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http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nato-pact-signed?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2016-0 [login to see] 6&om_rid=9754f68e782e800e414bdd9d8de07d822418f1b24b8c839f0c0af3b24529c73a&om_mid=35207364&kx_EmailCampaignID=3809&kx_EmailCampaignName=email-hist-tdih-2016-0 [login to see] 6&kx_EmailRecipientID=9754f68e782e800e414bdd9d8de07d822418f1b24b8c839f0c0af3b24529c73a
The United States and 11 other nations establish the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a mutual defense pact aimed at containing possible Soviet aggression against Western Europe. NATO stood as the main U.S.-led military alliance against the Soviet Union throughout the duration of the Cold War.
Relations between the United States and the Soviet Union began to deteriorate rapidly in 1948. There were heated disagreements over the postwar status of Germany, with the Americans insisting on German recovery and eventual rearmament and the Soviets steadfastly opposing such actions. In June 1948, the Soviets blocked all ground travel to the American occupation zone in West Berlin, and only a massive U.S. airlift of food and other necessities sustained the population of the zone until the Soviets relented and lifted the blockade in May 1949. In January 1949, President Harry S. Truman warned in his State of the Union Address that the forces of democracy and communism were locked in a dangerous struggle, and he called for a defensive alliance of nations in the North Atlantic—U.S military in Korea.NATO was the result. In April 1949, representatives from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal joined the United States in signing the NATO agreement. The signatories agreed, “An armed attack against one or more of them… shall be considered an attack against them all.” President Truman welcomed the organization as “a shield against aggression.”
Not all Americans embraced NATO. Isolationists such as Senator Robert A. Taft declared that NATO was “not a peace program; it is a war program.” Most, however, saw the organization as a necessary response to the communist threat. The U. S. Senate ratified the treaty by a wide margin in June 1949. During the next few years, Greece, Turkey, and West Germany also joined. The Soviet Union condemned NATO as a warmongering alliance and responded by setting up the Warsaw Pact (a military alliance between the Soviet Union and its Eastern Europe satellites) in 1955.
NATO lasted throughout the course of the Cold War, and continues to play an important role in post-Cold War Europe. In recent years, for example, NATO forces were active in trying to bring an end to the civil war in Bosnia
The United States and 11 other nations establish the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a mutual defense pact aimed at containing possible Soviet aggression against Western Europe. NATO stood as the main U.S.-led military alliance against the Soviet Union throughout the duration of the Cold War.
Relations between the United States and the Soviet Union began to deteriorate rapidly in 1948. There were heated disagreements over the postwar status of Germany, with the Americans insisting on German recovery and eventual rearmament and the Soviets steadfastly opposing such actions. In June 1948, the Soviets blocked all ground travel to the American occupation zone in West Berlin, and only a massive U.S. airlift of food and other necessities sustained the population of the zone until the Soviets relented and lifted the blockade in May 1949. In January 1949, President Harry S. Truman warned in his State of the Union Address that the forces of democracy and communism were locked in a dangerous struggle, and he called for a defensive alliance of nations in the North Atlantic—U.S military in Korea.NATO was the result. In April 1949, representatives from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal joined the United States in signing the NATO agreement. The signatories agreed, “An armed attack against one or more of them… shall be considered an attack against them all.” President Truman welcomed the organization as “a shield against aggression.”
Not all Americans embraced NATO. Isolationists such as Senator Robert A. Taft declared that NATO was “not a peace program; it is a war program.” Most, however, saw the organization as a necessary response to the communist threat. The U. S. Senate ratified the treaty by a wide margin in June 1949. During the next few years, Greece, Turkey, and West Germany also joined. The Soviet Union condemned NATO as a warmongering alliance and responded by setting up the Warsaw Pact (a military alliance between the Soviet Union and its Eastern Europe satellites) in 1955.
NATO lasted throughout the course of the Cold War, and continues to play an important role in post-Cold War Europe. In recent years, for example, NATO forces were active in trying to bring an end to the civil war in Bosnia
NATO pact signed - Apr 04, 1949 - HISTORY.com
Posted from history.com
American History
Warfare
Cold War
Posted >1 y ago
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NATO, a sensible response to an aggressive Soviet Union. Too bad it no longer has any teeth.
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MCPO Roger Collins
Other than Bosnia, when have they accomplished much? When they did we were the primary force acting on the NATO treaty.
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SFC Wade W.
MCPO Roger Collins - NATO, just like the nuclear deterrent, was about a show of force. Our exercises, the show of solidarity, the placement of NATO affiliated bases. These were all about showing Russia a unified force that would respond if threatened. It was NATO, not just the United States, that created the environment that brought down the wall between the Germanys.
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MCPO Roger Collins
SFC Wade W. - Ask Ukraine how that worked out. Also, Without more digging, as I recall, our strategies under President Reagan had for more impact on the destruction of the Berlin Wall. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! Where were the leaders of NATO?
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SFC Wade W.
MCPO Roger Collins - Many of us are very disappointed in our current President for the non-response to the matter in Ukraine. As for the President Reagan matter, yes, he had a large part in the wall coming down. And the NATO leaders were right there with him. But 40 yrs of NATO made that demand that much stronger. No one can deny that. NATO is not what it used to be as I said in my original comment.
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MCPO Roger Collins
"We defend all these countries, we're not properly reimbursed for the kind of money that we're spending," he said.
"We cannot spend billions and billions and billions of dollars on defending all of these countries," he added.
"We cannot spend billions and billions and billions of dollars on defending all of these countries," he added.
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