![]() Under Article 5 of the treaty, an armed attack from outside the alliance on any one NATO state would be considered as an attack against all NATO allies. In the next 20 years, several Warsaw Pact countries that were outside the Soviet Union, including East Germany, each became part of NATO. The rearming of West Germany within NATO brought about the formation of the Warsaw Pact between Russia and its East European satellites.Īn Iron Curtain descended in Europe until the pact unraveled with the fall of the Berlin Wall. That was rejected by the Western allies and West Germany joined NATO in 1955. Read more: NATO to beef up in face of 'assertive' Russia Russia even proposed joining NATO itself, thinking that would provide an insurance against any resurgent German military threat. This is what happened with allied-occupied Austria – spilt in a similar way to Germany but where all four zones combined in 1955 to form a neutral state. Russia proposed the withdrawal of all militaries from Germany, and its reunification as a neutral state. ![]() The British, French and US occupied zones of Germany became the state of West Germany in 1949. The effective aim of NATO is to keep its members safe by deterring attack, and to bind the US to this collective defense. As well as the US and the original 5 members, the resulting North Atlantic Treaty Organization included Canada, Portugal, Italy, Denmark and Iceland. Talks on an alliance that spanned the Atlantic began in 1948 and the North Atlantic Treaty was was signed by US President Harry S. The Korean War also stoked fears that the Russians might push through Europe to the Atlantic Coast. Read more: Things to know about international military exercises It was mainly intended to counter the perceived threat posed by the Soviet Union –there were jitters after Czechoslovak coup in which the Communists overthrew a democratically elected government. The Treaty of Brussels on mutual defense was signed on March 17, 1948, between Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France and the United Kingdom. ![]() The precursor to NATO was a purely European affair.
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