Happy Birthday NATO

Sixty years ago, on April 4, 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created as a military alliance in response to the emerging Cold War threats of the Soviet Union. NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium. The organization provides a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party, presumably the Soviet Union.

For its first few years, NATO was not much more than a political association. However, the Korean War in 1953 provided the impetus for NATO members to build an expanded and integrated military structure. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, summarized the organization's goals: "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down." NATO continues today with an expanded group of countries, some of which were Iron Curtain allies of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Assign students to write a report of at least 150 words, citing at least three resources. Students reports should address the examples below of essential questions for critical thinking (you may want to add or substitute your own):

• Who were the original members of NATO and contrast that with current membership?
• What were some of the perceived and real threats that helped create NATO?
• What were some of the strategies used by NATO to ensure mutual defense?
• How did the Soviet Union respond to the creation of NATO?
• What were some of the challenges that NATO successfully responded to?
• How is the mission of NATO the same and different today than in the past?

Click Topics tab > Rise of the Cold War (c. 1950 - 1980) > Rise of the Superpowers

Use our custom ProQuest models for written and PowerPoint-style reports.