Although the Berlin Blockade was a tense time, there was much worse to come in the following years. The Cold War came to define most aspects the USA and the Soviet Union’s domestic and foreign policies, as well as international diplomacy more generally.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation)

The states of Western Europe wanted to be able to defend themselves from the Soviet Union. The USA also wanted allies against the USSR. In April 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in Brussels. Apart from the USA and Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland also signed up to the Treaty, which committed its members to defend one another in the event of being attacked, as well as the militaries of these countries jointly cooperating on a day-to-day basis with one another to help prepare them for such a scenario. A coherent bloc of countries that was clearly based on opposition to the Soviet Union had therefore developed.

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Questions

What were the similarities between NATO and the Warsaw Pact?

What were the objectives of the Truman Doctrine?

What events that took place during World War 2 laid the foundations for the Cold War?

Why did Stalin oppose the Marshall Plan?

Why did Stalin begin the Berlin blockade?

Describe the main features of the Warsaw Pact.

Was the United States’ fear of Communism the main reason for the start of the Cold War?

How did the Soviet development of the atomic bomb contribute to the Cold War?

Explain the causes of the Korean War.

What effect did the creation of NATO have on the development of the Cold War?