On 30 October 1945, on the initiative of General de Gaulle, the French Government adopts Decree No 45-2563 which provides for the creation of a French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA).

Am 24. Januar 1956 richtet General Pierre Gaston Billotte, französischer Verteidigungsminister, ein vertrauliches Schreiben an den Premierminister Edgar Faure und an den Außenminister Antoine Pinay, in dem er betont, wie wichtig für Frankreich neben seinem Engagement im Rahmen von Euratom die Wahrung der atomaren militärischen Unabhängigkeit ist.

A few days before the beginning of the diplomatic Val Duchesse Conference on the preparations for the Rome Treaties, Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury, French Defence Minister, makes Christian Pineau, his counterpart at the French Foreign Ministry, aware of his determination to safeguard France’s freedom to manufacture nuclear weapons independently of its accession to Euratom.

‘Regular portions of nuclear weapons’. In August 1958, the image of a French cockerel fed on nuclear weapons by a soldier, a businessman and a conman symbolises what the Soviet press considers to be the ultimate objective of France’s policy: acquiring nuclear weapons.

On 14 August 1959, British cartoonist David Low takes an ironic look at the explanations given by French President Charles de Gaulle regarding French nuclear policy in the Sahara.

‘French dawn. The Gaullist cockerel burps.’ In November 1959, Opland, Dutch cartoonist, illustrates General de Gaulle’s wish to acquire atomic weapons for France.

On 8 December 1960, the first military programme act is passed. It provides for the creation and financing of the French nuclear strike force.

On 11 April 1961, during a press conference held at the Élysée Palace in Paris, French President Charles de Gaulle reaffirms France’s determination to continue nuclear tests in the Sahara Desert.

‘Charles the Upright. The new retaliation weapon of the Holy Roman Empire.’ On 17 February 1962, the Dutch cartoonist Opland gives an ironic illustration of the new Franco-German defence policy.

'The Paris stork' takes flight. In December 1963, the Soviet weekly publication Krokodil illustrates the nuclear policy of Gaullist France.

'Preparations for seasonal heating in France'. In 1963, the Soviet cartoonist Ganf highlights the efforts made by General de Gaulle to implement an independent nuclear policy in France.

From 1966 onwards, France sets up its first nuclear establishments in French Polynesia. In 1974, nuclear tests in the atmosphere are abandoned in favour of underwater tests.

Am 14. und 15. Februar 1960 berichtet die französische Tageszeitung Le Monde über die Zündung der ersten französischen Atombombe am 13. Februar in Reggane in der algerischen Sahara.

On 14 February 1960, the French daily newspaper Le Monde reports on the explosion of the first French atomic bomb in Reggane, in the Algerian Sahara, the previous day.

‘The atomic miracle. “Before, I was ignored. Now, …”’ In February 1960, the German cartoonist, Fritz Behrendt, illustrates France’s new status on the international stage after the explosion, on 13 February at Reggane in the Algerian Sahara, of the first French atomic bomb.

„Gloria in Excelsis Charles - Anbetung der Heiligen Drei Könige“. Am 10. Januar 1963 zeichnet der Karikaturist Esenti auf scherzhafte Weise die Geburt Christi in Bethlehem und die Anbetung der Heiligen Drei Könige nach, wobei er deutlich macht, welchen Stellenwert das nukleare Abschreckungspotenzial Frankreichs für General de Gaulle besitzt. So verfügt Frankreich über eine von den USA unabhängige Atomstreitmacht, denn Unabhängigkeit ist das Grundprinzip der französischen Außenpolitik. Von links nach rechts stehen US-Präsident John F. Kennedy, der britische Premierminister Harold Macmillan und Bundeskanzler Konrad Adenauer, dargestellt als die Heiligen drei Könige, vor dem göttlichen Kind und bewundern die Errungenschaft Frankreichs.

In an article published in the French daily newspaper Le Monde on 20 July 1963, Maurice Faure, leader of the French Radical Party, speculates on the real deterrent capability of the national strike force.

In January 1957, the Milanese daily newspaper Il nuovo Corriere della Sera comments on the remarks made by the American, Robert McKinney, President of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, regarding the importance of nuclear energy for Western Europe.

On 18 April 1957, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Parool outlines the tasks and the workings of Euratom.

Anlässlich der Gründung Euratoms veröffentlicht der Guide de l'énergie et de son équipement eine Bestandsaufnahme der Energiesituation in Belgien und den Niederlanden.

In 1957, inspired by the creation of the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), Francis Perrin, French High Commissioner for Atomic Energy, extols the apparent virtues of the industrial and domestic use of the atom. Advertisements are included in the brochure on the peaceful use of the atom.

Am 26. März 1959 beschreibt Étienne Hirsch, Präsident der Euratom-Kommission, in der englischen Wochenzeitschrift The New Scientist die Herausforderungen und die Ziele Euratoms.

On 1 March 1962, the Frenchman Pierre Chatenet, President of the Commission of the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC), gives an interview to the French daily newspaper Le Monde in which he outlines the objectives of Euratom’s second five-year plan.

Anlässlich der Weltausstellung von Seattle im Jahr 1962 erläutert der Präsident der Kommission der Europäischen Atomgemeinschaft (EAG) Pierre Chatenet seinen amerikanischen Gesprächspartnern die Euratom und die Bedeutung der Atomenergie für Europa.

Pierre Chatenet (second from the right), President of the Commission of the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) from 1962 to 1967.

In 1963, in a report on the question of disarmament, a working committee in the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA) gives its views on the non-proliferation of atomic weapons.

On 22 January 1964, in Brussels, Pierre Chatenet, President of the Euratom Commission, delivers a lecture to the Belgian Royal Institute for International Relations (IRRI) on the advantages and dangers of nuclear energy.

Table showing nuclear expenditure by the six Member States of the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC) between 1962 and 1964.

Table showing the different types of reactors, their power and the date of their connection to the grid in France, Belgium, Germany and Italy during the 1960s.