA), PREM 11/160. ‘NATO Secretary General. Post Accepted by Lord Ismay’ The Times, 13 Mar. 1952.

20 Memorandum of Telephone Conversations, by the Special Assistant to the Secretary of State (Battle). 740.5/3–1052. Washington, 10 Mar. 1952. FRUS, 1952-1954, vol. V, Part 1.

21 The Combined Chief of Staff was established in 1942 by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and by the British Prime Minsiter Winston Churchil as the supreme military body to offer strategic direction to the combined war effort of the United States and the British Empire.

22 Eisenhower, Dwight, Crusade in Europe (3rd ed.) (London: William Heinemann, 1944), 487Google Scholar; Ismay, Hastings, The Memoirs of General Lord Ismay (New York: Viking Press, 1960), 259–60Google Scholar.

23 Volney D. Hurd, ‘NATO's Lord Ismay: An Intimate Message from France’, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Apr. 1957.

24 Colville, John, Winston Churchill and His Inner Circle (New York: Wyndham Books, 1981),161Google Scholar.

25 Ismay, Memoirs, 462. Resolution on the Appointment of Lord Ismay as Vice Chairman of the North Atlantic Council and Secretary General of NATO. 13 Mar. 1952. NATO, DD(52)67.

26 Memorandum by the Secretary of State of a Dinner Meeting Aboard the S.S. ‘Williamsburg’ on the Evening of 5 Jan. 1952, 8 Jan. 1952, FRUS, 1952–1954, Vol VI, Part I, Doc. 329. Ismay, Memoirs, 458–60.

27 Ismay, Memoirs, 458–60.

28 Wingate, Lord Ismay, 190 and 192.

29 Hansard, House of Lords, Deb 22 Feb. 1951 vol. 170, cc521–524.

30 Summary Record of a Meeting of the Council of Deputies, held at 13 Belgrave Square, London, SW1, on Wed. 12 Mar. 1952. NATO, DR(52)22 (Final).

31 Letter of Lord Ismay to John W. Snyder, 18 Mar. 1952, LHCMA, Ismay 5/19/525/2.

32 Letter of N.A. Bogan to Ismay, Thursday [no date], Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives at King's College London (henceforward LHCMA), Ismay 5/B25/1.

33 Memorandum of Telephone Conversations, by the Special Assistant to the Secretary of State (Battle). 740.5/3–1052. Washington, 10 Mar. 1952. FRUS, 1952–1954, Vol. V, Part 1. The Temporary Council Committee was established in September 1951 to examine how to reconcile the requirements of external security with the real ability of the member nations to fulfil them.

34 Wingate, 92 and ‘Lord Ismay on his plans reorganization of NATO staff’, The Times, 19 Apr. 1952.

35 ‘New Structure of NATO. Lord Ismay Takes Office’ The Times, 5 Apr. 1952.

36 Ismay, Five Years, Chapter 6: ‘The Civil Structure’.

37 Lors Ismay's speech to Abernethian Society, St Bartholomew's Hospital, 22 May 1958, LHCMA, Ismay 1/7/33a.

38 C. L. Sulzberger, ‘Foreign Affairs: Epitaph for a Very Lively Man’, The New York Times, 22 May 1957.

39 Stikker, Men of Responsibilities, 310.

40 NATO Letter, Vol. 5, special supplement to n. 6.

41 As quoted in Jordan, Leadership, 5. See also Wingate, 198.

42 Wingate, Lord Ismay, 197; Jordan, NATO International Staff, 53.

43 Speech to Abernethian Society, St Bartholomew's Hospital, 22 May 1958, LHCMA, Ismay 1/7/33a. See also Wingate, Lord Ismay, 200.

44 See, for example, photographs published on NATO Declassified. https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/declassified_137930.htm (Last accessed on 20 Nov. 2018).

45 Gladwyn, Lord, The Memoirs of Lord Gladwyn (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1972)Google Scholar; Greenwood, Sean, Titan at the Foreign Office: Gladwyn Jebb and the Shaping of the Modern World (Leiden, Brill, 2008)Google Scholar.

46 It should be pointed out that in this case the Private Secretary did not have the same role as the chef-de-cabinet and was far less powerful. Scott's role was akin to the Foreign Office's position of private secretary. Spaak's Private Secretary, M. Saint-Mleux, assumed the proper functions of chef de cabinet, which continue to this day.

47 Ismay spent five months at the Hotel Bristol until NATO purchased a house in Villa Said, a private street.

48 ‘Lord Ismay on his Planned Reorganization of NATO Staff’, The Times, 19 Apr. 1952. Ambassador Sergio Fenoaltea (Italy) headed the Political Affairs Division, M. Rene Sergent (France) the Economics and Finance Division and Mr. Lowell P. Weicker (United States) the Production and Logistics Division.

49 The first Deputy Secretary General was the Dutch Jonkheer Henri van Vredenburch.

50 ‘Lord Ismay on his Planned Reorganization of NATO staff’, The Times, 19 Apr. 1952. This arrangement, sometimes, known as the ‘Cabinet System’, was introduced into NATO by Charles Spofford in 1951.

51 ‘Vote of thanks to Chairman and Board of Directors of Shell at the annual general meeting’, 20 May 1958, LHCMA, Ismay 1/7/32/a.

52 The Association was officially recognised in the NATO Staff Manual, 2 Feb. 1953, item 3,000.

53 NATO, CP/54-N/26(Final).

54 Speech to Abernethian Society, St Bartholomew's Hospital, 22 May 1958, LHCMA, Ismay 1/7/33a

55 Ibid.

56 Linda Risso, ‘NATO and the Environment: The Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society’, Contemporary European History, 25, 3 (Aug. 2016), 505–35.

