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Western Europe

France

Aerial view of National Mall

North America

United States

French Nuclear History

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Western Europe

Great Britain

Soviet soldier taking a photograph of another soldier in Red Square, Moscow, 1959

Eastern Europe

Soviet Union

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United States. Executive Office of the President

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Nuclear Proliferation

A photo of Henry Kissinger from 1975

Kissinger, Henry

1923-

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Sonnenfeldt, Helmut

1926-

"The Bundeshaus (Federal Building) in Bonn, West Germany, May 1961. "

Western Europe

West Germany

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United States. Department of State

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National Security Council (U.S.)

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The Palace of the Republic (Palast der Republik) in Berlin

Eastern Europe

East Germany

Pakistani Nuclear History

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Foster, John S.

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Berlin Wall between Mitte and Kreuzberg

Berlin Wall

Truman with Attlee and Stalin at Potsdam

Cold War Origins

South African Nuclear History

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Documents

August 8, 1963	Memorandum from Under Secretary of State George W. Ball to President Kennedy, 'A Further Nuclear Offer to General De Gaulle' Undersecretary Ball outlines for President Kennedy the reasons why assisting the French nuclear program is not in America's interests. It suggests that De Gaulle would only accept assistance if there were no political conditions attached, and to do so would jeopardize US interests in Europe and NATO.
April 20, 1964	National Security Action Memorandum, NSAM 294, McGeorge Bundy to Secretary of State, 'US Nuclear and Strategic Delivery System Assistance to France' Bundy explains that, according to policy, the U.S. is opposed to the development of nuclear forces by other states except those approved by NATO. Thus, the U.S. is not to aid French nuclear development, and this document calls for specific technical guidelines to be developed for the agencies in the government to prevent France from receiving any such aid.
April 15, 1969	Memorandum from Henry A. Kissinger to President Nixon, 'Guidance to State and Defense Department on Our Attitude Toward Military Cooperation with the French' Kissinger informs Nixon of a discussion he had with British Defense Minister Denis Healey about French/U.S. military cooperation. Kissinger has told Healey that the French have not approached the U.S., and that any decision to aid France would have to be heavily weighed beforehand. Kissinger and Healey have agreed to inform one another should he be approached for such assistance by France in the future.
April 22, 1969	Memorandum from Henry A. Kissinger to William P. Rogers, US-French Military Relations This is a follow up of a memorandum from Kissinger to Nixon that was sent on April 15, 1969, where Nixon approved Kissinger to tell the Secretary of State the same points that were discussed in the original memorandum. Such points were that Kissinger has told Healey, British Defense Minister, that the French have not approached the U.S. for military assistance, and that any decision to aid France would have to be heavily weighed beforehand. The necessity for secrecy on these topics is stressed by Kissinger.
June 27, 1969	Memorandum of Conversation between Ambassador Shriver and the National Security Council, 'Conversation with Schriver on Pompidou Visit, Military Cooperation with France, and Middle East' Ambassador Shriver and Kissinger discuss wanting President Pompidou to visit the U.S. soon, and the former states that he will ask President Nixon to give his opinion on this and to approve it soon. Kissinger further states that he does not know if the President wants to aid France, either militarily or by nuclear means, though he does not think it is out of the question that the President may want to do so. Finally, Kissinger notes that the U.S. does not need French aid in negotiations with the Soviets but would not be opposed to their help in talks with the Israelis.
October 21, 1969	Memorandum from Theodore L. Eliot Jr. to Henry A. Kissinger, 'British Position on Nuclear Cooperation with France' The British have not made any military or nuclear alliance with France, and they will disclose any such approaches from France to the United States. The U.S. is willing to say in response that they have not been approached by the French and would be willing to disclose any such approach in the future, but the U.S. is not willing say that their position is exactly the same as the British one because they "are not sure of the detailed implications of the broad phraseology of [the British’s] statement" and do not want to be bound to any extreme commitments.
January 23, 1970	Memorandum from Helmut Sonnenfeldt to Henry A. Kissinger, 'Memo from Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense on Assistance to France on Ballistic Missiles' Helmut Sonnenfeldt informs Kissinger that France has made a direct request to the Pentagon for technical assistance with their ballistic missile program. Attached to the memo is a series of correspondence between Deputy Secretary of Defense Packard and the Director of Defense Research and Engineering, John S. Foster. Foster proposed that he meet with the French Minister of Armaments.
February 20, 1970	Deputy Secretary of Defense Packard to Kissinger, enclosing 'US/French Interchange in Area of Ballistic Missiles' Report to Kissinger from the Department of Defense on the legal and policy restrictions preventing U.S. assistance to France's ballistic missile program (mainly National Security Action Memorandum 294). The report also speculates on the specific technical problems the French may have and want assistance with.
July 4, 1974	Memorandum from Helmut Sonnenfeldt to Henry Kissinger, 'US-French Military Cooperation' Sonnenfeldt describes for Secretary Kissinger the state of US-French relations after a schism developed in the wake of the 1973 October War, and what impact this would have on the two countries' nuclear cooperation.
August 3, 1970	Memorandum from Helmut Sonnenfeldt to Henry Kissinger, 'Franco-American Military Relations' Sonnenfeldt summarizes various recent types of military cooperation between the United States and France. These include cooperation on contingency plans for dealing with Germany and US nuclear assistance to France. He suggests that it is time to define the "political philosophy underlying these disparate measures of cooperation."