West Germany's 79-year-old Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was convalescing from bronchial pneumonia, and still ill, when he got the news of Geneva's failure to reunify Germany. He summoned military aides and ministers to his home and told them to get moving on the formation of Wrest Germany's new armed forces. Adenauer's demand: four combat divisions in the field by the end of 1956.
Last week, one day before the Chancellor got back to his desk after seven weeks' confinement, the Bonn government took a major step toward meeting his wishes. A new five-member Supreme Military Council was formed to assume direct operational command...