Organization Live Oak

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1961: Soviet and American tanks face each other at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin

Live Oak was the name of a secret military organization of the three western allies USA , Great Britain and France and, since 1961, the Federal Republic of Germany , which was supposed to ensure the security of West Berlin . It was set up in response to the Berlin crisis of November 1958 and existed from 1959 to 1990. Its first seat was at the United States European Command in Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris . In 1961 the Live Oak staff moved to the grounds of the European headquarters of NATO , SHAPE , which was initially stationed in Rocquencourt , France , and from 1967 in Casteau near Mons , Belgium .

background

In its negotiations with the Western allies about a German defense contribution, the Adenauer government had made it clear from the start that it would only be prepared to make such a contribution if Western security guarantees for the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin were available. NATO accepted this demand at its summit in New York on September 27, 1950 and stated that it would consider an attack on West Germany or West Berlin as an attack on NATO. In addition to the security obligation of the three main western victorious powers in accordance with the four-power status, there was a security guarantee from NATO for West Berlin.

In the years that followed, neither the three Western powers nor NATO as a whole had been able to agree on how this security guarantee could be implemented. In view of the conventional balance of power vis-à-vis the Soviet Union, enforcing entry to Berlin by force seemed hopeless. In the Berlin area alone, the 11,000 Western Allied soldiers faced four Soviet divisions and one of the NVA . In this respect, every confrontation in Berlin carried the risk of escalating into a nuclear conflict.

On November 27, 1958, the Berlin crisis began with an ultimatum from the Soviet party and government leader Nikita Sergejewitsch Khrushchev , in which he revoked the four-power status for Berlin and called for the demilitarization of West Berlin. In order to emphasize his demands, he had three American military vehicles stop on the transit route near Babelsberg and prevented them from continuing for ten hours. In the months that followed, armed Western Allied military convoys traveled the transit routes and tested the Soviet attitude. In January 1959, the Soviet leadership indicated that they did not want a general war and stopped their interference. This defused the crisis for the time being. In response to the hindrances, the Western Allies decided to set up an organization to prepare and coordinate countermeasures in future crises.

Establishment of the Live Oak organization

The diplomatic consultations between the Western powers responsible for Berlin led to the formation of the Tripartite Ambassadorial Group in early 1959 , consisting of the ambassadors of France and the United Kingdom to the United States and the undersecretary of state for European affairs in the US State Department. This group was expanded to include the German ambassador in 1961 and was called the Washington Ambassadorial Group . This Washington group had overall responsibility and coordinated the emergency planning for Berlin. The Bonn Group , consisting of the American, British and French ambassadors to the Federal Republic of Germany and, since 1961, a representative from the Foreign Office , provided additional support ( advice and assistance ) . The Bonn group monitored the situation in Berlin and was able to take the first measures, but the Washington ambassador group remained the final authority for all four-power plans.

A committee of four consisting of the three Western Allies and the German NATO ambassador was set up to control western reactions in the event of future Berlin crises. Given the military balance of power, it was essentially a matter of ensuring that a signal of strong Western cohesion could be sent to the Soviet Union if necessary. While the USA and France agreed on this, Great Britain was seen as a weak point because there was little willingness there to take a risk for Berlin. The German side was also expected to have little stamina. The other NATO members who did not belong to the four-man committee received only limited information because it was assumed that they too shied away from the consequences of military action against the Soviet Union.

After another incident on the transit route, the US armed forces invited their British and French partners to set up their own staff for Berlin issues called Live Oak in March 1959 . German experts should be consulted if necessary, but not integrated into the staff. The decision to set up this staff was made on April 4, 1959 between the three allies. While this plan was kept secret, it was intended that the KGB would learn about the establishment of the Live Oak organization in order to recognize Western resolve.

Live Oak and NATO

The Live Oak organization was not part of NATO, but an organization of the three Western Allies with limited involvement of the Federal Republic of Germany. The essential measures that were to be taken after the Live Oak plans, however, were to be implemented by NATO and its command structure. Contingency plans for the security of West Berlin existed at the three top NATO command authorities at the time, Supreme Allied Command Atlantic , Supreme Allied Command Europe and Allied Command Channel. In the event of a Berlin crisis, it provided for the provision of considerable forces from all NATO countries. The NATO states that were not involved in Live Oak received very limited information. The German liaison officer initially did not receive any Live Oak documents either. It was only after the Berlin Wall was built in August 1961 that a German observer was admitted to the Live Oak staff and the Federal Republic of Germany became an equal member of Live Oak. Both NATO's Berlin plans and the documents from the Live Oak organization have now been published.

