In March 1948, following the ‘Prague coup' that led to the establishment of a Communist Government in Czechoslovakia, British cartoonist Ernest Howard Shepard compares Western Union to a strong tower in the face of the Soviet threat in Europe.

On 21 April 1948, Pierre Pescatore, legal adviser at the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry, drafts a note on the military obligations resulting from the Brussels Treaty of 17 March 1948 in comparison with the provisions of the United Nations Charter.

On 30 April 1948, the Defence Ministers and Chiefs of Staff of the five powers signatory to the Brussels Treaty meet in London to discuss the creation of a Military Committee.

In a memorandum dated 18 August 1948, the UK Chiefs of Staff set out their point of view on Western Union Defence Organisation. These proposals are intended as a basis for discussion at the meeting of the Western Union Chiefs of Staff Committee.

In a report dated 25 August 1948, the Chiefs of Staff of Western Union outline the defence policy to be pursued by the five powers signatory to the Brussels Treaty.

In a memorandum dated 25 August 1948, the Chiefs of Staff of the Member States of Western Union recommend that the Defence Ministers approve the air defence plan and the programme of rearmament submitted by the Western Union Military Committee.

On 27 and 28 September 1948, the Defence Ministers of the Member States of the Brussels Treaty Organisation (Western Union) meet for the first time in Paris to discuss the defence policy of Western Union.

On the beaches adjoining Weybourne Camp near Norwich, in the county of Norfolk in the United Kingdom, British gunners prepare to train the Belgian and Dutch troops of Western Union in anti-aircraft techniques.

In July 1949, the fleets of the Member States of Western Union, composed of destroyers, aircraft and aircraft carriers, carry out naval exercises in the Bay of Biscay.

Status of members of the armed forces of the Member States of Western Union, signed in London on 21 December 1949.

Le 19 avril 1950, à l'issue de la réunion du Conseil consultatif de l'Union occidentale, le quotidien Le Monde commente l'échec des discussions sur l'étude du financement des projets militaires des cinq États signataires du traité de Bruxelles et souligne l'importance de la mise en place d'une défense commune.

On 5 December 1962, the French daily newspaper Combat comments on the adoption by the Parliamentary Assembly of Western European Union (WEU) of a plan to create an integrated nuclear force and describes the reluctance of the governments to relinquish control of their national nuclear forces.

In a report submitted on 2 December 2008 to the Assembly of Western European Union (WEU), the Political Committee reviews the common security and defence strategy for Europe.

In a report submitted on 3 December 2008 to the Assembly of Western European Union (WEU), the Committee for Parliamentary and Public Relations analyses the attitudes to defence policy among the general public in Europe and examines the reasons for public opposition to international missions.

In this interview, Colin Cameron, Secretary-General of the Assembly of Western European Union (WEU), emphasises the de facto role played by the WEU Assembly in the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) pursued by the European Union.

In this interview, Colin Cameron, Secretary-General of the Assembly of Western European Union (WEU), emphasises the contributions made by WEU and its Assembly to the development of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), which aims to be complementary to the Atlantic Alliance and open to the establishment of closer relations with third countries.

In this interview, Willem van Eekelen, Netherlands Minister for Defence from 1986 to 1988 and Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) from 1989 to 1994, outlines the essential contributions made by WEU to the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) of the European Union (EU) in the field of parliamentary control and military action, as well as the role played by WEU as a vector for the establishment of closer relations between the EU and the Atlantic Alliance.

In this interview, Colin Cameron, Secretary-General of the Assembly of Western European Union (WEU), emphasises the importance of public opinion in WEU’s interventions, particularly in ensuring that WEU carries out effective communication.

In this interview, Colin Cameron, Secretary-General of the Assembly of Western European Union (WEU), describes the speculation surrounding the mutual assistance clause in the Treaty of Lisbon (Article 42, EU Treaty), signed in 2007 by the European Union Member States, along with the relative difficulties in its interpretation and the potential consequences for some WEU Member States.

Le 19 mai 1949, le Comité militaire et le Comité exécutif d’armement se réunissent à Londres pour discuter des programmes de production proposés dans le cadre de l’effort de production additionnel de l’Union occidentale.

Le 19 avril 1951, le secrétaire du comité d’armement de l’Organisation du traité de Bruxelles (Union occidentale) transmet à la commission permanente une note sur les programmes de production additionnels.

