Western Union (alliance)

British Foreign Secretary Bevin signing the Treaty of Brussels

In the aftermath of World War II there were fears of a renewal of German aggression, and on 4 March 1947 the Treaty of Dunkirk was signed by France and the United Kingdom as a Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance in the event of a possible attack.

In his speech to the House of Commons on 22 January 1948, British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin called for the extension of the Treaty of Dunkirk to also include the Benelux countries, creating a Western Union.[2] The object was to consolidate Western Europe to satisfy the United States and to give advance notice of the eventual incorporation of Italy, and then Germany, into the Treaty.

The negotiating conference was held on 4 March 1948, a few days after the coup in Prague; thanks to this, the three smaller countries were able to persuade the others to agree to the concept of automatic and immediate mutual assistance in the event of aggression, and to the idea of setting up a regional organisation (a multilateral alliance in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations).

The Western Union was intended to provide Western Europe with a bulwark against the communist threat and to bring greater collective security.[3]

The Treaty of Brussels was signed on 17 March 1948 between Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and was an expansion to the preceding year's defence pledge, the Dunkirk Treaty signed between Britain and France.

NCOs of the Corps of the Royal Military Police displaying the Western Union Standard outside Château de Courances on 1 October 1949

1949 and 1950 posters advertising the Gloster Meteor jet fighter as the spearhead of Western Union defence

Although the Treaty goes no further than providing for 'cooperation' between the contracting parties, 'which will be effected through the Consultative Council referred to in Article VII as well as through other bodies', in practice the arrangement was referred to as Western Union or the Brussels Treaty Organisation.

When the division of Europe into two opposing camps became unavoidable, the threat of the U.S.S.R. became much more important than the threat of German rearmament. Western Europe, therefore, sought a new mutual defence pact involving the United States, a powerful military force for such an alliance. The United States, concerned with containing the influence of the U.S.S.R., was responsive. Secret meetings began by the end of March 1949 between American, Canadian and British officials to initiate the negotiations that led to the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949 in Washington, D.C.

The need to back up the commitments of the North Atlantic Treaty with appropriate political and military structures led to the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). In December 1950, with the appointment of General Eisenhower as the first Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), the members of the Treaty of Brussels decided to transfer the headquarters, personnel, and plans of the Western Union Defence Organisation (WUDO) to NATO.[4] NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) took over responsibility for the defence of Western Europe, while the physical headquarters in Fontainebleau were transformed into NATO's Headquarters, Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT).[5][6][7][8] Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery resigned as Chairman of WUDO’s Land, Naval and Air Commanders-in-Chief Committee on 31 March 1951 and took the position of Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR) on 1 April 1951.

The establishment of NATO, along with the signing of a succession of treaties establishing the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (April 1948), the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (April 1949), the Council of Europe (May 1949) and the European Coal and Steel Community (April 1951), left the Western Union and its founding Treaty of Brussels devoid of much of its authority.

The Western Union's founding Treaty of Brussels was amended at the 1954 Paris Conference as a result of the failure of the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC) to gain French ratification: The General Treaty (German: Deutschlandvertrag) of 1952 formally named the EDC as a prerequisite to the end of Allied occupation of Germany, and there was a desire to include Germany in the Western defence architecture. The Modified Brussels Treaty (MBT) transformed the Western Union into the Western European Union (WEU), at which point Italy and Germany were admitted. Although the WEU established by the MBT was significantly less powerful and ambitious than the original Western Union, German membership in the WEU was considered sufficient for the occupation of the country to end in accordance with the General Treaty.[9]

Social and cultural aspects were handed to the Council of Europe to avoid duplication of responsibilities within Europe.[10]

The objective of WUDO was to provide for the coordination of defence between the five powers in the military and supply fields and for the study of the tactical problems of the defence of Western Europe; in addition, to provide a framework on which, in the event of any emergency, a command organization could be built up.

The Treaty of Brussels contained a mutual defence clause as set forth in Article IV:

If any of the High Contracting Parties should be the object of an armed attack in Europe, the other High Contracting Parties will, in accordance with the provisions of Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, afford the Party so attacked all the military and other aid and assistance in their power.[15]

Article V set forth the obligations of Brussels Pact members to cooperate with the United Nations Security Council to maintain international peace and security, and Article VI set forth the obligations of Brussels Pact members to not enter any third-party treaties that conflicted with the Treaty of Brussels.[15]

WUDO's organisational chart as of November 1948, in which solid and dashed lines indicate control and liaison lines, respectively:[16]

:

London

Fontainebleau

Fixed locations of WUDO:
London: Defence Committee, Military Supply Board, Chiefs-of-Staff Committee
Fontainebleau: Commanders-in-Chief Committee

The overall command structure was patterned after the wartime Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), which included a joint planning staff.[13] WUDO could also be compared with the defence organisation in the United Kingdom.

Government direction and control is provided by the Western Union Defence Committee which, in peacetime, was composed of the national defence ministers. The Defence Committee was served by the Chiefs-of-Staff Committee and the Military Supply Board, meeting regularly in London. These bodies were analogous to the U.K.'s Chiefs of Staff Committee and Joint War Production Staff, respectively.

The secretariat worked for the other bodies, and had a British Secretary General.

