Exchange of internal notes in the British Foreign Office on the limitations on German arms production (March 1959)

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In March 1959, a series of internal notes from the British Foreign Office address the question of the request from the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) to amend Protocol III of the Revised Brussels Treaty, which limits German arms production. The British originally delayed sending a reply because they did not want to jeopardise their bilateral discussions with the Soviet Union. But circumstances have now changed and the Foreign Office sees no further reason to resist the German request; it recommends that no objection be raised to SACEUR's proposal that it support this request for an amendment to the Treaty. This amendment would permit the FRG to undertake the joint production of surface-to-air guided missiles.

Source and copyright

Source: The National Archives of the UK (TNA). Foreign Office: Political Departments: General Correspondence from 1906-1966. WESTERN ORGANISATIONS (WU): Western European Union-WEU (WUW). Limitations on FRG arms production. 01/01/1959-31/12/1959, FO 371/146464 (Former Reference Dep: File 1195).

Copyright: (c) The National Archives of the United Kingdom

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