Immediately after the end of World War II, Europe was divided into a Western Bloc (Britain, France, US and other European countries) and an Eastern Bloc (USSR and the European countries under the USSR’s control). This was because of the differences in political ideologies. The Soviet Union firmly supported communism and the US strongly supported democracy.
Because most of Europe was left in ruins after the war, the US, who had followed an isolation policy but broken that at the end of World War 2, decided to create the Marshall Plan. The purpose of the Marshall Plan was for the US to provide financial aid to help reshape Europe and in this way, the Marshall Plan gave the US an opportunity to build strong alliances with the countries in Europe.
By 1948, Western Allies were concerned about the USSR’s attempts to spread communism throughout Europe. By that time, the USSR had forced Czechoslovakia to their communist camp. The Western Allies developed deep concern because the USSR was also encouraging communists in Greece to spread that political ideology.
Their concern grew even more when the USSR made a blockade to stop the Western Allies (Britain, France and the US) from getting resources to Berlin and denied them any access. As a result, the Western Allies believed that if the USSR continued on in that way, they would use that power to influence and control many other nations. In 1948, Britain, France as well as, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands signed the Brussels Treaty to create an alliance to ensure a good defense system.
The Formation Of NATO
On the 4th of April in 1949, after the Soviet Blockade in Western Berlin, 12 nations including: the UK, US and France, formed NATO. NATO stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Signing this treaty meant that an attack on any of the 12 nations would be considered an attack on all other nations. In this way, if one country gets attacked, the other countries will be militarily ready. Over the next years, more countries such as Turkey and Greece decided to join NATO. Western Germany was also accepted and joined NATO in 1955. In response, the Soviet Union and its allies created the Warsaw Pact.
Political, Economic and Militaristic Interests Of The US
By being part of NATO, the US established stability through this alliance. There were many benefits and advantages. The formation of NATO gave the US an opportunity to join forces with other countries in order to promote democracy. In this way, the US were working towards preventing the spread of communism. Also, although the US is required to use their army for providing defense and security for other members of NATO, the US gets the same level of protection and support that they give the other states. This alliance was also a source of link between North America and Europe, allowing the US to benefit from things such as trade, defense and security. In the current time, NATO countries contribute to the US foreign policy and therefore, have a direct political impact on the US. When NATO was first formed, the US gave a lot of money to help rebuild Europe. The US also had joint economic interests with European countries. The formation of NATO also made the US economically prosperous and this ensured a sustainable future.
Political, Economic and Militaristic Interests Of The USSR
When NATO was first formed, the USSR believed that it was threatening the spread of communism, therefore, the USSR joined with other communist states and formed the Warsaw Pact. This called for the expansion of the Soviet army, especially since more countries were part of NATO than the Warsaw Pact. If any attack by a Warsaw Pact country on a NATO nation was to happen, then the USSR should be ready to defend themselves because attacking one member of NATO was taken as an offense against all NATO members.
When the Soviets expanded their army and spent a lot of money to try and strengthen it, the other countries felt threatened by such a massive and strong military. In this way, the USSR had enough power to influence and/or force a country to be on their side. In addition, the USSR was not allowing the Soviet controlled area of Germany trade with other countries. Stalin was taking the resources such as infrastructural materials that were produced in Germany and using this to his advantage. After Stalin found out that the Western Allies had created their own currency and their economy was boosted, he decided that he should do the same and develop a currency for West Germany.
Impact Of NATO On Nations Involved
Cyprus Civil War -One example of the significant impact that NATO had on other nations is the Cyprus Civil War (also known as the Cyprus Crisis). In 1964, Greek leaders who lived in Cyprus wanted to unite Cyprus and Greece to form one big nation. However, there was a lot of disagreements and dispute with the Turkish leaders in Cyprus and this lead to a civil war. At that time, there was a large population of Turkish people in Cyprus, therefore, Turkey decided to send their military to intervene. Because of Turkey’s alliance with NATO and its members, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus was cancelled. 10 years later, Greece wanted to unite with Cyprus once again, however, Turkey did intervene this time. However, this time, Turkey’s occupation of the northern third of Cyprus did not cause conflict and this demonstrates the impact of NATO.
Romania And Ukraine Treaty - As a result of NATO’s influential power, Romania and Ukraine had signed a treaty in 1997 which had similar concepts to the ones that NATO was promoting and trying to achieve. Northern Bukovina (half is in Romania and the other half is in Ukraine) had caused major dispute between Romania and Ukraine for many years. However, after this treaty was signed, they both began working towards creating stability in their district. This then lead to Romania joining NATO, 7 years later, in 2004.
Why The Location Was Strategic
Because the USSR was rising in power, the US decided to join countries in Western Europe and formed NATO. As a result, the Soviet Union and countries in Eastern Europe decided to form the Warsaw Pact less than two weeks later.
Berlin wasn’t a very significant place. It had no rare resources and was a landlocked country. There weren’t many advantages of having control over it either. However, the US used Berlin as a way to prevent the Soviets from expanding their empire and spreading their political ideologies. If the US didn’t control West Germany, the USSR would’ve gained control of it, allowed the expansion of the strong German military and used that to their advantage. The USSR would’ve been in control of the German military and therefore use that power to invade countries in the Western Bloc. In this way, it was strategic for the US to have control over West Germany in order to prevent future invasions and attacks. As for the USSR, the closeness of NATO countries and the Warsaw Pact countries meant easier access to those countries in order to get resources and invade.
An Example Of The Impact NATO Had On Foreign Relations Amongst European Countries
When NATO was formed, the Warsaw Pact was also formed shortly afterwards. These two agreements divided Europe into an Eastern Bloc and a Western Bloc. Because of the division of Europe, Germany was divided into East Germany and West Germany. The Eastern area was controlled by the USSR, while the western area was controlled by the US, Britain and France. In this way, it was as if East Germany and West Germany were two completely different countries. In this situation, it had strengthened the relationship between Britain and France. There had to be communication and trust between the two nations as they both were controlling a part of West Germany and an area of Berlin.
Throughout history, Britain and France have been both allies and enemies at some point. Their relationship pivoted frequently between the two. However, the formation of NATO had helped establish mutual trust and strengthened their alliance, especially since both nations were promoting the same ideologies.
References
"Formation of NATO and Warsaw Pact." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 25 Oct. 2016. <http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/formation-of-nato-and-warsaw-pact>. "The Formation of NATO." The Formation of NATO. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016. <http://www.gcsehistory.org.uk/modernworld/coldwar/nato.htm>. "History." NATO. NATO, n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2016. <http://www.nato.int/history/nato-history.html>. Housden, Tom. "Cyprus: How the Crisis Unfolded." BBC News. BBC, 01 Apr. 2004. Web. 25 Oct. 2016. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1760565.stm>. "Milestones: 1937–1945 - Office of the Historian." U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2016. <https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/yalta-conf>. "Milestones: 1945–1952 - Office of the Historian." U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016. <https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/nato>. "Reasons for the Cold War." BBC. BBC, n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2016. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/z8qnsbk/revision/4>. "Yalta Conference." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 30 Oct. 2016. <http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/yalta-conference>.