NATO was created in response to Russian actions
Sorry to break the harsh news to you trollskys, but let's set the record straight with regard to your Kremlin inspired propaganda. FYI, as a reminder … Propagandists lie using facts and cherry-picking times and places.
This is the case with NATO and Warsaw Pact.
True, NATO came first, enacted Apr 4, 1949. By cherry-picking that date, it makes NATO appear as the Aggressors. A lot happened to make NATO come into existence, and those lots of things were the Acts of the USSR under Stalin after the end of WWII. These many acts were contrary to the agreements made between the Allies with regards to Post War Europe.
Bad as Stalin was, he was a clever leader whom knew how to wield power. Backed by the military power of the USSR, he was able to extract sufficiently vague language in those agreements which enabled him to flaunt them without breaking the letter, just the spirit. For example, Post War Eastern Europe was supposed to have free elections to decide their governments. Having occupied Eastern Europe, Stalin arranged that these ‘free elections’ would elect communist leadership.
This was especially egregious for Poland whom had a large army fighting on the side of the Allies. Those soldiers wanted to go home and rebuild their country under a government of their choosing. The government was that of Stalin’s choosing. This left a lot of hard feeling all around on the Western European side. Throw in the Coup of Czechoslovakia in Feb 1949 by the Communist Party with Stalin’s backing.
Then came the Berlin Blockade.
Douglas C-54 Skymaster arriving in Berlin.
Berlin was partitioned by the four major powers in Europe, the US, France, England and USSR. Each had their own area of control. Stalin decided to get complete control of Germany, starting with Berlin. June 24, 1948, the USSR implemented the blockade of all land access to the capital. The US responded with the famous Berlin Airlift. Stalin miscalculated that such a airlift would fail, apparently forgetting the US Lend Lease Program which armed the world including Russia during the war. After a year of US Industrial Flexing, Stalin lifted the blockade as a bad idea May12, 1949. Apparently, with the failure of the Stalingrad Airlift by the Germans, he thought there was no way the US would be able to supply Berlin. The airlift managed to double the delivery of supplies over the tonnage required to sustain the city. The US was daring the USSR to shoot down the airlift. I don’t mean to belittle the effort of France and the UK and other Western European Nations, they did their part. Collectively, the airlift continued well past the lifting of blockade, Stalin’s Honeymoon was over, dead, cold and buried.
The fact that the US had the A-bomb was the trump card. The USSR had their first successful test in August of 1949.
C-47s at Tempelhoff Airport.
At first, France and the UK made a defense treaty and March 1947, against the possibility of another war with German and/or the USSR. Eventually this led to NATO in April 1949. Note that this is while the Berlin Blockade was still going on.
This is how and why NATO came first. The Warsaw Pact was born May of 1955, however the reality was that all Eastern Europe was in the iron grip of the USSR since the end of WWII.
The lesson here is how to handle Propaganda. Effective Propaganda always has a grain of truth, or even a lot of truth. BUT it will never contain the Whole Truth. Always look for the whole story and do not be constrained by cherry-picked dates and facts. Politicians regardless of party or ideology habitually present a half truth (at best) and never the rest of the truth that contradicts their message.
We aught to be well enured and educated as a free people. Sadly, we are not. Roughly 80% of the electorate still blindly follow their favorite politicians words as Gospel from Above, and confer ultimate power upon them. We aught to be smarter than this, we all must learn to look for the Whole Truth.
