November 25

This Day in History

Also on This Day

Lead Story
Mousetrap opens in London, 1952
American Revolution
Last British soldiers leave New York, 1783
Automotive
Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge sinks to the bottom of Lake Washington, 1990
Civil War
Yankees rout Rebels at the Battle of Missionary Ridge, 1863
Cold War
London Council of Foreign Ministers meeting begins, 1947
Crime
International day to eliminate violence against women, 1999
Disaster
Storm of the century hits eastern U.S., 1950
General Interest
Last British soldiers leave New York, 1783
JFK buried at Arlington National Cemetery, 1963
Mishima commits ritual suicide, 1970
Iran-Contra connection revealed, 1986
Hollywood
Agatha Christie’s long-running play The Mousetrap opens, 1952
Literary
Nathanael West flunks out of Tufts, 1921
Charlaine Harris, author of Sookie Stackhouse books, is born, 1951
Music
Singer-songwriter Nick Drake dies, 1974
Old West
U.S. Army retaliates for the Little Bighorn massacre, 1876
Presidential
Kennedy laid to rest at Arlington, 1963
Sports
Sugar Ray takes his title back, 1980
Vietnam War
Catholic official reports support provided to North Vietnam, 1967
Communist activity increases along Cambodian border, 1969
World War I
German commander in East Africa surrenders , 1918
World War II
A "war warning" is sent to commanders in the Pacific, 1941

Cold War

Nov 25, 1947:

London Council of Foreign Ministers meeting begins

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Meeting in what a newspaper report called "an atmosphere of utter gloom," representatives from the United States, France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union come together to discuss the fate of postwar Europe. The focus of the meeting was on the future of Germany. The atmosphere never appreciably brightened, and the meeting dissolved in acrimony and recriminations in December.
The issue of what would become of Germany, which had been divided into sections occupied by forces from the four nations since the end of the war in 1945, was the key to understanding the failure of the meeting. The American delegation, headed by Secretary of State George C. Marshall, insisted on Western Germany's participation in the European Recovery Program (ERP). This was the so-called Marshall Plan through which the United States pumped billions into the war-torn nations of western Europe in an effort to revive their sagging economies and establish a bulwark against the advance of communism in Europe. The Soviets, led by Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, responded by proposing an early reunification of Germany with no participation by that nation in the ERP. They also demanded heavy reparations from Germany. Marshall, French foreign minister Georges Bidault, and British foreign secretary Ernest Bevin opposed any plan that sought to economically cripple Western Germany or draw it away from western Europe, since Germany's economic recovery was seen as essential to the recovery of all of western Europe. Since neither side was willing to compromise these positions in any essential form, the talks were doomed to collapse, which is just what happened. A newspaper account of the last minutes of the meeting was telling. Foreign Secretary Bevin asked the group, "Any suggestion as to the time or place of the next meeting?" This query was met with "dead silence."
In fact, despite the gloomy predictions for the meeting, it went as well as U.S. policy makers could have hoped. They staved off Russian attempts to push forward with German reunification and steadfastly supported Western Germany's participation in the ERP. They had also decided prior to the meeting that should the talks fail, it should be made to appear that the Soviets were at fault. This they accomplished.

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This Week in History, Nov 25 - Dec 1

Nov 25, 1947
London Council of Foreign Ministers meeting begins
Nov 26, 1950
Chinese counterattacks in Korea change nature of war
Nov 27, 1954
Alger Hiss released from prison
Nov 28, 1989
Czechoslovakian Communist Party gives up monopoly on political power
Nov 29, 1952
Eisenhower goes to Korea
Nov 30, 1981
The United States and U.S.S.R. open talks to reduce intermediate-range nuclear forces
Dec 01, 1959
Antarctica made a military-free continent

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