Establishment of NATO - April 4, 1949

The North Atlantic Treaty was signed on April 4, 1949 and established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO is a military alliance; all states that join agree to support the other states in the case of an attack by an external party. NATO is an alliance between 26 countries from across North American and Europe. Its main goal is to maintain peace and protect the organization’s member countries. Additional countries are eligible to apply for inclusion in NATO. On April 4, 1949 the original twelve countries signed the treaty, the other fourteen countries joined after its formation.

Before the establishment of NATO five European countries – United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg – signed the Treaty of Brussels on March 17, 1948. This treaty is thought to have initiated the beginning of NATO since the participating countries believed that American military power was necessary for the military alliance to be strategically viable against the Soviet Union’s military force. A few short years after this, in 1954, the Soviet Union made hints that it would like to become a part of NATO to preserve Europe’s peace. The NATO member countries were against this because they thought that the Soviet Union was trying to weaken the unity of the alliance.