german rearmament and allied troop maintenance in germany

When in May 1955 the Paris Accords came into effect, the long and tortuous process of forming an integrated Western security system was finally concluded after more than five years of negotiations. The major stumbling block had been the politically sensitive question of whether and how the former enemy, Germany, was to be integrated into this structure. The result of the multinational effort was spectacular. It encompassed not only the rules for rearming West Germany but also the establishment of Bonn's sovereignty and its inclusion in NATO only ten years after the end of World War II. A reaffirmation of the continuity of large-scale NATO troop presence on German soil was a further core element of the settlement. American, British, French, Canadian, Dutch, Belgian, and Danish troops changed their status from occupiers to protectors.

The diplomatic events leading up to the Paris Accords, their political and military causes, and their implications have been the subject of much historical research. Much less is known about the economic foundations of these events, which are crucial to understanding the results: The formation of the Atlantic security system was inevitably shaped by fundamental economic factors in postwar transatlantic relations (and vice versa). Paying special attention to these economic factors, I briefly review the origins of the two elements that, in addition to the American nuclear guarantee, were pivotal for the Atlantic security system as it emerged in 1954–5:Western troop maintenance in Germany and West German rearmament. The link between these two elements is particularly emphasized.