Memories of the Nazi occupation were still strong, and the rearmament of Germany was feared by France too.[26] On 30 August 1954 French Parliament rejected the EDC, thus ensuring its failure[27] and blocking a major objective of US policy towards Europe: to associate Germany militarily with the West.[28] The US Department of State started to elaborate alternatives: Germany would be invited to join NATO or, in the case of French obstructionism, strategies to circumvent a French veto would be implemented in order to obtain a German rearmament outside NATO.