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NATO

In June 1999, after weeks of intensive air attack, troops of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) moved into Kosovo to ‘liberate’ the Kosovan Albanian population from occupation by the Serbian Army. This was the first time since its formation 50 years earlier that NATO had deployed troops on a real combat mission as opposed to an exercise. They were deployed in very different circumstances and in a region far removed from what was originally expected in 1949.

What is NATO and why was it formed? Has it been a success or a failure? What are its strengths and weaknesses?

Cold War Rivalry

NATO was very much the product of the Cold War. It grew out of the rapidly developing fears and suspicions between the USSR and the Western powers at the end of the Second World War. It was an attempt to join the impoverished and war-weary western European states together with the USA to try to ensure that Soviet expansion in Europe went no further.

The motives of President Harry Truman and his allies (including Britain’s Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin) varied, as each had to consider the interests of his own country, but were similar in that they were all responding to the same perceived threat.

• Russia had not demobilised its vast wartime army and still maintained 250 divisions in eastern Europe, compared to fewer than 12 that the Western nations could put into the field. By 1949 Russia appeared to be aggressive and expansionist because of its imposition of control over states such as Poland, East Germany, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

• The USA did not want communism to spread further and wanted to encourage the western European states to do more to contribute to their own defence. The Marshall Plan of 1947 was helping to rebuild shattered economies, but more than economic aid was needed.

• Britain saw a strong need to unite western European countries for mutual defence. In 1947 Britain and France signed an alliance (the Treaty of Dunkirk) and in March 1948 those two states joined with Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (Benelux) in the Brussels Defence Treaty, which provided for military cooperation in the event of war. It set up a command HQ near Paris and appointed Britain’s Field Marshal Montgomery (‘Monty’ of Second World War fame) as the head of military planning. NATO was the next logical step, linking these countries with the USA and Canada.

• In June 1948 the Soviet blockade of Berlin began. This threat to the West’s hold on Germany’s capital proved a catalyst in binding together the capitalist powers. Western cooperation in mounting the airlift to supply Berlin provided the right atmosphere for the development of NATO. It highlighted the threat posed by Russia and showed the benefits of joint action.

• In January 1949 Russia formed Comecon, its own economic organisation to rival Marshall Aid. This also helped to emphasise the divide between communism and capitalism, showing the advantages of joining NATO.

• Later in 1949 the world appeared an even more dangerous place, in need of NATO, when the USSR tested its first atomic bomb in September.

• In October 1949 China finally became fully communist, another apparent threat to the West.

NATO Established and Developed

Twelve countries joined NATO at the start. The key elements of the treaty were that:

• any attack on any one member country was to be regarded as an attack on all members;

• the defence forces of each country were to be put under the NATO joint command.

These points were meant to deter any attack and to ensure efficient military co-operation.

The addition of Italy meant that NATO was more than just an agreement between the Atlantic powers; Italy was seen as important in stopping the spread of communism southwards.

NATO was strengthened by firmer agreements between the USA and each member in 1950, by the addition of Greece and Turkey in 1952 and by West Germany’s membership in 1955.

Between 1950 and 1953 the Korean War showed the importance of efficient organisation for multinational forces; therefore SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) was set up near Paris. At this difficult point of the Cold War it was recognised that the forces aiming to defend western Europe needed to increase fourfold to provide security against a Russian attack; and five divisions of the US Army were to be stationed permanently in Germany as a sign of America’s commitment to Europe’s defence.

NATO appeared to be strengthened by the creation of parallel organisations in other regions. SESATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation, 1954) and CENTO (Central Treaty Organisation, 1959 – replacing the Baghdad Pact of 1955) were both similarly directed against the communist states and aimed to unite weaker capitalist countries under US protection. They were never as cohesive or convincing as NATO, however, and no longer have any effective role to play.

Later developments have included the need to cope with France’s temporary withdrawal from NATO in 1966, when President de Gaulle objected to placing French troops and nuclear weapons under foreign control. In 1979 NATO decided that by 1983 it would site over 500 Pershing and cruise missiles in Europe, as a response to the growth in numbers of Soviet nuclear weapons. This marked an escalation in a highly expensive arms race, which increasingly crippled the Soviet economy and arguably led to the collapse of communism in the USSR and Europe in the late 1980s. (GCSE Modern History Review Hindsight, Volume 11, Number 2, January 2001)

5. Определите, являются ли следующие утверждения истинными или ложными:

1. NATO deployed troops on a real combat mission in 1999. 2. NATO was an attempt to join western European states together with the USSR. 3. Comecon was formed by Russia to rival the Brussels Defence Treaty. 4. There were 12 countries who joined NATO at the start. 5. Greece and Italy became NATO members in 1952. 6. In 1960 France withdrew from NATO permanently.

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7. Ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1. Why was NATO created? 2. What was the essence of the Marshall Plan? 3. Why did the world appear a dangerous place in 1949? 4. How did NATO develop? 5. What marked an escalation in the arms race?

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SECTION II