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Book No. – 9 (History – World History)
Book Name – A History of Modern World (Jain & Mathur)
What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)
1. Post War Foundations: NATO & European Community
1.1. NATO-North Atlantic Treaty Organization
2. Objectives
2.1. European Community
3. Consolidation and Expansion of European Community as European Union
3.1. Organs of the Union
3.2. The European Union and India
3.3. Possible Expansion of the European Union
3.4. Actualisation of Possible Expansion (2004)
3.5. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) (April 4, 1949)
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Unification of Europe
Chapter – 11
Post War Foundations : NATO & European Community
NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Background
After World War II, rivalry between the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. surfaced, marking the beginning of the Cold War, acknowledged by Churchill.
The Soviet Union developed atomic, hydrogen, and neutron bombs and tested various missiles, raising fears of World War III.
In August 1947, nineteen countries of the All American Union signed a mutual defence treaty, praised by President Truman as an example of good neighbourly relations.
Also in August 1947, Britain and France signed a fifty-year treaty to assist each other if Germany attacked, excluding the U.S.S.R.
On March 17, 1948, Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg signed a treaty for military assistance and socio-economic cooperation.
Due to the siege of Berlin and growing Soviet influence, the U.S.A. took a bold decision to form a regional defence organization, supported by Article 51 of the U.N.O. allowing mutual defence organizations.
The treaty was signed by the U.S.A., Canada, and 10 European states initially.
Later additions included Greece and Turkey in 1951, West Germany in 1955, Spain in 1982, and eventually Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, raising membership to 19.
Originally meant to last 20 years, the treaty was extended another 20 years in 1969 and is now reviewed every 10 years.
European NATO members differ in territory, population, resources, industrial development, historical experiences, and political traditions.
Despite differences, they united under U.S.A. leadership to confront the Soviet bloc challenge.
Major causes for NATO formation:
European states suffered physically, economically, politically, and emotionally during WWII and feared Soviet domination; they saw the U.S.A. as their hope for economic reconstruction.
The U.S.S.R. refused to withdraw forces from Eastern Europe and installed communist governments, prompting anti-communism concerns.
Western states doubted the U.N.O.’s ability to protect them from foreign aggression, leading them to join NATO for security.