AlthoughGermany has the technical capability to produceweapons of mass destruction (WMD), sinceWorld War II it has refrained from producing those weapons. However, Germany participates in theNATOnuclear weapons sharing arrangements and trains for deliveringUnited Statesnuclear weapons. Officially, 20US-nuclear weapons are stationed inBüchel, Germany. It could be more or fewer, but the exact number of the weapons is a state secret.[1]
Germany is among thepowers which possess the ability to create nuclear weapons, but has agreed not to do so under theTreaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons andTwo Plus Four Treaty. Along with most other industrial nations, Germany produces components that can be used for creating deadly agents, chemical weapons, and other WMD. Alongside other companies from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, India, the United States, Belgium, Spain, and Brazil, German companies providedIraq withprecursors of chemical agents used by Iraq to engage in chemical warfare during theIran–Iraq War.[2]
One of the major combatants in World War I, Germany was the first to develop and usechemical weapons such asmustard gas andphosgene. These kinds of weapon were subsequently also employed by the Allies.
The use of chemical weapons in warfare during the Great War was allegedly in violation of clause IV.2 'Declaration concerning the Prohibition of the Use of Projectiles with the Sole Object to Spread Asphyxiating Poisonous Gases' of the1899 Hague Declarations, and more explicitly in violation of the1907 Hague Convention on Land Warfare, which explicitly forbade the use of "poison or poisoned weapons" in warfare.[3][4]
During World War II, Germany conducted anunsuccessful project to developnuclear weapons. German scientists also did research on other chemical weapons during the war, includinghuman experimentation with mustard gas. The firstnerve gas,tabun, was invented by the German researcherGerhard Schrader in 1937.
During the war, Germany stockpiled tabun,sarin, andsoman but refrained from their use on the battlefield. In total, Germany produced about 78,000 tons of chemical weapons.[5] By 1945 the nation had produced about 12,000 tons of tabun and 1,000 pounds (450 kg) of sarin.[5] Delivery systems for the nerve agents included 105 mm and 150 mm artillery shells, a 250 kg bomb and a 150 mm rocket.[5] Even when the Soviet army neared Berlin,Adolf Hitler decided not to use tabun in a last ditch effort against the Soviets. The use of tabun was opposed by Hitler's Minister of Armaments,Albert Speer, who, in 1943, broughtIG Farben's nerve agent expertOtto Ambros to report to Hitler. He informed Hitler that the Allies had stopped publication of research intoorganophosphates (a type of organic compound that encompasses nerve agents) at the beginning of the war, that the essential nature of nerve gases had been published as early as the turn of the century, and that he believed that Allies could not have failed to produce agents like tabun. This was not in fact the case, but Hitler accepted Ambros's deduction, and Germany's tabun arsenal remained unused.[6]
As part of the accession negotiations of West Germany to theWestern European Union at theLondon and Paris Conferences, the country was forbidden (byProtocol No III to the revisedTreaty of Brussels of 23 October 1954) to possess nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. This was reiterated in domestic law by theKriegswaffenkontrollgesetz (War Weapons Control Act).[7] During theCold War, nuclear weapons were deployed in Germany by both the United States (inWest Germany) and theSoviet Union (inEast Germany). Despite not being among the nuclear powers during the Cold War, Germany had a political and military interest in the balance of nuclear capability. In 1977, after the Soviet deployment of the newSS-20IRBM, West German chancellorHelmut Schmidt expressed concern over the capability ofNATO's nuclear forces compared to those of the Soviets. Later in the Cold War under the chancellorship ofHelmut Kohl, the West German government expressed concern about the progress of thenuclear arms race. Particularly, they addressed the eagerness of Germany's NATO allies, the United States and United Kingdom, to seek restrictions on long-range strategic weapons while modernizing their short-range and tactical nuclear systems. Germany wanted to see such short range systems eliminated, because their major use was not deterrence but battlefield employment. Germany itself, straddling the division of the Eastern and Western blocs in Europe, was a likely battlefield in any escalation of the Cold War and battlefield use of nuclear weapons would be devastating to German territory.