57 Text of Lord Ismay's report to the Ministerial Meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Bonn, May 1957. www.nato.int/archives/ismayrep/text.htm (last accesses on 20 Nov. 2018). See also Mouritzen, The International Civil Service.

58 Marcussen, Larsson and Veggeland, Unpacking International Organisations; Mouritzen, The International Civil Service; Weiss ‘International Bureaucracy’.

59 Ismay, Five Years, Chapter 6: ‘The Civil Structure’.

60 There is a rich debate on the nature and limits of political cooperation within NATO. See, for example, Risso, Linda, Propaganda and Intelligence in the Cold War: The NATO Information Service (London: Routledge, 2014)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

61 Draft of Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Merchant) to the Secretary of State, Washington, 7 July 1953, FRUS, Western European Security, 1952–1954, Vol. V, Part 1.

62 Heinemann, Winfried, ‘“Learning by Doing”: Disintegrating Factors and the Development of Political Cooperation in Early NATO’, in Heiss, May Anny and Papacosma, S. Victor, eds., NATO and the Warsaw Pact: Intrabloc Conflicts (Kent OH: The Kent State Universtity Press, 2008)Google Scholar; Chourchoulis, Dionysos, The Southern Flank of NATO, 1951–1959 (New York, London: Lexington Books, 2014)Google Scholar. Lucas, W.S., ‘NATO, ‘Alliance’ and the Suez Crisis’, in Heuser, Beatrice and O'Neil, Rober, eds., Securing Peace in Europe, 1945–1962: Thoughts for the Post-Cold War Era (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 1992), 260–76CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

63 Wingate, Lord Ismay, 209.

64 ‘Report of the Committee of the Three on Non-Military Cooperation in NATO’, 13 Dec. 1953, available at https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_65237.htm (Last accessed on 20 Nov. 2018).

65 Ibid. See also, ‘The Evolution of NATO Political Consultation, 1949–1962’, 3 May 1963, NATO, NHO/63/1. There is a rich historiographical debate on the impact of the Suez Crisis on the political cohesion of the West and on NATO in particular. Among the most important contributions are: Heinemann, ‘“Learning by doing”’; W. Scott Lucas, Divided we Stand. Britain, the US and the Suez Crisis (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1991).

66 ‘The Evolution of NATO Political Consultation, 1949–1962’, 3 May 1963, NATO, NHO/63/1.

67 Invitation to Secretary-General of NATO, Lord Ismay, to attend the Tripartite Bermuda Conference in Dec.1953. TNA, FO 371/107911

68 Draft of Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Merchant) to the Secretary of State, Washington, 7 July 1953, FRUS, Western European Security, 1952–1954, Vol. V, Part 1.

69 For an account of the discussions held at Bermuda, see FRUS, 1952–1954, Vol. V, Part 2, 385–8 and 413–4; Milloy, The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, 114–7.

70 Telegraphic summary, by the United States Delegation. Bermuda, 7 Dec. 1953. FRUS, 1952–1954, Vol. V, Part 2, Doc. 396.1/12–753.

71 ‘The Lisbon Reorganisation. Lord Ismay's Report to the Ministerial Meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Bonn, May 1957’. http:// www.nato.int/archives/ismayrep/text.htm (last accessed on 20 Nov. 2018).

72 For the importance of the ‘Foreign Office’ model in shaping international bureacuracy, see also the work of N. Piers Ludlow on Roy Jenkins and the European Commission. Ludlow, N. Piers, Roy Jenkins and the European Commission Presidency, 1976–1980: At the Heart of Europe (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2016)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

73 See Chapeter 2 in Risso, Propaganda and Intelligence. Evanthis Hatzivassiliou, NATO and Western Perceptions of the Soviet Bloc: Alliance Analysis and Reporting, 1951–1969 (London: Routledge, 2014).

74 Speech to Abernethian Society, St Bartholomew's Hospital, 22 May 1958, LHCMA, Ismay 1/7/33a.

75 See for example: ‘The Implementation of Article 2 of the North Atlantic Treaty. Note by the Secretary General and Vice-Chair of the Council’, NATO, CM(56)5, 13 Jan. 1956. NATO Defence Planning. Note by the Secretary General, 8 Dec. 1955, NATO, CM(55)113 (Revised). On the implications of Article 2, Milloy, The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

76 This point is discussed in detail in Risso, Propaganda and Intelligence.

77 Ismay made this point at length upon his retirement in a speech to Abernethian Society, St Bartholomew's Hospital, 22 May 1958, LHCMA, Ismay 1/7/33a.

78 Risso, Propaganda and Intelligence, Chapter 2, and Linda Risso ‘“Enlightening Public Opinion”: A Study of NATO's Information Policies between 1949 and 1959 Based on Recently Declassified Documents’, Cold War History, 7, 1 (2007), 45–74. In the hierarchy of NATO at the time, there was an ASG for Political Affairs under whom was a Director of Information that also acted as Chief Press Officer. The first person to occupy the post was Geoffrey Parsons, an experienced American journalist.

79 A list of the visits is available in ‘Text of Lord Ismay's Report to the Ministerial Meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Bonn’, May 1957. Available at www.nato.int/archives/ismayrep/text.htm (last accessed on 20 Nov. 2018).

80 Risso, Linda, Propaganda and Intelligence: The NATO Information Service (London: Routledge, 2014)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

81 Ismay was offered honours and public recognitions, including The Most Noble Order of the Garter. Wingate, Lord Ismay, 212–4.

82 Letter from William L. Batt, 27 Apr. 1957, LHCMA, Ismay 5/B6A/1.

83 Gram-Skjoldager, and Ikonomou, , ‘The Construction’; Pedersen, Susan, The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005)Google Scholar.

84 Ludlow, Roy Jenkins.

85 As quoted in Jordan, NATO International Staff, 101.