What was nato created for

The Western European countries were willing to consider a collective security solution. In response to increasing tensions and security concerns, representatives of several countries of Western Europe gathered together to create a military alliance. Their treaty provided collective defense; if any one of these nations was attacked, the others were bound to help defend it. At the same time, the Truman Administration instituted a peacetime draft, increased military spending, and called upon the historically isolationist Republican Congress to consider a military alliance with Europe.

Vandenburg proposed a resolution suggesting that the President seek a security treaty with Western Europe that would adhere to the United Nations charter but exist outside of the Security Council where the Soviet Union held veto power. In spite of general agreement on the concept behind the treaty, it took several months to work out the exact terms. The U. Congress had embraced the pursuit of the international alliance, but it remained concerned about the wording of the treaty.

The nations of Western Europe wanted assurances that the United States would intervene automatically in the event of an attack, but under the U. Constitution the power to declare war rested with Congress. Negotiations worked toward finding language that would reassure the European states but not obligate the United States to act in a way that violated its own laws.

The resulting sense of shared security among members contributes to stability in the Euro-Atlantic area. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of non-state actors affecting international security, many new security threats emerged.

NATO is countering these threats by utilising collective defence, managing crisis situations and encouraging cooperative security, as outlined in the Strategic Concept. On April 4, , at a time when most Americans used typewriters, childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft, a company that makes computer software.

In , Ebert started co-hosting a movie review program on TV On March 21, , a major offensive against Allied positions in the Somme River region of France began with five hours of bombardment from more Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. Just after 6 p. On this day in , German forces in the throes of a major spring offensive on the Western Front launch a renewed attack on Allied positions between the Somme and Avre Rivers.

In it, he says that there is a common link forming between the civil rights and In the dream, Lincoln asked a soldier standing guard President William Henry Harrison dies after serving only 32 days in office on this day in Harrison holds the unfortunate presidential record of shortest term in office.

Ironically, the man with the shortest White House tenure delivered the longest inaugural address in In the mids, however, the U. The Soviets warned that such a provocative action would force them to make new security arrangements in their own sphere of influence, and they were true to their word.

This lineup remained constant until the Cold War ended with the dismantling of all the Communist governments in Eastern Europe in and Like NATO, the Warsaw Pact focused on the objective of creating a coordinated defense among its member nations in order to deter an enemy attack. There was also an internal security component to the agreement that proved useful to the USSR. The alliance provided a mechanism for the Soviets to exercise even tighter control over the other Communist states in Eastern Europe and deter pact members from seeking greater autonomy.

When Soviet leaders found it necessary to use military force to put down revolts in Hungary in and in Czechoslovakia in , for example, they presented the action as being carried out by the Warsaw Pact rather than by the USSR alone.

But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. However, the relationship between the two nations was a tense one.