ABSTRACT
This chapter will explore the relationship between the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE)1 and the Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction Talks (MBFR),2 two major projects of European détente in the late 1960s and 1970s, and the unlinking of the two projects. The first plans to reduce military forces in Central Europe date back to the 1950s, when the Cold War rivals began to build up their capabilities on both sides of the dividing line. Most Western arms control proposals, unless they were launched merely for propagandistic purposes, were either intended to facilitate German reunification or to reduce the possibility of accidental escalation of the confrontation, while the Eastern plans had the goal to prevent the military rearmament of West Germany or to reduce the number of NATO troops.
