Germany promised U.S. in 1967 not to convert dollars to gold

``"In 1967 the Americans and British threatened to reduce their troops in West Germany on account of the cost. Because of the Cold War, West Germany wanted to avoid a reduction in military forces but didn't want to pay more for those forces. Part of the resolution of the issue was the Blessing letter, which confirmed Germany's waiver of conversion of dollars into gold. Thus Germany, like other countries, bought security by accumulating dollar claims as foreign-exchange reserve... The letter was thus an essential step toward the global dollar standard, which was recognized already by the U.S. government and communicated in internal documents." ''