In parallel with this Chiefs-of-Staff organisation, the Western Union Military Supply Board advised the Defence Committee on all questions affecting military supplies and made recommendations as to how the requirements of the Five Powers for Military Supplies could be met. The Supply Board was on a high level and is composed of one representative from each country. The British representative, who was to be chairman for the first year, is also Chairman of the British Joint War Production Staff. The infrequent meetings of the Board were served by a permanent Executive Committee working in London, composed of representatives from each country.

The Western Union Chiefs of Staff Committee (WUCOS), based in London, United Kingdom,[17] consisted of the five national chiefs of staff.[18]

WUCOS directed the operative organisation and advised the Defence Committee on all matters affecting the defence of Western Europe, taking account of commitments in other parts of the world. Within this broad direction, its special tasks in Western Europe were those such as:

• ensuring that the military resources of the five countries were organized to meet the strategic requirements of the Allies
• ensuring the forces of the various nations were welded into an effective fighting machine
• ensuring their combined resources were allotted in the best way
• maintaining a proper balance between the conflicting requirements of internal security and home defence on the one hand, and the European battle on the other
• evaluation, preparation and distribution of the necessary resources, in particular to the Commander of the European battle, whose special task was to make the necessary operational plans and put them into operation
• keeping constantly under review definition of the exact area of the responsibility of the command of the European battle in war

WUCOS included observers from the United States and Canada. This American liaison mission was initially led by Major General Lyman L. Lemnitzer, U.S. Army, and subsequently by Major General A. Franklin Kibler, USA.[19]

The high-level headquarters of Chairman Montgomery of the C-in-C Committee was situated in Château des Fougères (48°25′17″N 2°43′58″E, demolished in 1998)[20] in Fontainebleau's neighbouring commune Avon.

The Western Union Commanders-in-Chief Committee, responsible to the Western Union Chiefs-of-Staff Committee, was created on 5 October 1948.[6][21]

The committee consisted of Western Union Commanders-in-Chief for the three military branches (Land, Naval and Air), as well as the senior officer, designated Chairman. Their immediate task was to study the tactical problems of the defence of Western Europe, i.e. make plans to meet a Russian armed threat in Western Europe. They did not assume executive command of any forces in peacetime, although they were in close contact with Military Governors of the occupation zones, and it was hoped that, to a limited extent, peacetime dispositions could be adjusted to meet the needs of defence.

Members of the Western Union Commanders-in-Chief Committee

Portrait	Name	Title	Defence branch	Nationality
	Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.[19]	Chairman	British Army	United Kingdom
	General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny	Commander-in-chief, Land Forces, Western Europe (CinCLand)	French Army	France
	Air Chief Marshal Sir James Robb	Commander-in-chief, Air Forces, Western Europe (CinCAir)	Royal Air Force	United Kingdom
	Vice-Admiral Robert Jaujard	Flag Officer, Western Europe (FOWE)[13][22][23]	French Navy	France

The committee formed a nucleus command organisation in the French town of Fontainebleau, south of Paris, known as the Combined Allied Command of WUDO (UNILION), which, in war, would be capable of commanding all land forces and supporting air forces to meet a Russian armed threat. UNILION employed c. 100 officers and 300 other personnel.[12]

The top-level headquarters of UNILION, with the office of the C-in-C Committee Chairman, was housed in Château des Fougères in Fontainebleau's neighbouring commune of Avon.[20][24]

UNIMER

UNIAIR

UNITER

Cour des Offices/
Quartier Henri IV

Place d'Armes

Le Tibre

Le Romuls

The Henry IV quarter at the Palace of Fontainebleau
(48°24′10″N 2°42′8″E) housed the air, sea and land commands
of the Combined Allied Command. Prior to World War II these
offices housed the Artillery School.

UNILION's three subordinate commands, one for each service, were housed in the Henri IV quarter at the Palace of Fontainebleau:

• Sea Command (UNIMER)
• Air Command (UNIAIR)
• Land Command (UNITER)

Much ill-feeling was caused in the headquarters from disagreements between Chairman Montgomery and CinCLand de Lattre.[25][26]

Château de Courances served as private residence for Chairman Montgomery.[6][7][23]

The Western Union undertook the following training exercises (incomplete list):

• Exercise Verity (Naval; 1949)—involving 60 warships from the British, French, and Dutch navies held in the Bay of Biscay during July 1949.[27] The exercise was under the overall command of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Rhoderick McGrigor, RN, the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet.[27][28] The 60-ship flotilla included the British battleship Anson; the British carriers Implacable, Victorious and Theseus; and the French carrier Arromanches.[27] Admiral McGrigor summarized the accomplishments of Exercise Verity by noting: "The object of these manoeuvres is to show that we are willing and able to work together in case of aggression. I can say straight away that it's been a very great success."[27] Following Exercise Verity, WUDO announced that a major ground military exercise was scheduled for Fall 1949 under overall command of Général d'Armée Jean de Lattre de Tassigny.[27][Note 2]
• Exercise Cupola (Air; 1950)[29]
• Operation Bulldog (Air, 1949)[30]

• Operation Gladio, a clandestine "stay-behind" operation preparing for, and implementing, armed resistance in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion and conquest.