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which was signed on 4th April 1949. The NATO Head Quarter are in russels! elgium " the organi#ation constitutes a system o$ collective de$ense where by its member stares agree to mutual de$ense in response to an attac% by an e&ternal party. 'or its $irst $ew years! NATO was not much mote than a political association. However! the (orean )ar galvani#ed the member states " an integrated military structure was built up under the direction o$ two *+ supreme commanders. The $irst NATO +ecretary ,eneral! -ord .smay! $amously states the organi#ation was /To %eep the 0ussian out! The American in " the ,erman down1. 2oubt over the strength o$ relationship between the 3uropean between the 3uropean states " the *+ ebbed " $lowed! along with doubts over the creditability o$ the NATO de$ense against a prospective4 +oviet invasion4doubt that led to the development o$ independent 'rench nuclear deterrent " withdrawal o$ the 'rench $rom NATO5s military structure $rom 1966. On 14April47889! membership was enlarged to 79 with the entrance o$ Albania " :roatia. +ince the 11 +eptember attac%s NATO has attempted to re$er itsel$ to new challenges " has deployed troops to A$ghanistan as well as trainers to .ra;. HISTORY OF NATO The Northern Atlantic Treaty was signed in )ashington! 2: on 844April41949 " was rati$ied by the *+ that August. The Treaty o$ russels signed on 1<4=arch41949 by elgium! the Netherlands! -u&embourg! 'rance " *( is considered the precursor to the NATO agreement. The treaty " the +oviet erlin loc%ade led to the creation o$ the )estern 3uropean *nion5s 2e$ense Organi#ation in +eptember 1949. However! participation o$ the *+ was thought necessary in order to counter the military power o$ *++0! " there$ore tal%s $or a new military alliance began almost immediately. These tal%s resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty! which was signed in )ashington! 2: on 844 April41949. .t included the $ive Treaty o$ russels states! as well as the *+! :anada! >ortugal! .taly! Norway! 2enmar%! " .celand. The >arties o$ NATO agreed that an armed attac% against one or more o$ them 3urope or North America shall be considered an attac% against them. The creation o$ NATO brought about some standardi#ation o$ allied military terminology! procedures " technology! which in many cases meant 3uropean countries adopting *+ practices. The roughly 1?88 +tandardi#ation Agreement codi$ies the standardi#ation that NATO has achieved. Aircra$t marshalling signals were standardi#ed! so that any NATO aircra$t could land at any NATO base. Cold War: The brea%out o$ (orean )ar in 19@8 was crucial $or NATO as it raised the apparent threat level greatly " $orced the alliance to develop concrete military plans. The 19@7 -isbon con$erence! see%ing to provide the $orces necessary $or NATO5s -ong4Term 2e$ense >lan! called $or an e&pansion to 96 2ivisions. Also at -isbon! the post o$ +ecretary ,eneral o$ NATO as the organi#ation5s chie$ civilian was also created " aron Hastings .smay eventually appointed to the post. -ater in +eptember 19@7! the $irst maAor NATO maritime e&ercise beganB Operation =ain brace brought together 788 ships " over @8888 personnel to practice the de$ense o$ 2enmar% " Norway. ,reece " Tur%ey Aoined the alliance the same year. =ean while this overt military preparation was going on! convert stay behind arrangements to continue resistance a$ter a success$ul +oviet
invasion! initially made by the )estern 3uropean *nion! and were being trans$erred to NATO control. .n 19@4! the +oviet *nion suggested that it should Aoin NATO to preserve peace in 3urope. The NATO countries! $earing that the +oviet *nion5s motive was to wea%en the alliance! ultimately reAected this proposal. The incorporation o$ )est ,ermany into the organi#ation on 9 =ay 19@@ was described as /a decisive turning point in the history o$ our continent1 by Halvard -ange! 'oreign =inister o$ Norway at the time. A maAor reason $or ,ermany5s entry into the alliance was that without ,erman manpower! it would have been impossible to $ield enough conventional $orces to resist a +oviet invasion. .ndeed! one o$ its immediate results was the creation o$ the )arsaw >act! signed on 14 =ay 19@@ by the +oviet *nion! Hungary! :#echoslova%ia! >oland! ulgaria! 