Using recently released archive material, British Military Planning for
the Defence of Germany, 1945-50, reassesses Britain's strategy for the
defence of Germany up to the outbreak of the Korean War. Convinced of
the capabilities of strategic air power with atomic weapons, and
convinced that the defence of the Middle East should be the first call
on British planning, Britain's military chiefs made a series of token
gestures designed to boost French morale and consistently refused to
make a genuine 'continental commitment' of operational troops.