By analyzing public opinion polls, as well as polls of members of the "security elite" and the "general elite," this paper examines the West German perception of the Communist threat, West German attitudes toward deterrence/defense and detente, and the West German view of the Western Alliance. It reviews opinion trends in the 1970s and compares important results with opinions in principal allied countries. Among his conclusions, the author finds that the most critical development in West German opinion is an increasing belief that the Soviet Union is seeking reconciliation with the West and a decreasing belief that the United States is acting more responsibly than the Soviet Union.