countries belonging to NATO, as well as the organization itself, have quite a mixed reputation.We will understand what is represent countries belonging to NATO and the block itself, looking at the principles of its activities and the basis for unification of Western Europe and America.
Background of the Alliance
In the Soviet era, only a block associated with the bloody war crimes and the corresponding shape of his soldiers.But what it was the USSR in fact the countries belonging to NATO?Even in the final stage of World political summit of the Western Allies was talk about what their next opponent will be the Soviet state.And actually it happened.Total victory is not so much pull together as allies of yesterday still divided.When missing a single goal (the destruction of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler), East and West were rapidly turning into the most bitter rivals.Deferred to the beginning of the Second World War for the time differences between the socialist and capitalist systems once again came to the surface.Modern historians have attributed the conditional beginning of the Cold War with the famous speech by Winston Churchill in Fulton, where he stated that "Europe now has an iron curtain."Tension is also manifested in the establishment of socialist regimes in a number of central and eastern Europe (occupied by the Red Army), where the progressive regimes through the so-called "people's democracies" were brought to power the puppet government.The culmination of this period, differences came in the Berlin crisis.The threat of direct military confrontation has forced Western countries to unite in the "threat of communism".
emergence and development alliance
All this has led to the fact that in the spring of 1949 after signing an agreement on mutual assistance twelve states emerged territorial Atlantic Alliance (NATO).Later, in response to the existence of the North Atlantic military contract on the initiative of the Soviet Union it was established the Warsaw Pact (1955).The confrontation of the two blocks and has determined the history of the planet over the next four decades.How many countries are part of NATO today?Initially there were only twelve founding members: Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, Norway, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, France, the United States.The following members joined in 1950.These were Greece, Germany and Turkey.A subsequent significant expansion occurred in the nineties and two-thousand years by countries which were previously members of the Warsaw Treaty Organization (Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Poland).And some countries belonging to NATO today is a part of the Soviet Union itself (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia).To date, the structure consists of 28 member states.The political relations of modern Russia and NATO declared partnerships.
internal reaction of the Soviet state
Actually, it is not surprising that the media of the Soviet Union represented the countries of NATO, in a very sinister light.It has the appearance of the organization was of a pronounced anti-Soviet, because technically it was created as a regional bloc of states to protect Europe and America from the Soviet intervention.At the same time the leadership of the Soviet Union, which did not consider myself an aggressive side and had an excellent understanding of the perpetrators and instigators starting "cold war", of course, has apprehended the emergence of NATO as a threat to its own existence.Thus, even though the countries belonging to NATO and have cultural and economic ties and programs in its program of activities, but primarily a military unit.
Modern ideas about a block
Soviet Similar representations are present today, but in general they have softened.In the current Russian society is diverse in mood on this organization.Most often they are associated with political sympathies of citizens, their views on government policies and the desired external policy of the State.