The leader of the organization Live Oak was the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). The first SACEUR entrusted with this task was General Lauris Norstad . Live Oak was established as a commander's staff. The commanding general, General Norstad, did not serve as SACEUR or US CINCEUR, but as Commander Live Oak (CLO) and thus wore a "third hat" in addition to his NATO and US responsibilities. This was also the case with all of General Norstad's successors. Responsibility for day-to-day affairs was in the hands of the Chief of Staff, a British major general. The first chief of staff was Major General WG Sterling, commander of the 2nd Division of the British Army of the Rhine. This post also remained with Great Britain until 1990. Officers and staff were provided by the first three, then four Powers; Live Oak's strength totaled around 35 people.

The experience gained in dealing with the Soviet Union in the course of the Berlin crisis had a decisive influence on NATO's Flexible Response strategy introduced in 1967 .

activities

Transit routes to Berlin (yellow)

The measures to be taken in the event of a new blockade of Berlin by the Soviet forces provided for an escalation that should begin with light forces and end with the use of nuclear weapons . These were direct measures along the transit routes to Berlin, the general reinforcement of the troops of NATO members in Europe, the use of maritime pressure against the Soviet Union and, in the worst case, a general war.

In the event of Allied military vehicles being detained, a military convoy should first try to hold out on the transit route from Helmstedt to Berlin until firearms were used. A first test convoy should be unarmed, another should be accompanied by reconnaissance vehicles. They wanted to forego the use of tanks in order not to provoke. Only forces of the three Western Allies who reserved the decision to undertake such a limited operation were to take part in this operation. A temporary airlift to Berlin and measures to block the sea at points sensitive to eastern sea traffic were planned as further steps . During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the Western powers feared a possible escalation through Soviet threats against Allied access to Berlin. A "by-product" of the emergency planning on this occasion was the idea of ​​hitting the Soviet Union in a crisis on the transit routes to Berlin where it was more vulnerable than in Germany, namely in its worldwide maritime interests. The USA's successful "nautical quarantine" off Cuba spurred the four Live Oak powers to set up a new organization called the Deep Sea . She was given the task of developing maritime countermeasures that could be used by the politically responsible in the event of a crisis on the access routes to Berlin. Deep Sea was based in Washington and had three Naval Coordination Centers , one in Hawaii ( US Pacific Fleet headquarters in Pearl Harbor ), a second in Norfolk, Virginia ( US Atlantic Fleet headquarters and NATO SACLANT headquarters) and a third colocates with Live Oak in Casteau.

From a US perspective, the chances of success of this approach were that Soviet forces would be forced to open fire to stop the convoys. This would run the risk of an incalculable escalation that it was believed the Soviet Union would avoid. The British did not share this view, so there was a permanent difference of opinion among the Western Allies on the matter. There were also differing views as to how quickly one should escalate to the use of nuclear weapons in the event of failure. While the US political leadership under President Kennedy was in favor of slow action, the military leadership advocated rapid escalation. In Germany, Chancellor Adenauer tended to proceed cautiously, while Defense Minister Strauss wanted to escalate more quickly.

The plans of the organization Live Oak were supplemented by plans of the three upper NATO command authorities. In 1962, SACEUR issued a BERCON (Berlin Contingency Planning) plan, which provided for various options for land, air and sea warfare through to the demonstrative use of nuclear weapons. The maritime planning of the SACLANT and the CINCHAN, which each set up a Maritime Contingency Planning (MARCON), corresponded to this plan.

German contribution

While the NATO plans foresaw the involvement of the Bundeswehr , Live Oak operations were a matter for the three Western Allies. German officers were initially only given limited personal information and received no written documents. The restrictions were later relaxed somewhat. The Allies saw the direct involvement of Bundeswehr units in Live Oak operations as a high political risk.

In September 1961, the federal government offered to participate in maritime live oak operations. A special “Sea Spray” staff at the SACLANT headquarters was responsible for these operations, which were to include, among other things, increased sea reconnaissance, the blocking of straits and canals and the imposition of a sea blockade. This contribution was accepted and remained the only German involvement in Live Oak operations.

