Interview with Pierre M. Gallois, 1986

General Pierre-Marie Gallois, often regarded as the “father” of the French nuclear strategy, served with the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) and with French president Charles de Gaulle. In his interview conducted for War and Peace in the Nuclear Age: “The Education of Robert McNamara,” Gallois expands upon tensions within French-American relations in the critical post-war period. He provides a perspective that was shared by many Europeans, including General de Gaulle: that to replace the strategy of “massive retaliation” with “flexible response” meant a weakening of the United States’ commitment to defend Europe with nuclear weapons. He also discusses the dynamics among European nations as they faced economic reconstruction, Soviet forces, and the prospect of Germany’s rearmament. Gallois recounts his late-night conversations with French prime minister Guy Mollet and with General de Gaulle, when, as a young member of the planning group at SHAPE, he presented his case for France developing its own atomic bomb. At various points he explores the origins of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and SHAPE, shares why the U.S.-proposed Multilateral Force was nicknamed the Multilateral Farce, and explains his support for limited nuclear proliferation in order to keep the peace.