Academic Year 1967-1968, Unit 3: Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Germany Page: 1
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UNIT 3
Armed Forces of the Federal Republic
of GermanyINTRODUCTION
ON 8 MAY 1955, the Federal German Republic
was admitted as a full and equal member of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This action
followed by three days the return to German
sovereignty of those portions of Germany that
had been occupied by French, British, and
United States forces for almost 10 years since
the final surrender of Nazi forces in 1945.
During those years of reconstruction, the West
German people had made great strides in re-
building their economy from the rubble of war,
and had developed ~a working democratic gov-
ernment under the 'guidance and pro Action of
American, British and French forces. As the
hopes for a tranquil world, based on mutual re-
spect among nations, crumbled before the re-
peated aggravations of Communist imperialism in
China and Czechoslovakia, and also in Greece,
Berlin, and Korea, the Western nations came to
realize that Germany must once again shoulder
at least part of the burden of her own defense.
The 1950 recommendations offered by United
States Secretary of State Dean Acheson, that 10
German divisions be recruited and assigned to
NATO, initiated the diplomatic soul-searching
that culminated in the decision to restore to the
Federal German Republic the right to help pro-
tect herself and her neighbors within the frame-
work of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
_The new Bundeswehr (Federa Defense
Forte) differs as dramatically from the German
armies of the past as the Federal Republic of
Germany differs from the old empire or the Third
Reich. The goose step and the iron discipline of
old have given away to a new spirit that reflects
the democratic ideals of today's German Govern-
ment.
As the new West German Government re-
flects the influence of the Western Allies, particu-
larly the United States, so the Bundeswehr re-
flects the military beliefs and practices of the
United States. In addition to the use of American1
weapons and equipment, civilian control of the
military forces has been instituted. German arms
now share the work of protecting the free world,
and function to protect their government rather
than control it. Absolute obedience and discipline
have been replaced by individual conviction and
self discipline.
This latter is especially remarkable in the way
it compares with the judgment recorded by Baron
von Steuben, almost 200 years ago, when he was
helping to train the Continental Army during the
Revolutionary War. He found the inhabitants of
the new world to be different from European
soldiers in their insistence on their right to be
consulted. In a letter to a German friend he re-
marked: "The genius of this nation is not in least
to be compared with that of the Prussians, Aus-
trians, or French. You say to your soldier, 'Do
this,' and he doeth it; but I am obliged to say,
'This is the reason why you ought to do that,'
and then he does it."
INFLUENCES ON GERMAN MILITARY
FORCES
AMONG THE TRADITIONALLY "German" areas of
competence, the art or science of war is familiar
to us all. No study of war is considered complete
without reference to Clausewitz and the senior
Moltke. The molding of Imperial Germany
around the King of Prussia and his army can be
seen as a classic model of nation-building. Prus-
sian military organization was studied by repre-
sentatives of developing nations, and the real
and fancied achievements of the German Gen-
eral Staff have accorded them a permanent place
in folklore.
A thorough treatment of the relationships be-
tween the German Armed Forces of today, and
the numerous factors that brought them into
existence and molded their structure, is beyond
the scope of this unit; and yet, some effort must
be made in this direction as the basis for discus-
sion and understanding of the present situation.
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Air University (U.S.). Academic Year 1967-1968, Unit 3: Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Germany, pamphlet, January 1967; Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1010254/m1/5/?q=%22~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting National WASP WWII Museum.