Examine the significance of NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. These two treaty organizations formalized the division between Western and Eastern bloc nations and paved the way for the creation of the superpower model of the late twentieth century. The issuance of the Truman Doctrine in 1947 set a hardline stance against communism and became the basis for Western intervention into regions that were fighting over the presence of communism. The Soviet Union then acted in concert with the procommunist regimes in these territories. NATO was intended to rebuild Europe and make it safe for fledgling democracies, and offered financial incentive with the opportunity to participate in the Marshall Plan. Stalin countered with the formation of the Warsaw Pact and prohibited any of the Eastern bloc states from participating in NATO or receiving its financial aid. NATO was intended as a military defense alliance aimed primarily against the Soviets' alleged plans for armed global conflict, with the baseline standard of collective security. The Warsaw Pact in 1955 was designed to protest the rearming of Western Germany and the presence of NATO. Each symbolized a formalization of the cold war status between the East and West.