1 janv. 1949 - NATO

Description:

|1949|

The Berlin Airlift convinced the west how far the USSR was prepared to go in order to spread communism. As a response, the US set up the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. It was defence alliance of 12 countries that all agreed to go to war if one of them was attacked and also allowed the US to set up airbases in NATO countries. This meant that US bombers and missiles could be stationed on the boarders of the USSR. The aim of the alliance was to stop the soviet expansion.

In many ways this is in response to Cominform. The Berlin Blockade was just the evidence that convinced the west that a response was needed. There is now a 'team communism' in the form of Cominform. And a 'team Capitalism' in the form of NATO.

This was significant because it showed that the west weren't prepared to accept future soviet aggression. In turn, the soviets foucused on strengthening the bloc rather than expanding.