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Events on October 8 in history

1962Oct, 8

Spiegel scandal: Der Spiegel publishes the article "Bedingt abwehrbereit" ("Conditionally prepared for defense") about a NATO manoeuvre called "Fallex 62", which uncovered the sorry state of the Bundeswehr (Germany's army) facing the perceived communist threat from the east at the time. The magazine is soon accused of treason.

The Spiegel affair of 1962 (German: Spiegel-Affäre) was a political scandal in West Germany. It stemmed from the publication of an article in Der Spiegel, West Germany's weekly political magazine, about the nation's defense forces. Several Spiegel staffers were detained on charges of treason, but were ultimately released without trial.

The scandal stemmed from a conflict between Franz Josef Strauss, federal minister of defense, and Rudolf Augstein, owner and editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel. The affair cost Strauss his office and, according to some commentators, put the postwar West German democracy to its first successful test of press freedom.

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Events on 1962

  • 5Feb

    Charles de Gaulle

    French President Charles de Gaulle calls for Algeria to be granted independence.
  • 5Aug

    Nelson Mandela

    Apartheid in South Africa: Nelson Mandela is jailed. He would not be released until 1990.
  • 15Sep

    Cuban Missile Crisis

    The Soviet ship Poltava heads toward Cuba, one of the events that sets into motion the Cuban Missile Crisis.
  • 18Sep

    Jamaica

    Burundi, Jamaica, Rwanda and Trinidad and Tobago are admitted to the United Nations.
  • 6Nov

    Apartheid

    The United Nations General Assembly passes a resolution condemning South Africa's apartheid policies and calls for all UN member states to cease military and economic relations with the nation.