Sunday, February 5, 2017

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

NATO and the Warsaw Pact were collective defense treaties, both formed during the Cold War. Here's a little background on both alliances and their purposes. 

 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) or OTAN (Organisation du Traite de l'Altantique Nord) is an intergovernmental military alliance, signed on April 4, 1949. Three of its members, the US, France and UK, are the permanent members of the UN Security Council. This gives them the power to veto any decision that the UN makes. It consists of 28 members, mostly from Europe and North America. Its headquarters today are located at Haren, a municipality in Brussels, Belgium. 

 NATO was formed in defense against the Soviet Union and its allies during the Cold War.
After the World War II ended, there were still many tensions between the Soviet Union and America, as they emerged as the two "superpowers", with nuclear weapons and manpower. An alliance among the United States and Europe was necessary for Stalin's defeat in the Cold War.


The Warsaw Pact was a collective defense treaty between the Soviet Union and 7 other Soviet satellite states in Eastern and Central Europe. It was formed during the Cold War and signed into existence on May 14, 1955 at Warsaw, Poland. The treaty was based on a communist belief as the states were under the control of Stalin and had no choice but to join the alliance. 
Later in 1990, East Germany and Poland withdrew from the pact. In February 25, 1991, a meeting of the remaining 5 states at Hungary decided the end of the Pact. It was officially dissolved on July 1, 1991, and the USSR itself dissolved in December 1991. In the next 20 years, the remaining states would join NATO. 
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 7, 2017 at 5:46 PM

    Great post on the two organizations! NATO and the Warsaw pact were two very important organization during the end of WWII. Due to all the tension and unpredictably of the Soviets, talking about these organization were very important. I think you did a great job describing each organization and talking about the members as well.

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  2. AnonymousFebruary 10, 2017 at 3:53 PM

    This is a very good and informative post about something very important in international politics. What is interesting about NATO compared to the United Nations is that it seems to have tangible power in the form of an alliance, whereas the UN cannot exactly force any actions upon its countries. It is interesting that this alliance was formed so soon after World War 2 in order to combat a victorious country. What is interesting is that after 1991, when the Soviet Union disbanded Russia did work with NATO but their alliance was disbanded after the Ukraine Crisis in 1914.

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