Germany and weapons of mass destruction

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Although Germany has the technical capability to produce weapons of mass destruction (WMD), since World War II it has refrained from producing those weapons. However, Germany participates in the NATO nuclear weapons sharing arrangements and trains for delivering United States nuclear weapons. Officially, 20 US-nuclear weapons are stationed in Büchel, Germany. It could be more or fewer, but the exact number of the weapons is a state secret. [1]

Contents

Germany is among the powers which possess the ability to create nuclear weapons, but has agreed not to do so under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and Two Plus Four Treaty. Along with most other industrial nations, Germany produces components that can be used for creating deadly agents, chemical weapons, and other WMD. Alongside other companies from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, India, the United States, Belgium, Spain, and Brazil, German companies provided Iraq with precursors of chemical agents used by Iraq to engage in chemical warfare during the Iran–Iraq War. [2]

History

World War I

One of the major combatants in World War I, Germany was the first to develop and use chemical weapons such as mustard gas and phosgene. These kinds of weapon were subsequently also employed by the Allies.

The use of chemical weapons in warfare during the Great War was allegedly in violation of clause IV.2 'Declaration concerning the Prohibition of the Use of Projectiles with the Sole Object to Spread Asphyxiating Poisonous Gases' of the 1899 Hague Declarations, and more explicitly in violation of the 1907 Hague Convention on Land Warfare, which explicitly forbade the use of "poison or poisoned weapons" in warfare. [3] [4]

World War II

During World War II, Germany conducted an unsuccessful project to develop nuclear weapons. German scientists also did research on other chemical weapons during the war, including human experimentation with mustard gas. The first nerve gas, tabun, was invented by the German researcher Gerhard Schrader in 1937.

During the war, Germany stockpiled tabun, sarin, and soman but refrained from their use on the battlefield. In total, Germany produced about 78,000 tons of chemical weapons. [5] By 1945 the nation had produced about 12,000 tons of tabun and 1,000 pounds (450 kg) of sarin. [5] Delivery systems for the nerve agents included 105 mm and 150 mm artillery shells, a 250 kg bomb and a 150 mm rocket. [5] Even when the Soviet army neared Berlin, Adolf Hitler decided not to use tabun in a last ditch effort against the Soviets. The use of tabun was opposed by Hitler's Minister of Armaments, Albert Speer, who, in 1943, brought IG Farben's nerve agent expert Otto Ambros to report to Hitler. He informed Hitler that the Allies had stopped publication of research into organophosphates (a type of organic compound that encompasses nerve agents) at the beginning of the war, that the essential nature of nerve gases had been published as early as the turn of the century, and that he believed that Allies could not have failed to produce agents like tabun. This was not in fact the case, but Hitler accepted Ambros's deduction, and Germany's tabun arsenal remained unused. [6]

Cold War and beyond

East German stamp, 1958: "People's struggle against Atom Death" Stamp of Germany (DDR) 1958 MiNr 655.JPG
East German stamp, 1958: "People's struggle against Atom Death"

As part of the accession negotiations of West Germany to the Western European Union at the London and Paris Conferences, the country was forbidden (by Protocol No III to the revised Treaty of Brussels of 23 October 1954) to possess nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. This was reiterated in domestic law by the Kriegswaffenkontrollgesetz (War Weapons Control Act). [7] During the Cold War, nuclear weapons were deployed in Germany by both the United States (in West Germany) and the Soviet Union (in East Germany). Despite not being among the nuclear powers during the Cold War, Germany had a political and military interest in the balance of nuclear capability. In 1977, after the Soviet deployment of the new SS-20 IRBM, West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt expressed concern over the capability of NATO's nuclear forces compared to those of the Soviets. Later in the Cold War under the chancellorship of Helmut Kohl, the West German government expressed concern about the progress of the nuclear arms race. Particularly, they addressed the eagerness of Germany's NATO allies, the United States and United Kingdom, to seek restrictions on long-range strategic weapons while modernizing their short-range and tactical nuclear systems. Germany wanted to see such short range systems eliminated, because their major use was not deterrence but battlefield employment. Germany itself, straddling the division of the Eastern and Western blocs in Europe, was a likely battlefield in any escalation of the Cold War and battlefield use of nuclear weapons would be devastating to German territory.

In 1957, the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) was created to promote the use of nuclear energy in Europe. Under cover of the peaceful use of nuclear power, West Germany hoped to develop the basis of a nuclear weapons programme with France and Italy. [8] The West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer told his cabinet that he "wanted to achieve, through EURATOM, as quickly as possible, the chance of producing our own nuclear weapons". [9] The idea was short-lived. In 1958 Charles De Gaulle became President of France, and Germany and Italy were excluded from the weapons project. Euratom continued as the European agency for the peaceful use of nuclear technology, falling under the institutions of the European Economic Community in 1967.

