NATO (Northern Atlantic Treaty Organization) The NATO is intergovernmental military alliance based on the Northern Atlantic Treaty

which was signed on 4th April 1949. The NATO Head Quarter are in russels! elgium " the organi#ation constitutes a system o$ collective de$ense where by its member stares agree to mutual de$ense in response to an attac% by an e&ternal party. 'or its $irst $ew years! NATO was not much mote than a political association. However! the (orean )ar galvani#ed the member states " an integrated military structure was built up under the direction o$ two *+ supreme commanders. The $irst NATO +ecretary ,eneral! -ord .smay! $amously states the organi#ation was /To %eep the 0ussian out! The American in " the ,erman down1. 2oubt over the strength o$ relationship between the 3uropean between the 3uropean states " the *+ ebbed " $lowed! along with doubts over the creditability o$ the NATO de$ense against a prospective4 +oviet invasion4doubt that led to the development o$ independent 'rench nuclear deterrent " withdrawal o$ the 'rench $rom NATO5s military structure $rom 1966. On 14April47889! membership was enlarged to 79 with the entrance o$ Albania " :roatia. +ince the 11 +eptember attac%s NATO has attempted to re$er itsel$ to new challenges " has deployed troops to A$ghanistan as well as trainers to .ra;. HISTORY OF NATO The Northern Atlantic Treaty was signed in )ashington! 2: on 844April41949 " was rati$ied by the *+ that August. The Treaty o$ russels signed on 1<4=arch41949 by elgium! the Netherlands! -u&embourg! 'rance " *( is considered the precursor to the NATO agreement. The treaty " the +oviet erlin loc%ade led to the creation o$ the )estern 3uropean *nion5s 2e$ense Organi#ation in +eptember 1949. However! participation o$ the *+ was thought necessary in order to counter the military power o$ *++0! " there$ore tal%s $or a new military alliance began almost immediately. These tal%s resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty! which was signed in )ashington! 2: on 844 April41949. .t included the $ive Treaty o$ russels states! as well as the *+! :anada! >ortugal! .taly! Norway! 2enmar%! " .celand. The >arties o$ NATO agreed that an armed attac% against one or more o$ them 3urope or North America shall be considered an attac% against them. The creation o$ NATO brought about some standardi#ation o$ allied military terminology! procedures " technology! which in many cases meant 3uropean countries adopting *+ practices. The roughly 1?88 +tandardi#ation Agreement codi$ies the standardi#ation that NATO has achieved. Aircra$t marshalling signals were standardi#ed! so that any NATO aircra$t could land at any NATO base. Cold War: The brea%out o$ (orean )ar in 19@8 was crucial $or NATO as it raised the apparent threat level greatly " $orced the alliance to develop concrete military plans. The 19@7 -isbon con$erence! see%ing to provide the $orces necessary $or NATO5s -ong4Term 2e$ense >lan! called $or an e&pansion to 96 2ivisions. Also at -isbon! the post o$ +ecretary ,eneral o$ NATO as the organi#ation5s chie$ civilian was also created " aron Hastings .smay eventually appointed to the post. -ater in +eptember 19@7! the $irst maAor NATO maritime e&ercise beganB Operation =ain brace brought together 788 ships " over @8888 personnel to practice the de$ense o$ 2enmar% " Norway. ,reece " Tur%ey Aoined the alliance the same year. =ean while this overt military preparation was going on! convert stay behind arrangements to continue resistance a$ter a success$ul +oviet

