NATO+vs.+Warsaw+Pact

** NATO vs. Warsaw Pact ** **The Cold war was a state of political hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union because of the United States belief in Capitalism and the Soviet Union's support of communism. The United States and the Soviet Union both took steps to combat aggression by fighting indirectly, using propaganda and creating alliances.**

__**The**__ __**North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)**__

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also know as NATO,is a diplomatic and military alliance made up of 28 countries within Europe and North America. It creates security for it's members by grouping together their military resources and sharing information. Initial talks about forming the alliance began as early as July 1948. The treaty that created NATO was ratified on July 21, 1949 and became official on August 24,1949. If any country in NATO enters a war, the other members are obligated to aid that country with military help or resources, stating in article five "armed attack against one or more of its members in Europe or North America, shall be considered an attack against them all, and consequently each of them will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area." NATO's headquarters, once located in Paris France are located in Brussels Belgium today. The Northern boundary of NATO is the North pole, it's southern boundary is the Tropic of Cancer. NATO was originally governed by the United States but is today governed by permanent representatives from each country. NATO is still in existence today, although it now includes many more countries than when it was originally created and has a different purpose than it did during the years of the Cold War. **__Countries in NATO__:**
 * Albania
 * Belgium
 * Bulgaria
 * Canada
 * Iceland
 * Italy
 * Spain
 * Croatia
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Czech Republic
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Denmark
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Estonia
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Latvia
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lithuania
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Turkey
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">France
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Germany
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Greece
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hungary
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Luxembourg
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Netherlands
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">United Kingdom
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Norway
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Poland
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Portugal
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Romania
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Czechoslovakia
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Slovenia
 * <span style="color: #020294; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">United States

The first countries to originally join NATO in 1949 were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, The United States, France, Spain, West Germany and Iceland. Greece and Turkey joined in 1952 and East Germany was admitted in 1955. Spain was added years later in 1982. After the collapse of the communist Soviet Union,satellite countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary,Poland and Albania joined NATO in 1999. Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Slovenia were the last of the members to be admitted in 2004.



<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">**__Why Was NATO Created__?** NATO was originally created to combat communism and keep Europe protected from Soviet Union aggression. The United States created NATO to keep peace in postwar Europe, not to promote war. Although NATO has succeeded in keeping peace in Eastern Europe for the past sixty years there has always been tension between the United States and other member countries. In 1966 France withdrew from NATO because of their problems with the United States, although France did eventually rejoin the alliance. After the collapse of the Soviet Union NATO has struggled to find a new purpose but has turned their attention to the fight against terrorism.

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<span style="color: #ff0015; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 200%; text-align: center;">__**The Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO)**__

<span style="color: #8a020d; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> The Warsaw Pact, also know as the Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO), was a military and diplomatic alliance that included seven Eastern European countries and the Soviet Union. These countries were the Soviet Union's satellite nations and were all communist. The treaty that created WTO was signed on May 14, 1955. The treaty included eleven articles in which the members agreed to deal with any international problems peacefully and contribute military assistance to any member country if they should enter a war. Before the treaty was signed the Soviet Union and it's satellite countries were already allies, but signing the Warsaw pact made it official and legally binding. The Countries closest to the Soviet Union (Poland, East Germany and Czechoslovakia) were referred to as the "Iron Triangle". Countries located outside of this triangle were referred to as the Southern Tier and were less at risk for aggression from West Germany or other members of NATO. During the existence of WTO member countries had little say and for the most part were completely governed by the Soviet Union.This complete control caused many conflicts between the Soviet Union and the other members of WTO. **__Countries in WTO__:**
 * Soviet Union
 * Albania
 * Bulgaria
 * Czechoslovakia
 * East Germany
 * Hungary
 * Poland
 * Romania




 * <span style="color: #ff0015; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">__Why Was the Warsaw Pact Signed__? **

<span style="color: #8a020d; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">WTO was created in reaction to the creation of NATO in order to combat United States aggression towards the Soviet Union and as an attempt to keep peace in Eastern Europe. After West Germany was admitted into NATO in 1955 the Soviet Union created their own alliance and admitted East Germany. The signing of the Warsaw Pact also gave the Soviet Union the right to enter any country belonging to WTO. Although it did not directly give the Soviet Union rule over it's satellite nations, it allowed the Soviet Union more control which helped keep those countries communist and block the spread of capitalism.



<span style="color: #8a020d; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Although the Warsaw Treaty Organization and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were originally created to combat one another, neither organization ever actually went to war with the other. All of WTO's history is marked with conflicts between the Soviet Union and it's member countries. In 1956 when Hungary withdrew from the Warsaw Pact the Soviet Union invaded. In 1961 Albania unofficially withdrew from WTO. The Soviet Union was angered by this and in response broke any relations with Albania. Albania eventually went on to join NATO. The Soviet Union began to lose support from Romania in 1963. Romania stepped away from Soviet rule and even established a partnership with West Germany. Members of WTO, led by the Soviets, also invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968 in order to stop a rebellion against Czechoslovakia. These acts of war and aggression from the Soviet Union and other allies went against the alliance's goal of handling any international disputes in a peaceful manner.

<span style="color: #8a020d; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">In 1988, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union's leader passed the Brezhnev Doctrine which allowed alliance members of WTO to decide whether to continue supporting the Soviet Union or withdraw from the pact. In 1991 Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary withdrew from the alliance. The Warsaw Pact officially dissolved July, 1, 1991, ending the Cold War. Many former alliance members and satellite nations then joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization between 1991 and 2004.

<span style="color: #9c05b1; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">__** Impact **__ <span style="color: #9c05b1; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The impact of WTO and NATO was that the establishment of the two only progressed the Cold War. When WTO and NATO were created Cold War tensions became worse, and created the possibility of a third world war. Both countries began living in constant fear, Sergei Khrushchev, the son of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, says in his personal account "The Looking Glass" that the Soviets believed the United States would declare war if the Soviet Union made "the slightest false step or showed the least weakness". He also talks about America's fear and hatred of the Soviet Union saying "For Americans, of course, the Soviet Union was the Evil Empire". The United states and the Soviet Union used propaganda to make one another seem like an "Evil empire", warning them of the possibility of nuclear war and making citizens' fears even greater.

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Brune, Lester. //Chronology of the Cold War//. New York City: Taylor & Francis Group, 2006. 109-111. Print.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Works Cited **

Hanes, Sharon M., Richard C. //Cold War Primary Sources//. Farmington Hills: The Gale Group, Inc., 2004. 184-185. Print.

Neumann, Caryn E. "NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)." //Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security//. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 312-314. //Gale World History In Context//. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.

"North Atlantic Treaty Organization." //The Cold War--1945-1991//. Gale, 1992. //Gale World History In Context//. Web. 24 Apr. 2012.

"Warsaw Pact." //Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction//. Ed. John Merriman and Jay Winter. Vol. 5. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006. 2716-2718. //Gale World History In Context//. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.

"Warsaw Pact." //International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences//. Ed. William A. Darity, Jr. 2nd ed. Vol. 9. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 34-36. //Gale World History In Context//. Web. 26 Apr. 2012.