Protest in Bonn against the deployment of Pershing II missiles in West Germany, 1981 Massale vredesdemonstratie in Bonn tegen de modernisering van kernwapens in West, Bestanddeelnr 253-8611.jpg
Protest in Bonn against the deployment of Pershing II missiles in West Germany, 1981

Germany ratified the Geneva Protocol on 25 April 1929, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on 2 May 1975, the Biological Weapons Convention on 7 April 1983 and the Chemical Weapons Convention on 12 August 1994. These dates signify ratification by the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), during the division of Germany the NPT and the BWC were ratified separately by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) (on 31 October 1969 and 28 November 1972, respectively).

Before German reunification in 1990, both West and East Germany ratified the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany. Germany reaffirmed its renunciation of the manufacture, possession, and control of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. In addition to banning a foreign military presence in the former East Germany, the treaty also banned nuclear weapons or nuclear weapon carriers to be stationed in the area, making it a permanent Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone. The German military was allowed to possess conventional weapons systems with nonconventional capabilities, provided that they were outfitted for a purely conventional role.

The United States provides about 60 tactical B61 nuclear bombs for use by Germany under a NATO nuclear weapons sharing agreement. The bombs are stored at Büchel Air Base and in time of war would be delivered by Luftwaffe Panavia Tornado warplanes. As well as being a breach of the Protocols to the (revised) Treaty of Brussels (terminated in 2010), many countries believe this violates Articles I and II of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), where Germany has committed:

"... not to receive the transfer from any transferor whatsoever of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or of control over such weapons or explosive devices directly, or indirectly ... or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices ...".

The U.S. insists its forces control the weapons and that no transfer of the nuclear bombs or control over them is intended "unless and until a decision were made to go to war, at which the [NPT] treaty would no longer be controlling", so there is no breach of the NPT. However German pilots and other staff practise handling and delivering the U.S. nuclear bombs. [10] Even if the NATO argument is considered legally correct, such peacetime operations could arguably contravene both the objective and the spirit of the NPT.

Demonstration against nuclear weapons in Germany at Buchel Air Base in 2008 Unsere Zukunft Atomwaffenfrei - Demo Buchel 2008-2.jpg
Demonstration against nuclear weapons in Germany at Büchel Air Base in 2008

In 2007, former German defence secretary Rupert Scholz stated that Germany should strive to become a nuclear power. [11] In September 2007 the French president Nicolas Sarkozy offered Germany the opportunity to participate in control over the French nuclear arsenal. [12] Chancellor Merkel and foreign minister Steinmeier declined the offer however, stating that Germany "had no interest in possessing nuclear weapons". [13] Due to concerns over Vladimir Putin's actions, Merkel reversed her position, stating to the German press, "As long as there are nuclear weapons in the world, we need to have these capabilities, as NATO says." [14]

NATO member states, including Germany, decided not to sign the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a binding agreement for negotiations for the total elimination of nuclear weapons, supported by more than 120 nations. [15]

German economist and politician Tobias Lindner called Germany's nuclear sharing agreement "an expensive, dangerous and antiquated symbolic contribution to have a say within NATO." [16]

In October 2021, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had talked about the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons against Russia. [17] She noted that nuclear weapons are a "means of deterrence." [18]

In regards to the relationship with the United States, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz agrees with a longstanding agreement that allows American tactical nuclear weapons to be stored and manned on American bases in Germany. [19] [20] In November 2021 Rolf Mützenich claimed that he wants to move NATO B61 nuclear bomb out of Germany. [21]

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

Nerve agents, sometimes also called nerve gases, are a class of organic chemicals that disrupt the mechanisms by which nerves transfer messages to organs. The disruption is caused by the blocking of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an enzyme that catalyzes the breakdown of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter. Nerve agents are irreversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitors used as poison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemical warfare</span> Using poison gas or other toxins in war

Chemical warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological warfare and radiological warfare, which together make up CBRN, the military acronym for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear, all of which are considered "weapons of mass destruction" (WMDs), a term that contrasts with conventional weapons.

