On 24 May 1952, the Federal Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer (centre), meets British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden (on the left), US Secretary of State Dean Acheson and French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman (on the right), to discuss the final outstanding questions relating to the future Convention on relations between the Three Powers and the Federal Republic of Germany.

On 26 May 1952, Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, arrives in Bonn for the signing of the Convention on relations between the Three Powers and the Federal Republic of Germany.

Signed on 26 May 1952 by France, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), the Bonn Convention grants sovereignty, albeit with some restrictions, to the FRG, once the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community enters into force.

On 26 May 1952, the US Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, signs the Bonn Agreements, which aim to put an end to the occupation status of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and enable the gradual reestablishment of German sovereignty. This Convention is due to take effect upon the entry into force of the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC).

On 26 May 1952, the Federal Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, signs the Convention on relations between the Three Powers and the Federal Republic of Germany. The Bonn Agreements grant sovereignty to the FRG, with certain restrictions, upon the entry into force of the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC).

On 26 May 1952, the British Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, signs the Convention on relations between the Three Powers and the Federal Republic of Germany, which grants sovereignty to the FRG, with certain restrictions, upon the entry into force of the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC).

On 26 May 1952, in Bonn, the French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, signs the Convention on relations between the Three Powers and the Federal Republic of Germany, which grants sovereignty to the FRG, with certain restrictions, upon the entry into force of the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC).

On 26 May 1952, France, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) sign the Convention on relations between the Three Powers and the FRG, which grants sovereignty to the FRG, with certain restrictions, after the entry into force of the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC).

In his address to the Bundestag on 7 August 1954, Heinrich von Brentano, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), presents the outcome of the Nine-Power Conference in London which will enable the Federal Republic of Germany to accede to Western European Union (WEU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

Convention on relations between the Three Powers and the Federal Republic of Germany as amended by Schedule I to the Protocol on the Termination of the Occupation Regime in the Federal Republic of Germany, signed at Paris on 23 October 1954.

In 1954, pacifist demonstrators march through the streets of Munich protesting against German rearmament, sanctioned by the Paris Agreements signed on 23 October 1954.

In 1954, the German communist-leaning party Bund der Deutschen (Alliance of Germans) opposes the rearmament of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and calls for the Paris Agreements not to be ratified.

‘Welcome to Konrad and his men.’ In 1954, the cartoonist Fritz Behrendt depicts the forthcoming accession of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which is presented as an impregnable fortress.

In 1954, the French Communist Party (PCF) and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) launch a joint appeal to the French and German people against the ratification of the Bonn and Paris Agreements, and reaffirm their commitment to efforts for peace.

‘To cut a long story short, the West puts West Germany on the map, following the principle of free choice for the nations.’ In January 1955, Opland, Dutch cartoonist, describes the rearmament process of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).

In 1955, faced with the military threat of the Soviet bloc, the West German independent republican movement Bund aktiver Demokraten e.V., which advocates values of freedom and democracy, calls for the creation of a German army.

In 1955, the Communist Party of Germany rejects the notion of policy based on opposing blocs by condemning both the Paris Agreements and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), and advocates the establishment of a collective structure for defence in Europe.

On 20 April 1955, in connection with the implementation of the various provisions of the Paris Agreements, James B. Conant, High Commissioner of the US zone of occupation and US Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from 1953 to 1957, deposits the ratification instruments for the Protocol on the Termination of the Occupation Regime in the FRG with the Federal Government. The photo shows the Federal Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, giving an address at the Palais Schaumburg in Bonn to emphasise the importance of the event.

On 5 May 1955, the German Government issues a proclamation to mark the end of the occupation of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).

On 5 May 1955, in a radio broadcast, the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, welcomes the end of the occupation of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).

On 5 May 1955, in Bonn, Sir Frederick Hoyer Millar (left), British High Commissioner in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), and the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer (centre), sign the agreements which officially put an end to the occupation of the FRG by the three Western allied powers.

On 5 May 1955, the Bulletin of the Press and Information Office of the German Government emphasises the significance of the end of the occupation regime in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in terms of national sovereignty.

On 6 May 1955, in Paris, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer signs the official accession of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) to the North Atlantic Treaty.

On 10 May 1955, the day after the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) became a Member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung describes the ceremonies which took place at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris.

‘At the head of the North Atlantic Union.’ On 30 May 1955, the Soviet satirical publication Krokodil denounces the Federal Republic of Germany’s membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and attacks the Nazi military past of the German Generals in the Alliance.

On 6 June 1955, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Parool outlines the efforts made by the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, to speed up the process of rearmament in the Federal Republic of Germany.

On 12 November 1955, Theodor Blank, Federal Defence Minister, gives an address in Bonn to mark the appointment of the first volunteers for the Bundeswehr.

On 12 November 1955, in Bonn, Theodor Blank, West German Defence Minister, presents the first 101 Bundeswehr volunteers with their instrument of appointment.

On 20 January 1956 in Andernach, German Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer addresses the first recruits of the new Bundeswehr.

In July 1955, the law on the recruitment of military volunteers (Freiwilligengesetz) is adopted by the Bundestag, laying the foundations for the enlistment of the first military volunteers in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). The new German Federal Army, known as the Bundeswehr from 1956, and the air force, the Luftwaffe, publish posters to recruit their first members.

In 1956, the press and information service of the German Federal Government publishes a poster praising the merits of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Since 9 May 1955, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) has been a full member of NATO.

In May 1957, in Bonn, Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor and Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), delivers an address to the Council of Foreign Ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in which he emphasises the importance of NATO in countering the threat represented by the Soviet Union.

With the Korean War (1950–1953), the Communist threat seems to be more topical than ever. The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), at the instigation of its Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, is making every effort to integrate politically and militarily into the West. The end of the Allied occupation and accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in 1954, the creation of a new army in 1955 and the signing in 1957 of the Rome Treaties are allowing Germany, despite the failure of the proposed European Defence Community (EDC), to integrate fully into the Western bloc.

On 30 September 1984, 30 years after the signing of the London Agreements on 3 October 1954, the French daily newspaper Le Monde looks back on the events that led to the rearmament of West Germany.

On 20 January 1956, in Andernach, the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, and his Minister for Defence, Theodor Blank, review the volunteers of the new Bundeswehr.