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.