The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, usually called the Geneva Protocol, is a treaty prohibiting the use of chemical and biological weapons in international armed conflicts. It was signed at Geneva on 17 June 1925 and entered into force on 8 February 1928. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on 7 September 1929. The Geneva Protocol is a protocol to the Convention for the Supervision of the International Trade in Arms and Ammunition and in Implements of War signed on the same date, and followed the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weapon of mass destruction</span> Weapon that can kill many people or cause great damage

A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a biological, chemical, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great damage to artificial structures, natural structures, or the biosphere. The scope and usage of the term has evolved and been disputed, often signifying more politically than technically. Originally coined in reference to aerial bombing with chemical explosives during World War II, it has later come to refer to large-scale weaponry of warfare-related technologies, such as biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear warfare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarin</span> Chemical compound and chemical warfare nerve agent

Sarin is an extremely toxic organophosphorus compound. A colourless, odourless liquid, it is used as a chemical weapon due to its extreme potency as a nerve agent. Exposure can be lethal even at very low concentrations, where death can occur within one to ten minutes after direct inhalation of a lethal dose, due to suffocation from respiratory paralysis, unless antidotes are quickly administered. People who absorb a non-lethal dose and do not receive immediate medical treatment may suffer permanent neurological damage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tabun (nerve agent)</span> Chemical compound

Tabun is an extremely toxic compound of the organophosphate family. It is not present in nature. At room temperature, the pure compound is a clear and viscous liquid. However, impurities imparted during its manufacture are almost always present, turning it into a yellow or brown liquid. Exposed to environs, it slowly volatizes into the atmosphere, with the vapor having a slight fruity or almond-like odor. As the compound has a much higher molecular mass compared to air, Tabun gas tends to accumulate in low-lying areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russia and weapons of mass destruction</span>

The Russian Federation is known to possess or have possessed three types of weapons of mass destruction: nuclear weapons, biological weapons, and chemical weapons. It is one of the five nuclear-weapon states recognized under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and one of the four countries wielding a nuclear triad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States and weapons of mass destruction</span>

The United States is known to have possessed three types of weapons of mass destruction: nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. As the country that invented nuclear weapons, the U.S. is the only country to have used nuclear weapons on another country, when it detonated two atomic bombs over two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. It had secretly developed the earliest form of the atomic weapon during the 1940s under the title "Manhattan Project". The United States pioneered the development of both the nuclear fission and hydrogen bombs. It was the world's first and only nuclear power for four years, from 1945 until 1949, when the Soviet Union produced its own nuclear weapon. The United States has the second-largest number of nuclear weapons in the world, after the Russian Federation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Kingdom and weapons of mass destruction</span>

The United Kingdom possesses, or has possessed, a variety of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. The United Kingdom is one of the five official nuclear weapon states under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The UK renounced the use of chemical and biological weapons in 1956 and subsequently destroyed its general stocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">France and weapons of mass destruction</span>

France is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, but is not known to possess or develop any chemical or biological weapons. France is the only member of the European Union to possess independent (non-NATO) nuclear weapons. France was the fourth country to test an independently developed nuclear weapon, doing so in 1960 under the government of Charles de Gaulle. The French military is currently thought to retain a weapons stockpile of around 300 operational (deployed) nuclear warheads, making it the fourth-largest in the world, speaking in terms of warheads, not megatons. The weapons are part of the country's Force de dissuasion, developed in the late 1950s and 1960s to give France the ability to distance itself from NATO while having a means of nuclear deterrence under sovereign control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israel and weapons of mass destruction</span>

Israel is believed to possess weapons of mass destruction, and to be one of four nuclear-armed countries not recognized as a Nuclear Weapons State by the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The US Congress Office of Technology Assessment has recorded Israel as a country generally reported as having undeclared chemical warfare capabilities, and an offensive biological warfare program. Officially, Israel neither confirms nor denies possessing nuclear weapons.

Cyclosarin or GF is an extremely toxic substance used as a chemical weapon. It is a member of the G-series family of nerve agents, a group of chemical weapons discovered and synthesized by a German team led by Gerhard Schrader. The major nerve gases are the G agents, sarin (GB), soman (GD), tabun (GA), and the V agents such as VX. The original agent, tabun, was discovered in Germany in 1936 in the process of work on organophosphorus insecticides. Next came sarin, soman and finally, cyclosarin, a product of commercial insecticide laboratories prior to World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemical weapon proliferation</span> Prevalence and spread of chemical weapons

Many nations continue to research and/or stockpile chemical weapon agents despite numerous efforts to reduce or eliminate them. Most states have joined the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which required the destruction of all chemical weapons by 2012. Twelve nations have declared chemical weapons production facilities and six nations have declared stockpiles of chemical weapons. All of the declared production facilities have been destroyed or converted for civilian use after the treaty went into force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netherlands and weapons of mass destruction</span>

Although the Netherlands does not have weapons of mass destruction made by itself, the country participates in NATO's nuclear weapons sharing arrangements and trains for delivering US nuclear weapons. These weapons were first stored in the Netherlands in 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iraqi chemical weapons program</span> Offensively and genocidally used chemical weapons

