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