NATO established

At the end of the second world war the Western European countries assembled to discuss common policy going forward. An alliance of sorts developed, with each signatory to the Treaty of Brussels guaranteeing to come to the aid of another in case of armed attack. Germany, notably, was not invited to participate, being half occupied by the Russians. Almost before the ink dried, however, the signers realized that they signed on against the wrong enemy — it was Russia they needed to defend against, not Germany.

On this day, April 4, in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) came into existence with the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington D.C.

In addition to the original participants in the Brussels treaty, NATO’s original 12 member states included the U.S. (Western Europe rightly realized the U.S. was the best country equipped to stand up to the communists) and Canada, as well as Nordic countries near Russia, Iceland and Norway.