V o L u m e I : a d

During his second term, Hammarskjöld developed

an even more active political profile, aimed at preventive

measures to deter war and international tensions. As he

saw it, one of the secretary-general’s tasks was to promote

Cold War rapprochement by mitigating outstanding Cold

War issues and potential flash points. This implied the

safeguarding of newly independent states to prevent them

from being drawn into the superpower rivalry. Applying

his ideas to the Congo, he came into conflict with Soviet

leader Nikita Khrushchev, who in September 1960 de-

manded Hammarskjöld’s replacement.

Hammarskjöld remained in office but met with in-

creasing difficulties as he tried to mediate conflicts in the

newly independent Congo and as he fought off criticism

from some UN members, most notably the Soviet Union.

He was killed on 18 September 1961 in a plane crash near

the Katanga-North Rhodesia border while on a peace mis-

sion to the Congo. In late 1961, Hammarskjöld was the first

person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously.

His spiritual journal Markings, first published in Swedish

in 1963, bears witness to his upstanding character and the

centrality of his Christian faith to his life’s work.

Norbert Götz

See also

Suez Crisis; Sweden; United Nations

References

Cordier, Andrew W., ed. Public Papers of the Secretaries-General of the United Nations,

Vols. 2–5, Dag Hammarskjöld. New York: Columbia University Press, 1972–1975.

Hammarskjöld, Dag. Markings. New York: Knopf, 1964.

Heller, Peter B. The United Nations under Dag Hammarskjold, 1953–1961. Lanham,

MD: Scarecrow, 2001.

Urquhart, Brian. Hammarskjold. New York: Knopf, 1972.

Specially constructed areas, usually underground, designed to withstand

nuclear attack. Hardened sites are also usually able to withstand biological

and chemical attacks. Hardening is also undertaken to guard against the

effects of electromagnetic pulse (EMP), a by-product of nuclear detonations

that can incapacitate communications and electronic components.

Hardened sites were built with great urgency beginning in the late

1950s, upon the advent of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Hard-

ened sites were also designed to protect key command and control centers.

The most common hardened sites are underground silos, covered with many

Hardened Sites

893

Swedish diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld was the secretary

general of the United Nations from 1953 to 1961 and 

died on a mission to the Congo. Hammarskjöld was later

awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. (Corel)

Hardened Sites

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feet of concrete and topped with massive steel doors. These silos contain

intercontinental nuclear-tipped missiles. Command centers for the silos are

also hardened. In case of a first strike by the adversary, the hardened missile

silos—at least in theory—would protect the site, thereby allowing the nation

under attack to launch a credible counterstrike.

Typical of hardened sites is the now-decommissioned Atlas E missile

site outside Wamego, Kansas, which was constructed in the mid-1960s and

designed to withstand a direct nuclear hit. Deep underground are 16,000

square feet housing the command center, several elevators, living quarters,

bathrooms, a kitchen, and recreational facilities. The site contained large

stores of food, water, clothing, and medical supplies so that the crew could

live underground without additional assistance for a prolonged period. The

site was also outfitted with its own electrical generation system and air purifi-

cation apparatus designed to filter out chemical and biological agents as well

as radioactive contamination.

Air bursts are ineffective against hardened sites, which may only be

attacked by ground burst nuclear weapons, usually smart bombs aimed to

strike the very door of the missile silo and then penetrate and explode. Some

hardened sites are currently so deep underground that existing weapons can-

not disturb them.

Spencer C. Tucker

See also

Air Burst; Ground Burst; Missiles, Intercontinental Ballistic

References

Aldridge, Robert C. First Strike! The Pentagon’s Strategy for Nuclear War. Boston: South

End Press, 1983.

Sagan, Scott D. Moving Targets: Nuclear Strategy and National Security. Princeton, NJ:

Princeton University Press, 1990.

United States Bureau of Naval Personnel. Principles of Nuclear Missiles and Guided

Weapons. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1972.

Officially, the “Report on the Future Tasks of the Alliance,” presented at the

14 December 1967 meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s

(NATO) North Atlantic Council and authored by Belgian Foreign Minister

Pierre Harmel. The basic premises of the report were predicated upon the

parallel policies of maintaining adequate defenses while seeking a relaxation

of tensions in East-West relations.

In the second half of the 1960s, NATO faced new and unforeseen chal-

lenges. In 1966 France withdrew from the organization’s integrated military

command. Member nations’ decreased financial resources and individual

interests had also put NATO’s internal cohesion in peril. At the same time,

894

Harmel Report

Harmel Report

(December 1967)

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