Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1956 (Creation)
Level of description
Series
Extent and medium
53 PDF
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The AC/100 chronological series contains the records on the Defence Planning Multilateral Discussions.
These discussions took place in a context of growing tension and threat to the NATO countries. These threats were due, firstly, to the modernization of armaments and the spread of nuclear weapons and, secondly, to new political factors such as the creation of the Warsaw Pact and the change in the USSR’s stance on the reunification of Germany.
In November 1955, the International Staff expressed the desire to set out a procedure for adjusting defence planning (see C-M(55)113). This was accomplished through the draft Council resolution of 6 December 1955 (see C-M(55)120), which suggested defence planning discussions as
a way of making as much information about the defence problems as possible available to all the countries and fostering collective exchanges of views on those problems. It also made provision for discussions that brought together the civil and military representatives of the Member governments, the NATO military authorities and the International Staff. This resolution was adopted by the Council at its meeting on 15 December 1955 (see C-R(55)59).
At the first Council meeting of 1956 (C-R(56)1), the Secretary General of the Organization, Lord Ismay, said that the aim of the discussions would be to enable each NATO country to have authoritative advice on the new defence planning structure.
The meetings, held on 20-26 February 1956, were chaired by Lord Ismay. Their mission was to provide information rather than produce decisions, and took the form of briefings(1) by the military authorities followed by discussions(2). There were no further discussions of this kind after that point.
Working groups were formed, two of which produced documents. The first had been set up to review the divisional organization of the land forces (see AC/100(WG-1)R/1 and AC/100(WG-1)VR/1). The second was tasked with reviewing the forward scatter system (see AC/100(WG-2)D/1 and AC/100(WG-2)WP/1 and 2).
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The documents in the AC/100 series are primarily the records of meetings on topics relating to the military defence of NATO’s territory.
Several topics were discussed:
A- air defence
B- the organization, dispersal and readiness of air force units
C- the divisional organization of the land forces
D- the duties and organization of the naval forces
E- new weapons and equipment
F- problems caused by ageing equipment
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
The documents are arranged by type - Document (D), Record/Summary Record (R) and Verbatim Record (VR) - and then by number.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
NATO publicly disclosed information is available for research and education purposes. Any commercial use requires the written permission of NATO. Please credit the NATO Archives should any documents be used for publication. Guidelines for the proper citation of NATO publicly disclosed information can be found on the NATO Archives website (http://www.nato.int/archives).
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Most of the records are in English, and a few were circulated in NATO’s two official languages, English and French.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
(1) Verbatim reports V/1 to V/9.
(2) Meeting records R/1 to R/11.