Реферат: NATO Essay Research Paper The North Atlantic
Europe might look to the USSR for help, which would make life a lot tougher for
American interests. The year of 1948 was pivotal for Europe. In February, the
Communists in Prague staged a coup d?etat and the spring brought the beginning
of the Cold War. Immediately after WWII, Germany was divided in to occupation
zones by Britain, France, the US, and USSR. The capital of Germany at the time
was Berlin, which happened to fall in the Soviet zone. The governing
administration located in Berlin fell, because of the obvious reason of ?too
many cooks spoil the broth?. When this happened, the USSR demanded that Berlin
become solely part of the Soviet zone, since its status as capital was ruined.
The USSR enforced this ruling by blockading all land routes into and tried to
force the other powers out of its respective sectors of Berlin. Eventually the
Berlin Blockade was squelched by a military airlift that lasted the rest of the
year. The city still remained divided and became known as East (Soviet
controlled) and West Berlin. This transgression on the part of the USSR prompted
negotiations between Western Europe, the US and Canada that resulted in the
North Atlantic Treaty. The language of the North Atlantic Treaty originally
consisted of its preamble and fourteen articles. The preamble states that
members will promote common values and will ?unite their efforts for a
collective defense.? The key article of the North Atlantic Treaty is number
five (it?s the one that inspired my title) it reads, ?The Parties agree that
an armed attack against one or more of them?shall be considered an attack
against them all.? Another interesting article is the last one, number
fourteen, and it calls for the deposition of the official copies of the treaty
to be kept in the US Archives. The US already was establishing itself as the
dominant member of an organization that is supposed to be based on equal
responsibility. After the ratification of this treaty the structure of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) began. The highest policy-making body in
NATO is the North Atlantic Council, which met in Paris until 1967. The council
composed of permanent delegates from all members was responsible for general