Nuclear Illusions and Protectorate Reality
Did West Germany make a committed attempt to acquire national control of nuclear weapons during the Adenauer era? In this presentation, Andreas Lutsch will re-apprise the history of BRD security policy and instead argue that the Adenauer period is a history of nuclear illusions and protectorate reality.
Overview
Nuclear Illusions and Protectorate Reality
A Reappraisal of West German Nuclear Security Policy (1956-1963)
Some contend that West Germany made a committed attempt to acquire national control of nuclear weapons during the Konrad Adenauer chancellorship. This presentation will provide a reappraisal of West German nuclear security policy between 1956 and 1963. Contrary to the prevailing narrative, Andreas Lutsch will argue that this period was instead a history of nuclear illusions and protectorate reality. Lutsch will Analyze Bonn's nuclear ambitions and how these ambitions were translated into defense policy. This reappraisal is based on declassified records and personal papers from more than twenty archives in the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Germany.
Andreas Lutsch is a Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University, and Assistant Professor at the Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Germany. Previously, he was a research fellow at the Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany. He studied history, political science and law at the Universities of Mainz, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland.
Speakers
Andreas Lutsch
Christian F. Ostermann
Woodrow Wilson Center
Hosted By
Nuclear Proliferation International History Project
The Nuclear Proliferation International History Project is a global network of individuals and institutions engaged in the study of international nuclear history through archival documents, oral history interviews, and other empirical sources. At the Wilson Center, it is part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program. Read more
Cold War International History Project
The Cold War International History Project supports the full and prompt release of historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War. Through an award winning Digital Archive, the Project allows scholars, journalists, students, and the interested public to reassess the Cold War and its many contemporary legacies. It is part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program. Read more
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