On 21 October 1954, in Paris, the Governments of Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom decide to convene a working party on 17 January 1955 to be responsible for considering the issue of the production and standardisation of armaments with a view to submitting proposals to the Council of Western European Union when it is established.

Summary record from the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Nine Powers (Belgium, Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States), held on 21 October 1954 in Paris, concerning the resolution on the production and standardisation of armaments submitted by the French delegation.

On 9 January 1955, as the question is raised of the rearmament of the Federal Republic of Germany, the French daily newspaper Le Monde speculates on the issues surrounding the French plan to create an agency of Western European Union for arms control and production.

On 17 January 1955, the daily newspaper La Libre Belgique comments on the plan put forward by Pierre Mendès France, French Head of Government and Foreign Minister, to establish a Western European Union (WEU) agency for arms production, and sets out the many debates raised by the question of arms standardization.

On 21 January 1955, following the conference in Paris attended by representatives from Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Germany and the United Kingdom who have been given the task of looking into the question of arms production and standardisation, the daily newspaper Le Nation belge reports on the lively debates surrounding the plan put forward by French Prime Minister Pierre Mendès France to create a Western European Union agency for arms control and production.

Regulations on the conduct of inspections by the Agency for the Control of Armaments (ACA) of Western European Union (WEU), adopted by resolution of the WEU Council on 3 May 1956.

Le 8 décembre 1956, en marge de la question du réarmement de la République fédérale d'Allemagne (RFA), le quotidien allemand Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung dénonce l'absence d'une politique européenne de production et de standardisation des armements et réfléchit aux possibilités de pallier cette situation.

Example of a questionnaire sent by the Agency for the Control of Armaments (ACA) to the Member States of Western European Union (WEU), in this case on the subject of armaments for army forces in 1956.

Example of a questionnaire sent by the Agency for the Control of Armaments (ACA) to the Member States of Western European Union (WEU), in this case on the subject of armaments for naval forces in 1956.

Example of a questionnaire sent by the Agency for the Control of Armaments (ACA) to the Member States of Western European Union (WEU), in this case on the subject of armaments for air forces in 1956.

Convention signed in Paris on 14 December 1957 concerning measures to be taken by the Member States of Western European Union in order to enable the Agency for the Control of Armaments to carry out its control effectively and making provision for due process of law in accordance with Protocol No IV of the Modified Brussels Treaty.

Example of a questionnaire sent by the Agency for the Control of Armaments (ACA) to the Member States of Western European Union (WEU), in this case on the subject of armaments for land forces in 1957.

Example of a questionnaire sent by the Agency for the Control of Armaments (ACA) to the Member States of Western European Union (WEU), in this case on the subject of armaments for naval forces in 1957.

Example of a questionnaire sent by the Agency for the Control of Armaments (ACA) to the Member States of Western European Union (WEU), in this case on the subject of armaments for air forces in 1957.

On 24 January 1958, the French daily newspaper Le Monde describes the British authorities' dissatisfaction at the agreement between France, Germany and Italy on arms production, which they believe undermines the credibility of Western European Union (WEU). Indeed, WEU, which has an Agency for the Control of Armaments, was not informed of this agreement.

On 2 June 1961, the German daily newspaper Die Welt reports on the lack of results achieved by Western European Union (WEU) in the field of arms control, and outlines the problems facing arms control inspectors.

On 5 July 1966, the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung outlines the tasks of the Agency for the Control of Armaments (ACA) of Western European Union (WEU) and considers the question of the monitoring of French divisions stationed in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).

In this interview, Willem van Eekelen, Netherlands Minister for Defence from 1986 to 1988 and Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) from 1989 to 1994, gives the reasons for the establishment of the Agency for the Control of Armaments (ACA) and the Standing Armaments Committee (SAC) in 1954 and 1955, in the middle of the Cold War.

In this interview, Colin Cameron, Secretary-General of the Assembly of Western European Union (WEU), particularly looks at WEU’s powers before the fall of Communism, emphasising the prevailing global bipolarity of the time and the increasing complexity of conflicts following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

In this interview excerpt, Álvaro de Vasconcelos, co-founder and Director of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies (IEEI) in Lisbon from 1981 to 2007 and Director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) from 2007 to 2012, gives a clear account of European activities, within both the European Union and Western European Union, in the field of weapons production and standardisation.