Nuclear Mentalities? Strategies and Beliefs in Britain, France and the FRG

290 Pages·1998·14.752 MB·English

by  Beatrice Heuser (auth.)

Nuclear Mentalities?
Strategies and Beliefs in
Britain, France and the FRG
Beatrice Heuser
NUCLEAR MENTALITIES?
STRATEGIES AND BELIEFS IN
BRITAIN, FRANCE AND THE FRG
Also by Beatrice Heuser
HAUNTED BY HISTORY: Myths in International Relations
(with Cyril Buffet)
NATO, BRITAIN, FRANCE AND THE FRG
SECURING PEACE IN EUROPE, 1945-63 (editor with Robert 0'N eill)
TRANSAlLANTIC RELATIONS: Sharing Ideals and Costs
WESTERN CONTAINMENT POLICIES IN THE COLD WAR
Nuclear Mentalities?
Strategies and Beliefs
in Britain, France
and the FRG
Beatrice Heuser
Senior Lecturer
Department ofWar Studies
King's College London
First published in Oreat Britain 1998 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LID
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire R021 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-40164-2 ISBN 978-0-230-37775-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230377752
First published in the United States of America 1998 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-21321-3
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Heuser, Beatrice, 1961-
Nuclear mentalities? : strategies and beliefs in Britain, France,
and the FRO 1 Beatrice Heuser.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-21321-3 (cloth)
I. Nuclear weapons-Govemment policy-Great Britain. 2. Nuclear
weapons-Govemrnent policy-France. 3. Nuclear weapons-Govemment
policy-Germany (West) 4. Political culture-Great Britain
-History-20th century. 5. Political culture-France-History-20th
century. 6. Political culture-Germany (West)--History-20th
century. I. Title.
UA647.H543 1998
355.02'1 7'094-DC2 I 97-45487
CIP
© Beatrice Heuser 1998
Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1st edition 1998 978-0-333-69389-6
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with
written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by
the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Tbe author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Tbis book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and
sustained forest sources.
10987654321
07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98
Far Cyril
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Contents
Acknowledgements x
List of Abbreviations used in the Notes xi
1 Introduction: Nuclear Mentalities - Meaning what? 1
Notes 2
2 Britain: Knights, Merchants and Prot esters 3
Halting the Decline 4
Which Threat? 6
The Soviet threat 6
Vulnerability to nuclear strikes 8
Have nuclear weapons abolished major war? 10
Ban, ban, ban the bloody H-bomb 11
The internal threat: a fragile society 16
Belief in convergence; commonality of interest
with the enemy 22
Balance of Power 25
The 'Special Relationship' 28
America won 't let us down 32
Influence, reinsurance and existential deterrence 33
NATO: the Permanent Alliance 36
Division of roles within the Alliance 37
Interdependence 38
NATO Europe 39
France and Germany 41
The Nuclear Have-Nots and the 'White Man's Burden' 43
Britain's Röle 44
World power, Hindu cow or Atlantic brace? 44
The bass voice of Sir Galahad 47
Moral leader in disarmament 49
Conclusions: Compromises 50
Notes 53
VB
Vlll Contents
3 France: The Nuclear Monarchy 75
Atom and Cosmos 75
Medieval roots of French nuclear theology 75
President and people: Jupiter and the general will 76
The Third World War will not take place 84
Caesarism, the citizen-soldier and the lesson of 1940 85
Fear of internal discord 90
Frogs, bulls and Monsieur Seguin's goat: the opposition 93
Power and weakness of the Catholic Church 96
Histoire Oblige 97
Defence and French identity 97
History, grandeur, glory and prestige 99
Leadership and the civilising mission 102
France is Europe 104
Germany: ghosts of the past and hopes for the future 109
France and Her Rivals for W orId Leadership 115
Perfidious Albion 115
America: France 's chief rival 117
US and SU: mirror images? 120
Eternal Russia 122
The Nation versus Alliances 126
Friendship in all directions 127
The loyal ally versus neutralism and non-alignment 128
Sovereignty and the 'Slavery of Independence' 130
Integration - the enemy 133
The value of uncertainty 138
NATO: America's Holy Roman Empire 139
Conclusions: Metaphysics 142
Notes 144
4 The Federal Republic of Germany: Sin and Redemption 179
Preparing a 'Global Auschwitz' 180
First Bergen-Belsen, now Bergen-Hohne 180
Every war a crime 183
Anti-militarism 185
Punishment: the Division of Germany and
Nuclear Weapons 186
Contents ix
The Quest for Atonement: I: Opposition to
Nuclear Weapons 188
The holy: Christians 190
The moralists: Resistants 192
... and the emotional: atomic hysteria 195
The Quest for Atonement 11: Learning from History 197
Breaking with the past: the new German mission 197
Impatience 199
The Nuclear World 200
Newage 200
Nuclear weapons and deterrence of war 201
The Interstate System 203
Alliances and international organisations 205
Nationalism and sovereignty 208
The USSR: the enemy 212
The GDR: Enemy or victim? 215
The US, 'the strongest pillar of our Freedom' 216
France: the 'atom-dwarJ' 219
Britain: the all-too-secret ally 223
The Quest for a New Identity 225
Europe 225
The Atlantic Community 228
Conclusions: Metamorphosis 229
Notes 231
5 Comparisons and Conclusions 260
Comparisons 260
Political Culture and Strategy 264
Belief Clusters and Identity 265
Index 269