0omania! Albania and 3ast ,ermany! as a $ormal response to this event! thereby delineating the two opposing sides o$ the :old )ar. French Withdrawal: The unity o$ NATO was breached early in its history! with a crisis occurring during :harles de ,aulle5s presidency o$ 'rance $rom 19@9 onwards. 2e ,aulle protested at the *+ strong role in the organi#ation and what he perceived as a special relationship between the *+ and *(. .n a memorandum sent to >resident 2wight and >rime =inister Harold =acmillan on 1< +eptember 19@9! he argued $or the creation o$ a tripartite directorate that would put 'rance on an e;ual $ooting with the *+ and the *(! and also $or the e&pansion o$ NATO5s coverage to include geographical area o$ interest to 'rance! most notable 'rench Algeria! where 'rance was waging a counter insurgency and sought NATO assistance. :onsidering the response given to the unsatis$actory! 2e ,aulle began to build an independent de$ense $or his country. He also wanted to give 'rance! in the event o$ an 3ast ,ermany incursion into )est ,ermany! the option o$ coming to a separate peace with the 3astern bloc instead o$ being drawn into a NATO4)arsaw >act global war. On 11 =arch 19@9! 'rance withdrew its =editerranean 'leet $rom NATO commandB three month later! a Cune 19@9! 2e ,aulle banned the stationing o$ $oreign nuclear weapons on 'rench soil. This caused the *+ to trans$er two hundred =ilitary aircra$t out o$ 'rance and return control o$ the ten maAor air $orce bases that had operated in 'rance since 19@8 to the 'rench by 196<. Though 'rance showed solidarity with the rest o$ NATO during a :uban =issile :risis in 1967! 2e ,aulle continued his pursuit o$ an independent de$ense by removing 'rance5s Atlantic and :hannel $leets $rom NATO command. .n 1966! all 'rench armed $orces were removed $rom NATO5s integrated military command! and all non 'rench NATO troops were as%ed to leave 'rance. 'rance remained the member o$ alliance and committed to the de$ense o$ 3urope $rom possible :ommunist attac% with its own $orce stationed in the 'ederal 0epublic o$ ,ermany throughout the :old )ar. !tente: 2Dtente led to many high level meetings between leaders $rom both NATO and the )arsaw >act. 2uring most o$ the :old )ar! NATO maintained a holding pattern with no actual military engagement as an organi#ation. On 81 Culy 1969! the Nuclear Non4>roli$eration Treaty opened $or signatureE NATO argued that its nuclear sharing arrangements did not breach the treaty as *+ $orces controlled the weapons until a decision was made to go to war! at which point the treaty would no longer be controlling.
On ?8 =ay 19<9! NATO countries o$$icially de$ined two complementary aims o$ the Alliance! to maintain security and pursue dDtente. This was supposed to mean matching de$enses at the level rendered necessary by the )arsaw >act5s o$$ensive capabilities without spurring a $urther arms race. On 17 2ecember 19<9! in light o$ a build4up o$ )arsaw >act nuclear capabilities in 3urope! ministers approved the deployment o$ *+. ,-:= cruise missiles and >ershing .. theatre nuclear weapons in 3urope. The new warheads were also meant to strengthen the western negotiating position regarding nuclear disarmament. This policy was called the 2ual Trac% >olicy. NATO deployed modern >ershing .. missiles tas%ed to hit military targets such as tan% $ormations in the event o$ war. This action led to peace movement protests throughout )estern 3urope. "#calation: )ith the bac%ground o$ the build4up o$ tension between the +oviet *nion and *+! NATO decided! under the impetus o$ the 0egan presidency! to deploy >ershing .. and cruise missiles in )estern 3urope! primarily )est ,ermany. These missiles were theatre nuclear weapons intended to stri%e targets on the battle$ield i$ the +oviets invaded )est ,ermany. Fet support $or the deployment was wavering and many doubted whether the push $or deployment could sustain. On 81 +eptember 199?! the +oviet *nion shot down a (orean passenger airliner when it crossed into +oviet *nion shot down a (orean passenger airliner when it crossed into +oviet airspaceGan act which 0eagan characteri#ed as a /massacre1. The barbarity o$ this act! as the *+ and indeed the world understood it! galvani#ed support $or the deploymentGwhich stood in place until the later accords between 0eagan and =i%hail ,orbachev.