H ISTORY
WHAT IS NATO?
Why the North Atlantic Treaty Organization formed and what it’s done since its conception in 1949 to the crisis in Ukraine
WORDS JOANNA ELPHICK
DID YOU KNOW? Despite the fact there are currently 30 different NATO member states, there are two official languages: French and English
At the close of World War II, the economic position of Western Europe was fragile and its military sorely depleted. Meanwhile, the communist Soviet Union had grown in size and strength, seizing political control over the states of Central and Eastern Europe and dividing the continent in two. All wartime cooperation ceased, leaving the communists pushing against the West from behind the Iron Curtain. The US was particularly concerned with communist activity, and realising that it would take a group effort to uphold democratic principles initiated a series of covert discussions with its Eastern European allies. It was during this political unrest that NATO was born. Its mission: to ensure peace and security on the international stage.