The War On News

A record of government actions against journalism and fact-based reporting, from the first press laws to today

Claim

Claim 837

Der Spiegel published an article on October 10, 1962, saying the Bundeswehr was only conditionally prepared to defend the country against a nuclear strike, and the magazine was accused of treason.

Published 2026-09-26. Last reviewed 2026-09-26. 1 source.

Statement
Der Spiegel published an article on October 10, 1962, saying the Bundeswehr was only conditionally prepared to defend the country against a nuclear strike, and the magazine was accused of treason.
Field
occurred_on
Value
October 10 article on Bundeswehr readiness
About
incident 1962-west-germany-spiegel-affair-raid-and-arrests
Source
Democracy in Jeopardy? (October 29, 1962)
Publisher
German History in Documents and Images, German Historical Institute Washington
Method
primary document
Checked
2026-09-26
Confidence
high
Status
current
Source date
1962-10-29

Quotation from the source

On October 10, 1962, the news magazine Der Spiegel published an article stating that the Bundeswehr was only “conditionally prepared” [ bedingt abwehrbereit ] to defend the country against a nuclear attack.