In violation of the Geneva Protocol of 1925, the Iraqi Army initiated two failed and one successful (1978–1991) offensive chemical weapons (CW) programs. President Saddam Hussein (1937–2006) pursued the most extensive chemical program during the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), when he waged chemical warfare against his foe. He also used chemicals in 1988 in the Al-Anfal Campaign against his civilian Kurdish population and during a popular uprising in the south in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libya and weapons of mass destruction</span>

Libya pursued programs to develop or acquire weapons of mass destruction from when Muammar Gaddafi seized control of Libya in 1969 until he announced on 19 December 2003 that Libya would voluntarily eliminate all materials, equipment and programs that could lead to internationally proscribed weapons. This included weapons of mass destruction and long-range ballistic missiles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemical weapon</span> Device that uses chemicals to kill or harm individuals

A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a weapon "or its precursor that can cause death, injury, temporary incapacitation or sensory irritation through its chemical action. Munitions or other delivery devices designed to deliver chemical weapons, whether filled or unfilled, are also considered weapons themselves."

Chemical weapons were widely used by the United Kingdom in World War I. The use of poison gas was suggested by Winston Churchill and others in Mesopotamia during the interwar period, and also considered in World War II, although it appears that they were not actually used in these conflicts. While the UK was a signatory of the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 which outlawed the use of poison gas shells, the conventions omitted mention of deployment from cylinders.

The United States chemical weapons program began in 1917 during World War I with the creation of the U.S. Army's Gas Service Section and ended 73 years later in 1990 with the country's practical adoption of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Destruction of stockpiled chemical weapons began in 1986 and was completed on July 7, 2023. The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD), at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, continues to operate.

Chemical weapons have been a part of warfare in most societies for centuries. However, their usage has been extremely controversial since the 20th century.

References

  1. ↑ US set to upgrade controversial nukes stationed in Germany [ permanent dead link ]
  2. ↑ Al Isa, I. K. (1-12-2003) Fresh information on the Iraqi chemical program; Iraqi money and German brains cooperated in building chemical weapons. Al Zaman, London. Federation of atomic scientists. Referenced 21-11-2006.
  3. ↑ Telford Taylor (1 November 1993). The Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials: A Personal Memoir. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN   0-3168-3400-9 . Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  4. ↑ Thomas Graham, Damien J. Lavera (May 2003). Cornerstones of Security: Arms Control Treaties in the Nuclear Era. University of Washington Press. pp. 7–9. ISBN   0-2959-8296-9 . Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Smart, Jeffery K. Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare Archived 26 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine : Chapter 2 – History of Chemical and Biological Warfare: An American Perspective, (PDF Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine : p. 14), Borden Institute , Textbooks of Military Medicine, PDF via Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, accessed 4 January 2009.
  6. ↑ Paxman, J.; Harris, R. (2002). A Higher Form of Killing: The Secret History of Chemical and Biological Warfare (2002 Rando edition). Random House Press. ISBN   0-8129-6653-8 pp.82–84.
  7. ↑ "Kriegswaffenkontrollgesetz". War Weapons Control Act (last modified 11 October 2002).
  8. ↑ Die Erinnerungen, Franz Josef Strauss – Berlin 1989, p. 314
  9. ↑ Germany, the NPT, and the European Option Archived 19 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine (WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor)
  10. ↑ Nassauer, O. (2001) Nuclear sharing: is it legal?
  11. ↑ Tagesspiegel: Ex-Minister: Atomwaffen für Deutschland 27 January 2007 (in German)
  12. ↑ Beste, Ralf; Simons, Stefan (17 September 2007). "Thanks but No Thanks – Sarko's Nuke Offer Bombs with Berlin". Der Spiegel. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  13. ↑ Spiegel Online International
  14. ↑ Deutsche Presse-Agentur, "Merkel Shifts Stance to Say NATO Must Keep Nuclear Defence," 22 October 2010
  15. ↑ "122 countries adopt 'historic' UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons". CBC News. 7 July 2017.
  16. ↑ "US set to upgrade controversial nukes stationed in Germany". Deutsche Welle. 26 March 2020.
  17. ↑ "Germans clash over nuclear deterrence against Russia". Euractiv. 25 October 2021.
  18. ↑ "Russia summons German military attache over comments on nuclear deterrence - RIA". Reuters. 25 October 2021.
  19. ↑ "Incoming German government commits to NATO nuclear deterrent". Defense News. 24 November 2021.
  20. ↑ Dettmer, Jamie (7 December 2021). "Washington Hopeful of Close Relations With Germany's Scholz". Voice of America .
  21. ↑ Stelzenmüller, Constanze (19 November 2021). "Nuclear weapons debate in Germany touches a raw NATO nerve". Brookings. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
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