The British Military View of European Security, 1945–50

From the mid-1950s to the end of the cold war, Britain’s ‘Atlanticist’ approach to Western European security revolved around three assumptions.1 The first was that the political and military involvement of the USA should be nurtured. Second, there was the acceptance of nuclear weapons in operational planning, for defence and deterrence. The final assumption was that the defence of Western Europe should be a matter for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Along with the USA, West Germany and other allies, Britain committed conventional troops and air forces to NATO’s European command, to be stationed permanently in Germany. Britain’s faith in the Atlanticist approach has been tenacious.2