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This 1958 documentary film – originally titled as "Why NATO" – is an episode of the U.S. Army's "The Big Picture" television series.

It is a Cold War era film that documents the reasons behind the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949. Narrated by the distinguished news analyst, Edward R. Murrow, the report shows historical events following World War 2 that led to Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, and the diplomatic efforts of leaders, including General Dwight D. Eisenhower, to convince 12 nations to fund, equip, and staff a NATO armed force in order to defend Western Europe from further Soviet expansion. Dramatically presented, the United States is shown in its strategic role as leader in the Free World and its alliance with other nations dedicated to the preservation of peace and the welfare of mankind.


HISTORICAL BACKGROUND / CONTEXT

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was originally created by representatives of twelve Western powers: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States, in 1949, as a military security alliance to deter the expansion of the Soviet Union on the European Continent. From 1945 to 1949, to widen the Communist sphere of influence, the Soviet Union had annexed Czechoslovakia, East Prussia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and sections of Finland, and had penetrated into the governments of Albania, Bulgaria, and Hungary.

The foundation for NATO had been set in Brussels, Belgium, in March 1948, when representatives of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom met to forge a mutual assistance treaty to provide a common defense system. The Brussels Treaty stipulated that should any of the five signatories be the target of “armed aggression in Europe,” the other treaty parties would provide the party attacked “all the military aid and assistance in their power.” In June 1948, after a losing battle by isolationists, the U.S. Congress adopted a resolution recommending that the United States join in a defensive pact for the North Atlantic area. President Harry S. Truman urged U.S. participation in NATO as a critical part of his policy of containment of Soviet expansion. Containment had begun with the Truman Doctrine of 1947 with military assistance to Greece and Turkey to resist Communist subversion. The North Atlantic Treaty was signed on 4 April 1949 in Washington, D.C. It formally committed the European signatories and the United States and Canada to the defense of Western Europe. Greece and Turkey joined NATO in 1952. The Federal Republic of Germany joined in 1955 following an agreement on the termination of the Allies' postwar occupation of West Germany and an understanding that the country would maintain foreign forces on its soil. A rearmed Germany became a major component of NATO.

The Soviet Union strongly opposed the NATO alliance. The Berlin Blockade in 1947–48 and the threat of war had in fact given impetus to the creation of NATO. Following the outbreak of the Korean conflict in June 1950, fearing the possibility of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe as a result of a miscalculation by Moscow, NATO countries expanded their military forces in Europe. By 1953, NATO had fielded 25 active divisions, 15 in Central Europe, and 5,200 aircraft, making it at least equal to Soviet forces in East Germany. In 1955, Moscow created the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance composed of Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.

East‐West relations were further strained by Nikita Khrushchev, who emerged as the Soviet leader after Josef Stalin's death in 1953. Although he had criticized Stalin's dictatorship and had accused his predecessor of escalating international tensions, Khrushchev ordered a Soviet force into Hungary to suppress a rebellion and maintain Communist rule in 1956. In 1957, the Soviet Union's launching of Sputnik, the first of the space satellites, indicated that the Soviets was developing long‐range nuclear missiles. NATO had planned in 1954 to use nuclear weapons in case of a massive Soviet invasion.


Why Was NATO Created | US Army Documentary | 1958

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NOTE: THE VIDEO DOCUMENTS HISTORICAL EVENTS. SINCE IT WAS PRODUCED DECADES AGO, IT HAS HISTORICAL VALUES AND CAN BE CONSIDERED AS A VALUABLE HISTORICAL DOCUMENT. THE VIDEO HAS BEEN UPLOADED WITH EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. ITS TOPIC IS REPRESENTED WITHIN HISTORICAL CONTEXT. THE VIDEO DOES NOT CONTAIN SENSITIVE SCENES AT ALL!