Challenge: Nuclear Germany (not Nazi and not glowing)

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to make the Federal Republic of Germany a nuclear power by the present day with a POD after its formation in 1949.
 
Not that hard- Germany, along with Japan and possibly Canada, is currently one of the countries that could develop a nuclear deterrent quickly if they so chose.
Does it have to be indigenous nukes? A more successful MLF may result in a nuclear Germany. Alternatively, a different NPT resulting in the nuclear-weapons-sharing not being dual-key- IOTL there are US nuclear weapons set aside for the use of the Luftwaffe (B61s airdropped by Luftwaffe Tornados) in the event of war.
 

Thande

Donor
Yes, though the nuclear program leading to them could be a joint one (let's say Franco-German-Italian).

There's been some movement to try and get a single EU Security Council seat. In a TL where the UK isn't in the EU (or opts out of this programme) so it's really just the French expanding their seat, that might be more plausible, and Germany might well get authority for parts of the nuclear programme. Of course, that opens a huge can of worms over who really has the launch codes and so on.
 
Wasn't there a strand of US politics in the er 1960s or so that said that its allies should be nuclear-armed in their own right, and that proliferation on their side was a good thing ?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
The MLF might be a starting point.

Franz Josef Strauß was a big champion of going nuclear. Remove some of his scandals ...

The nuclear research ship Otto Hahn used a reactor that was optimized for silent running and seems to have been designed to be deployed in a sub (a slender horizontal design, instead of an easier vertical one). It´s first captain was a former U-Boot commander.

I was told that it would have taken 6 months to build a few nukes in 1975. I can not verify that claim, but I trust the source. I have no idea how long it would take today.

The technical side is not a problem IMHO, but I see massive political factors (scared neighbors and local pacifists with financial support from abroad) stopping Germany from going nuclear unless the US retracts its nuclear umbrella or there is some limited nuclear exchange. Even in such a scenario, it seems more likely that we get some pan-European or Franco-German solution.
 
Germany at one point in the 1960's was looking at a nuclear weapons program due to the fact the Soviets and East Germany was at a point that it could not be guaranteed that West Germany would survive a full all out assault. NATO and the United States got wind of this and put the kibosh on anything even close to a defensive or offensive nuclear weapons program
 
aehm, I am not shure waht the "challenge" here is.
1.
Sarkozy asked Merkel if she wanted to have half the french Atomic waepons, which Merkel declined nicly, (the last good desicion from her, after that she went the wrong direction...)
So, well, if she said yes,... then.. there is your challenge.
(or did I missunderstood the question??)

2. There are A-weapons in Germany already from America... but I think you mean under German administrative, so not really a good point.

3. Germany has a very highly advanced Technology, definitly enough to make an A bomb within a very short time. It would cost them most of their "charm-points" but seeing as not even Iran is invaded after a year of openly mocking everyone, and saying they want to "eradicate Israel from the face of the earth", I dont sea anyone actually stopping Germany. But it may go as far as beeing thrown out of the EU..although I highly doubt it, seeing as noone but the British and Polish still hate Germans... (not even the majority of the Israely youth, in 2006 or so, when it was discussed weather or not German tropps shoud be peace keepers around Isreal, more then 70% from the under 25 said yes...hardly heating enough to atomise)




In any case, let me ask you why Germany would want A-bombs...
If anyone thinks of attacking Germnay, you can be shure that the whole of the EU and USA will ...sort of... come to theire aid. I dont see the USA becoming a terribel tyrany either for the next... well at all. And if Germany would become totalytary (which is more unlikley than the USA becoming a tyrany, trust me ;) ) than it would be bether for the Germans if they didnt have A bombs.
So in short... A bombs are for wusis who have no balls to fight like men :D
 
From the British at least, all I see are foolish comments in the Sun if this happened. I assume the British government would probably be informed by the Germans that they were going to do this as would the rest of the EU.
 
The best way for Germany to get nuclear weapons would be for the Soviet Union in the 1970's to be a lot more belligerent.
In the 1960's Europe was still too worried about Germany becoming a threat, again. So nuclear missiles would be a no-no.
In the 1980's Germany's left wing was too powerful to let the German army expand into nuclear weapons.
If in the early 1970's the Soviet Union had placed nuclear weapons in East Germany, or had mobilized its military forces a few times on the German border, there just might be enough motivation for Germany to create a nuclear arsenal.
Its unlikely, but possible.
After the fall of the Soviet Union any real hope of nuclear weapons appearing in Germany ends. Who will Germany fight that they require them? If they do go to war with the USA, Russia, or China, they MIGHT need them, but in that case they'll have France's nuclear weapons and maybe Britain's'.
Germany doesn't have any real enemies right now, and the government and populace is too left wing to want them.
 

Deleted member 1487

The best way for Germany to get nuclear weapons would be for the Soviet Union in the 1970's to be a lot more belligerent.
In the 1960's Europe was still too worried about Germany becoming a threat, again. So nuclear missiles would be a no-no.
In the 1980's Germany's left wing was too powerful to let the German army expand into nuclear weapons.
If in the early 1970's the Soviet Union had placed nuclear weapons in East Germany, or had mobilized its military forces a few times on the German border, there just might be enough motivation for Germany to create a nuclear arsenal.
Its unlikely, but possible.
After the fall of the Soviet Union any real hope of nuclear weapons appearing in Germany ends. Who will Germany fight that they require them? If they do go to war with the USA, Russia, or China, they MIGHT need them, but in that case they'll have France's nuclear weapons and maybe Britain's'.
Germany doesn't have any real enemies right now, and the government and populace is too left wing to want them.


Its not really being left-wing that prevents nuclear weapons, rather its the whole pacifist thing. Even the German right wing is pacifist to a degree, not just the left wing. Its like teeth to get Germany to commit any troops anywhere these days, let alone have a nuclear arsenal. Except for a few on the political fringe or in the German military, there is no will to have Germany ever fight anywhere again.
 
Fair enough Wiking.
Being from Canada, in North America we normally think of pacifists as being left wing. I'll keep that in mind for the future.
Thanks. :)
 

Deleted member 1487

I'm an american ;), but normally you'd be right. At the moment it's just a German thing really. All the pacifist education we gave them after the war really worked!
 
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