invasion! initially made by the )estern 3uropean *nion! and were being trans$erred to NATO control. .n 19@4! the +oviet *nion suggested that it should Aoin NATO to preserve peace in 3urope. The NATO countries! $earing that the +oviet *nion5s motive was to wea%en the alliance! ultimately reAected this proposal. The incorporation o$ )est ,ermany into the organi#ation on 9 =ay 19@@ was described as /a decisive turning point in the history o$ our continent1 by Halvard -ange! 'oreign =inister o$ Norway at the time. A maAor reason $or ,ermany5s entry into the alliance was that without ,erman manpower! it would have been impossible to $ield enough conventional $orces to resist a +oviet invasion. .ndeed! one o$ its immediate results was the creation o$ the )arsaw >act! signed on 14 =ay 19@@ by the +oviet *nion! Hungary! :#echoslova%ia! >oland! ulgaria! 0omania! Albania and 3ast ,ermany! as a $ormal response to this event! thereby delineating the two opposing sides o$ the :old )ar. French Withdrawal: The unity o$ NATO was breached early in its history! with a crisis occurring during :harles de ,aulle5s presidency o$ 'rance $rom 19@9 onwards. 2e ,aulle protested at the *+ strong role in the organi#ation and what he perceived as a special relationship between the *+ and *(. .n a memorandum sent to >resident 2wight and >rime =inister Harold =acmillan on 1< +eptember 19@9! he argued $or the creation o$ a tripartite directorate that would put 'rance on an e;ual $ooting with the *+ and the *(! and also $or the e&pansion o$ NATO5s coverage to include geographical area o$ interest to 'rance! most notable 'rench Algeria! where 'rance was waging a counter insurgency and sought NATO assistance. :onsidering the response given to the unsatis$actory! 2e ,aulle began to build an independent de$ense $or his country. He also wanted to give 'rance! in the event o$ an 3ast ,ermany incursion into )est ,ermany! the option o$ coming to a separate peace with the 3astern bloc instead o$ being drawn into a NATO4)arsaw >act global war. On 11 =arch 19@9! 'rance withdrew its =editerranean 'leet $rom NATO commandB three month later! a Cune 19@9! 2e ,aulle banned the stationing o$ $oreign nuclear weapons on 'rench soil. This caused the *+ to trans$er two hundred =ilitary aircra$t out o$ 'rance and return control o$ the ten maAor air $orce bases that had operated in 'rance since 19@8 to the 'rench by 196<. Though 'rance showed solidarity with the rest o$ NATO during a :uban =issile :risis in 1967! 2e ,aulle continued his pursuit o$ an independent de$ense by removing 'rance5s Atlantic and :hannel $leets $rom NATO command. .n 1966! all 'rench armed $orces were removed $rom NATO5s integrated military command! and all non 'rench NATO troops were as%ed to leave 'rance. 'rance remained the member o$ alliance and committed to the de$ense o$ 3urope $rom possible :ommunist attac% with its own $orce stationed in the 'ederal 0epublic o$ ,ermany throughout the :old )ar. !tente: 2Dtente led to many high level meetings between leaders $rom both NATO and the )arsaw >act. 2uring most o$ the :old )ar! NATO maintained a holding pattern with no actual military engagement as an organi#ation. On 81 Culy 1969! the Nuclear Non4>roli$eration Treaty opened $or signatureE NATO argued that its nuclear sharing arrangements did not breach the treaty as *+ $orces controlled the weapons until a decision was made to go to war! at which point the treaty would no longer be controlling.

On ?8 =ay 19<9! NATO countries o$$icially de$ined two complementary aims o$ the Alliance! to maintain security and pursue dDtente. This was supposed to mean matching de$enses at the level rendered necessary by the )arsaw >act5s o$$ensive capabilities without spurring a $urther arms race. On 17 2ecember 19<9! in light o$ a build4up o$ )arsaw >act nuclear capabilities in 3urope! ministers approved the deployment o$ *+. ,-:= cruise missiles and >ershing .. theatre nuclear weapons in 3urope. The new warheads were also meant to strengthen the western negotiating position regarding nuclear disarmament. This policy was called the 2ual Trac% >olicy. NATO deployed modern >ershing .. missiles tas%ed to hit military targets such as tan% $ormations in the event o$ war. This action led to peace movement protests throughout )estern 3urope. "#calation: )ith the bac%ground o$ the build4up o$ tension between the +oviet *nion and *+! NATO decided! under the impetus o$ the 0egan presidency! to deploy >ershing .. and cruise missiles in )estern 3urope! primarily )est ,ermany. These missiles were theatre nuclear weapons intended to stri%e targets on the battle$ield i$ the +oviets invaded )est ,ermany. Fet support $or the deployment was wavering and many doubted whether the push $or deployment could sustain. On 81 +eptember 199?! the +oviet *nion shot down a (orean passenger airliner when it crossed into +oviet *nion shot down a (orean passenger airliner when it crossed into +oviet airspaceGan act which 0eagan characteri#ed as a /massacre1. The barbarity o$ this act! as the *+ and indeed the world understood it! galvani#ed support $or the deploymentGwhich stood in place until the later accords between 0eagan and =i%hail ,orbachev.