 But the heart of the message was as Byrnes stated a month later "The nub of our program was to win the German people ... it was a battle between us and Russia over minds.... "

On the question of territorial integrity of Germany it was stated that "the United States will not support any encroachment on territory which is indisputably German or any division of Germany which is not genuinely desired by the people concerned.So far as the United States is aware the people of the Ruhr area and the Rhineland desire to remain united with the rest of Germany.