In 1957, theEuropean Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) was created to promote the use of nuclear energy in Europe. Under cover of the peaceful use of nuclear power, West Germany hoped to develop the basis of a nuclear weapons programme with France and Italy.[8] The West German ChancellorKonrad Adenauer told his cabinet that he "wanted to achieve, through EURATOM, as quickly as possible, the chance of producing our own nuclear weapons".[9] The idea was short-lived. In 1958Charles De Gaulle became President of France, and Germany and Italy were excluded from the weapons project. Euratom continued as the European agency for the peaceful use of nuclear technology, falling under the institutions of theEuropean Economic Community in 1967.
Germany ratified theGeneva Protocol on 25 April 1929, theNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on 2 May 1975, theBiological Weapons Convention on 7 April 1983 and theChemical Weapons Convention on 12 August 1994. These dates signify ratification by theFederal Republic of Germany (West Germany), during the division of Germany the NPT and the BWC were ratified separately by theGerman Democratic Republic (East Germany) (on 31 October 1969 and 28 November 1972, respectively).
BeforeGerman reunification in 1990, both West and East Germany ratified theTreaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany. Germany reaffirmed its renunciation of the manufacture, possession, and control of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. In addition to banning a foreign military presence in the former East Germany, the treaty also banned nuclear weapons or nuclear weapon carriers to be stationed in the area, making it a permanentNuclear-Weapon-Free Zone. The German military was allowed to possess conventional weapons systems with nonconventional capabilities, provided that they were outfitted for a purely conventional role.
The United States provides about 60 tacticalB61 nuclear bombs for use by Germany under aNATOnuclear weapons sharing agreement. The bombs are stored atBüchel Air Base and in time of war would be delivered byLuftwaffePanavia Tornado warplanes. As well as being a breach of the Protocols to the (revised)Treaty of Brussels (terminated in 2010), many countries believe this violates Articles I and II of theNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), where Germany has committed:
The U.S. insists its forces control the weapons and that no transfer of the nuclear bombs or control over them is intended "unless and until a decision were made to go to war, at which the [NPT] treaty would no longer be controlling", so there is no breach of the NPT. However German pilots and other staff practise handling and delivering the U.S. nuclear bombs.[10] Even if the NATO argument is considered legally correct, such peacetime operations could arguably contravene both the objective and the spirit of the NPT.
In 2007, former German defence secretaryRupert Scholz stated that Germany should strive to become a nuclear power.[11] In September 2007 the French presidentNicolas Sarkozy offered Germany the opportunity to participate in control over the French nuclear arsenal.[12]Chancellor Merkel and foreign minister Steinmeier declined the offer however, stating that Germany "had no interest in possessing nuclear weapons".[13] Due to concerns over Vladimir Putin's actions, Merkel reversed her position, stating to the German press, "As long as there are nuclear weapons in the world, we need to have these capabilities, as NATO says."[14]
NATO member states, including Germany, decided not to sign the UNtreaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a binding agreement for negotiations for the total elimination ofnuclear weapons, supported by more than 120 nations.[15]
German economist and politicianTobias Lindner called Germany'snuclear sharing agreement "an expensive, dangerous and antiquated symbolic contribution to have a say within NATO."[16]
In October 2021, German Defense MinisterAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had talked about the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons againstRussia.[17] She noted that nuclear weapons are a "means ofdeterrence."[18]
In regards to the relationship with the United States, German ChancellorOlaf Scholz agrees with a longstanding agreement that allows Americantactical nuclear weapons to be stored on American bases in Germany.[19][20] In November 2021Rolf Mützenich claimed that he wants to move NATOB61 nuclear bombs out of Germany.[21]
In 2022, some factions inAlternative for Germany (AfD) supported calls for Germany to acquire nuclear weapons.[22][23][24]
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