Dissolution and whereabouts of the files

The dramatic upheavals in Eastern Europe and the German reunification meant the end of the Live Oak organization. One minute before the Unification Treaty came into force , on October 2, 1990 at 11:59 p.m., Live Oak ceased operations. With the Federal Republic of Germany now united and completely sovereign, the need for the Live Oak organization was superfluous. In his last letter to members of the Washington Ambassador Group on October 2, 1990, the last Commander of Live Oak, General John R. Galvin, summed up : "The fact that Live Oak has never had to be fully activated in its 31-year existence may be a deterrent It is undoubtedly also a testimony to the enduring and highly effective political-military working relationship that had developed over the years between the Allies and the Federal Republic. "

On February 21, 1991, the four participating nations decided to hand over the files of this staff to the Federal Archives-Military Archives in Freiburg im Breisgau . They should be stored in a specially secured room (special vault) as top secret classified information, but should be disclosed for historical research on October 4, 2005 after exactly fifteen years (half of the generally accepted closure period for secret files). This decision was followed in the military archives, in the spirit of the words of the last Chief of Staff Live Oak, British Major General GB Fawcus, in his letter that was attached to the bundle of files: "While we are disappearing from the scene, we send one last farewell from the organization, toujours sur le qui vive, which has done its job to the full. May those who follow us into the Live Oak building enjoy the same success. " It should be added that the cited successors in building 104 of the SHAPE headquarters in Casteau were the representatives of the Eastern European states and former Soviet republics that cooperated with NATO in the NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) program . The building has been used by Allied Command Transformation Support Element Europe since 2003 .

The BW 71 holdings in the Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv contain files on topics such as

  • Berlin Contingency Planning,
  • Crisis prevention,
  • Actions in the event that Berlin is taken under fire,
  • Non-military countermeasures,
  • Berlin Airlift,
  • Advances by rail,
  • Disruptions to military convoys,
  • Allied proceedings on the transit highway,
  • Communication channels,
  • Helicopter assistance

and a few more. The last file in the inventory is entitled "Live Oak Future 1990", but this did not mean the dissolution of the organization.

In 2007, the Federal Archives submitted an application for disclosure to the NATO Archives Committee for 56 documents from NATO provenance that were contained in the bundle of files. After more than one and a half years, the German application passed the silence procedure in January 2009 without objections from one or more member states, whereupon these documents could also be used. During the non-disclosure period, the member states have the opportunity to express their concerns in writing. The procedure offers political and diplomatic flexibility in balancing national positions, but requires, as the example of Live Oak shows, time-consuming coordination and decision-making processes.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b NATO. Files on-line. Military Planning for Berlin Emergency (1961-1968), Scope and content
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Bruno Thoss: Information, Persuasion, or Consultation. The Western Powers and NATO during the Berlin Crisis, 1958–1962
  3. ^ NATO. Archival Description. Military Planning for Berlin Emergency (PDF; 128 kB)
  4. ^ A b Military Planning for Berlin Emergency (1961-1968); released archives of NATO
  5. ↑ Files On-line. Military Planning for Berlin Emergency (1961-1968). Preface by Gregory Pedlow, SHAPE archivist.
  6. ↑ Hans-Joachim Harder, Top Secret Cold War Record Group Open in German Military Archive, in: Mars & Janus, International Newsletter for Military Archives No. 6 (2005 / No. 2 - fall edition), p. 9f.
  7. ↑ a b Sigurd Hess: In the best shooting position
  8. ↑ SACEUR BERCON (PDF; 600 kB)
  9. ↑ http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_archives/19620815-DP-3011_C-982-ENG.pdf SACLANT MARCON
  10. ↑ CINCHAN MARCON (PDF; 147 kB)
  11. ↑ Hans-Joachim Harder, Top Secret Cold War Record Group Open in German Military Archive, in: Mars & Janus, International Newsletter for Military Archives No. 6 (2005 / No. 2 - fall edition), p. 9f.
  12. ↑ As a result, volume 13 of the series Origin and Problems of the Atlantic Alliance is planned to be published in autumn 2018 . Harald van Nes will publish the results of his research under the title The Struggle for Berlin in the Cold War: The Story of LIVE OAK .
  13. ↑ "Toujours sur le qui vive" (Always on the alert) was the motto of Live Oak, which was also quoted in the coat of arms consisting of the combined four flags of the member states.
  14. ↑ Günter Weisse, NATO Intelligence: The military intelligence in the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) 1985–1989, in the non-fiction book, Stuttgart, 2013
  15. ↑ Hans-Joachim Harder, Top Secret Cold War Record Group Open in German Military Archive, in: Mars & Janus, International Newsletter for Military Archives No. 6 (2005 / No. 2 - fall edition), p. 9ff.
  16. ^ Communications from the Federal Archives, Issue 1/2009, Volume 17, pp. 44f.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Until 1987, even the name was Live Oak as classified information classified. Source: Sigurd Hess: In the best shooting position