German Democratic Republic 733



279. Paper Prepared by the Operations Coordinating Board

                                    Washington, September 3, 1958.

      OPERATIONS COORDINATING BOARD REPORT ON
    GERMANY (EAST GERMANY) (NSC 5803-Supplement II)

          (Approved by the President on February 7, 1958)

  (Period Covered: From July 17, 1957 Through September 3, 1958)

A. Summary Evaluation
    1. Owing to the continued intransigence of the U.S.S.R., no prog-
ress could be made during this period toward achievement of the basic
long-range objective of the reunification of Germany in freedom. The
Communist regime of the Soviet Zone was able to continue the gradual
consolidation of its position within Eastern Germany. Measures for
greater control of the church, of universities, and of travel to the West
have been effectively instituted. The Communist Party leader, Walter
Ulbricht, carried out a successful purge of high-ranking party members
who had taken a position at variance with his own program for pushing
ahead rapidly with further steps of communization.
    2. The regime was successful in gaining a certain measure of inter-
national acceptance during this period. It received diplomatic recogni-
tion from Yugoslavia in 1957. It also succeeded in bringing official
representatives of the United States and Belgium to negotiate directly
with it for the release of the crews of aircraft which had strayed into the
Zone and in inducing the Belgians to sign a formal governmental agree-
ment with it in this connection.
    3. Continued use was made of the Western position in the Federal
Republic and Berlin to make these areas appear attractive and the Zonal
regime correspondingly unattractive in the eyes of the East Germans.
Partially because of these influences, and owing also in part to the
broadcasts of RIAS (Radio in the American Sector of Berlin) and to the
various joint projects of the German population in maintaining the con-
nections of the East German population with the West, the population of
Eastern Germany has continued opposed to the regime though there is
no longer any great hope of a resolution of their problems through the
reunification of their country in the immediate future.


    Source: Department of State, S/S-NSC Files: Lot 63 D 351, NSC 5803. Series.
Secret.
For the section of this report on Germany (Berlin) see vol. VIII, Document
19. For the sec-
tion on Germany (the Federal Republic) see Document 246. A Financial Annex
is not
printed.