Carte Blanche (NATO exercise)

Carte Blanche was the name of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) field training exercise (FTX) held from 20 to 28 June 1955 in West Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and a section of France.

[4] The FTX attack was north to south to gain maneuver space; headquarters of the opposing forces were in West Germany.

[5] The narrative above was published by German mass market news magazine Der Spiegel two weeks after the exercise in the 13 July 1955 edition.

[citation needed] It reported 171 nuclear weapons were used against the defending NATO force, and 164 against the attacker; and that 268 of the 335 were exploded over German territory.

It twice noted the Carte Blanche exercise had extreme political implications and cautioned awareness of them in public relations.