Interview with Wilhelm Grewe, 1986

Item Information

Title:
Interview with Wilhelm Grewe, 1986
Description:
Wilhelm Grewe was a German diplomat actively involved in negotiations relating to post-war Germany. He was Ambassador to Washington from 1958-1962, and Permanent Representative to North Atlantic Council at NATO headquarters from 1962-1971. In this interview, he describes the atmosphere of French-German talks over the European Defense Community and related issues such as Germany’s concessions relating to nuclear weapons. He denies there were any missed opportunities for an early Soviet pull-out, discusses Chancellor Adenauer’s rather vague military intentions, and talks briefly about military exercises in Germany that incorporated the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons. He notes there was a large domestic split over nuclear weapons already in the 1950s. He discusses Germany’s broad priorities in foreign policy and, more specifically, Bonn’s reaction to the concept of flexible response. An underlying dilemma for Germans, he notes, is the need for external assistance with defense and the realization that using nuclear weapons would mean the destruction of the country. He recalls meetings between top German and U.S. leaders on all of these subjects. He touches on the attitudes of Franz Josef Strauss and other leaders toward the concept of Germany’s possession of nuclear weapons. In the context of President de Gaulle’s influence on Adenauer, he discusses the tense period of the 1960s when the French were considering withdrawal from NATO, and the nature of the differences between those two governments and the British and Americans. He believes a nuclear contingency may have been raised during the Berlin crisis but was not seriously considered. He ends with a brief discussion about Ostpolitik.
Interviewee:
Grewe, Wilhelm Georg, 1911-
Date:
October 27, 1986
Format:
Film/Video
Location:
WGBH
Collection (local):
WGBH Open Vault
Series:
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
Subjects:
Great Britain
International relations
Warfare, Conventional
North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Nuclear Planning Group
Ostpolitik
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Nuclear weapons
Soviet Union
Peace movements
Nuclear warfare
Eden, Anthony, Earl of Avon, 1897-1977
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
McNamara, Robert S., 1916-2009
Dulles, John Foster, 1888-1959
Stalin, Joseph, 1879-1953
Adenauer, Konrad, 1876-1967
Gaulle, Charles de, 1890-1970
Strauss, Franz Josef, 1915-1988
Bowie, Robert R. (Robert Richardson), 1909-
Brandt, Willy, 1913-1992
Taylor, Maxwell D. (Maxwell Davenport), 1901-1987
Places:
Germany
France
United States
Extent:
00:55:50:10
Link to Item:
https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_D4492E23AE9940A1885A8E4AD8B962A3
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
Publisher:
WGBH Educational Foundation
Identifier:
V_D4492E23AE9940A1885A8E4AD8B962A3