The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance between 32 member states. Founded in the aftermath of World War II, NATO was established with the signing of the North
West Germany joined NATO in 1955, which led to the formation of the rival Warsaw Pact during the Cold War.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 marked a turning point in NATO's role in Europe, and a section of that wall is displayed outside NATO headquarters.
Group photo at 75th anniversary summit in Washington D.C., 2024
NATO E-3A flying with US Air Force F-16s in a NATO exercise
The Warsaw Pact, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defence treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc s
NATO
…the Cold War, NATO's primary purpose was to deter and counter the threat posed by the Soviet Union and its satellite states, which formed the rival Warsaw Pact in 1955. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the alliance adapted. NATO undertook its first military intervention in the Bosnian War…
The Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, where the Warsaw Pact was established and signed on 14 May 1955.
Conference during which the Pact was established and signed.
A typical Soviet military vehicle UAZ-469, used by most countries of the Warsaw Pact
Meeting of the seven representatives of the Warsaw Pact countries in East Berlin in May 1987. From left to right: Gustáv Husák (Czechoslovakia), Todor Zhivkov (Bulgaria), Erich Honecker (East Germany), Mikhail Gorbachev (Soviet Union), Nicolae Ceaușescu (Romania), Wojciech Jaruzelski (Poland), and János Kádár (Hungary)