West German rearmament (German:Wiederbewaffnung) began in the decades afterWorld War II. Fears of another rise ofGerman militarism caused the new military to operate within an alliance framework, underNATO command.[1] The events led to the establishment of theBundeswehr, the West German military, in 1955. The nameBundeswehr was a compromise choice suggested by former generalHasso von Manteuffel to distinguish the new forces from theWehrmacht term for the combined German forces ofNazi Germany.[2]
The 1945Morgenthau Plan had called to reduceAllied-occupied Germany to apre-industrial state by eliminating its arms industry and other key industries essential to military strength, thus removing its ability to wage war.[3] However, because of the cost of food imports to Germany and the fear that poverty and hunger would drive desperate Germans towardcommunism, the US government signalled a moderation of this plan in September 1946 with Secretary of StateJames F. Byrnes's speech "Restatement of Policy on Germany".[4] It gave Germans hope for the future, but it also evidenced the emergence of theCold War.[citation needed]
People resent the fact that while the United States followed a policy of German disarmament and of friendship with Russia after the war, it now advocates rearmament. They could just as easily argue that it was for cooperation with the Soviet Union and to change its policy.
— Heinz Guderian,Can Europe Be Defended?, 1950[5]
The vigorousdisarmament program in Germany continued by the UK and the US for the first three years of occupation.[6] Thisdismantling of industry became increasingly unpopular and ran contrary to the 1948Marshall Plan's mission to encourage industrial growth.[7]
On August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union detonated theRDS-1 atomic bomb, which forced a reevaluation of the defense requirements ofWestern Europe. In June 1950, theKorean War began and raised fears in West Germany, with comparisons drawn between the actions ofNorth Korea and the possible actions ofEast Germany. Both France and the United Kingdom were wary of the revival of German military potential since they had been severely tested in the world wars.[8]Aneurin Bevan and hisleft-wing faction of theLabour Party rebelled against the party line in a parliamentary vote supporting West German rearmament, and they seized control of the party'sNational Executive Committee.[9] American political figures, such as SenatorElmer Thomas, argued that West Germany needed to be included in a defensive system. He stated, "several divisions of German troops should be armed by the United States without Germany herself being permitted to manufacture arms."[10] West German ChancellorKonrad Adenauer was determined to use offers of rearmament to regain sovereignty for West Germany.[citation needed]
During the September 1950NATO meeting,France decided to become isolated for the rearmament operation because it did not want Germany to join NATO. West Germany wanted to join NATO because of Adenauer's desire to appease the fears of its neighbors and to show a willingness to co-operate.[11] Initial skepticism by the US was set aside afterDwight D Eisenhower endorsed the deal, and West Germany agreed to support the operation.[12]
One of the better-known attempts to win West Germany the right to rearm was theEuropean Defense Community (EDC). A modification of the 1950Pleven Plan, it proposed the raising of West German forces, integrated into a European Defense Force. When West Germany embraced an edited plan and the push for rearmament seemed to be assured, France vetoed the attempt in August 1954.[13] In 1955, West Germany joined NATO.
Neither East nor West Germany had any regular armed forces at the time. Instead, they had paramilitary police forces (the westernBundesgrenzschutz and the easternKasernierte Volkspolizei). TheBundeswehr (West German military) was armed originally fromMilitary Assistance Program funds from the US. FormerKriegsmarine ships, seized under theTripartite Naval Commission, were returned by the US. Slowly, West German sailors were stationed onUnited States Navy ships, and West Germany helped to supply its navy. The operation was intended to ensure that West Germany possessed an effective military force.
The US supplied the potential sailors with intensive training to help build up theGerman Navy for the future.[14] The German generals wanted a small air force, theLuftwaffe, which would focus on supporting ground operations. ChancellorKonrad Adenauer's budget called for limited air power. However theUnited States Air Force leaders, co-ordinating with the small Luftwaffe staff, successfully promoted a much larger Luftwaffe along American lines.[15]
West Germany set a goal to have up to 500,000 men in military service, partly becauseTheodor Blank desired for West Germany to have a more significant military than Italy toproject power and increase its contributions.[16] To get his point across, he used this chart:
| Country | Peacetime military strength | Percentage of population |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 2,865,000 | 1.8 |
| United Kingdom | 772,000 | 1.5 |
| France | 850,000 | 2.0 |
| Belgium | 145,000 | 1.6 |
| Netherlands | 125,000 | 1.2 |
| West Germany | 500,000 | 1.0 |
To reach that goal, the West German border security force (Bundesgrenzschutz) was transformed into military personnel by using both conscripts and volunteers. West Germany instituted a policy ofconscription, despite apprehension that the new fighting force would be compared to the Nazi-eraWehrmacht. Erik Reger, the editor of the Berlin dailyTagesspiegel, was noted as saying, "As soon as Germany has soldiers, there will be war".[17] He argued that military support could lead to a rightward shift in national politics. TheSocial Democrats argued that even though the military was expanded to a positive reception, it would not be enough to revive Germanmilitarism.
Among many former German officers, however, there was the conviction that no future German army could be possible without arehabilitation of the Wehrmacht. To that end, a group of former senior officers gathered on 9 October 1950 atHimmerod Abbey to produce amemorandum for Adenauer, which included these key demands:
Adenauer accepted those propositions and in turn advised the representatives of the three Western powers that a German military would not be possible as long as German soldiers remained in custody or were brought before courts. The willingness of the former Allies to commute a number of sentences for incarcerated officers undoubtedly tied back to that condition. In the early months of 1951, public declarations fromDwight D. Eisenhower and otherUnited States Armed Forces officers followed that outlined "a real difference between the German soldier and Hitler and his criminal group".[18]
The US established theNaval Historical Team (NHT) to help with the Anglo-American World War II naval historical project. Both countries recruited German naval veterans and naval activists to help expand the future West German navy by gaining a better perspective of the previous naval war. However, the NHT soon shifted focus[12] to pursue information about Soviet naval forces. Its initial goal was to study the landings and targets of the Soviet Navy. The agency became the coordinating staff of theBundesmarine, the West German Navy. Another group of veterans of the formerKriegsmarine, called "labour service units", was assigned to similar tasks of deciphering surveillance. Adenauer created the Blank Office (Amt Blank) to use West German defense contributions as leverage for increased sovereignty.[12] With the different organizations working together, a naval proposal referred to as the Wagner Paper was adopted to use as a negotiation tool at the February 1951 conference of the EDC, held in Paris. However, France forced a deadlock by opposing the threat of naval rearmament. especially as it had perceived links to the Nazi regime.
To resolve the issue, the Wagner Paper was sent to theSupreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), which was in favor of naval rearmament. France compromised by offering some escort ships and accepting the naval buildup. However, the West German military remained under the supreme allied NATO control, which diminished its command positions.[19]
The growth of the German Bundeswehr proved a key element in the growth of West German influence in central Europe. This, along with the 1951Treaty of Paris, cemented the elements ofWestern European economic cooperation, and helped to integrate post-war West Germany into the European community. At the same time, the Soviet Union used this as a foundational justification to implement theWarsaw Pact, which formalized substantial military and political control over key Eastern European states.[20][21]
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