Going Nuclear, but How?: The Netherlands Army and Tactical Nuclear Warfare in Europe, 1953–1968

Abstract

In the historiography of nuclear arms in the Cold War the political and military strategic levels are dominant; little attention has been paid to the sub-strategic levels. This is understandable, because most archival material has been destroyed or is still classified. However, it is also remarkable because tactical nuclear weapons (tnw) were a crucial element in nato strategies and because all nato forces had to prepare, down to the lowest levels, to fight a war by nuclear means. Based on previously unused archives, this article analyses how the Dutch army, as an army of a small nato-member state, adapted step by step to the nuclearisation of land warfare in the period 1953 to 1968. Which role were the tnw s assigned in the war plans? But also, how realistic would these plans have been, given the influence of (inter)national political developments, moral and psychological aspects, and military-technical and military-tactical issues?