TEXTS
I. . :
Troops [tru:ps] ; to deply [di`plÉi] . ; a combat mission [`kÉmbt miòn] ; impoverished [im`pÉveriòt] , ; war-weary [¢wÉ:-wiri] ; to consider the interests [kn`sid i `intrists] ; to demobilish [di`mÉbiliò]; imposition of control [,imp`ziò()n v kn`trul] ; to impose [im`pÉuz] ; shattered [`òætd] , ; defence [di`fens] , ; mutual defence [`mju:tul di`fens] ; alliance [`lains] , ; to sign an alliance [t sain n `lains] ; HQ headquaters [`hed`kwÉ:tz] -; to deter [di`t:] -.; ; to set up [`set`Ùp] , ; fourfold [`fÉ:fuld] , ; cohisive [ku`hi:siv] ; withdrawal [wi `drÉ:l] ; ; , ; , ; Pershing missiles [`pε:òih `misailz] ; cruise missiles [`kru:z `misailz] .
II. . / :
Intensive [in`tensiv]; occupation [,Ékju`peiò()n]; originally [`rid nli]; expansion [iks`pænò()n]; motives [`moutivz]; divisions [di`vi ()n]; economy [i:`kÉnmi]; blockade [blÉ`keid]; catalyst [kætlist]; atmosphere [`ætmsfi]; communism [`kÉmjuniz()m]; capitalism [`kæpi`tliz()m]; atomic bomb [æ`tÉ:mik bÉ:m]; escalation [,esk`leiò()n]; collapse [k`læps]; NATO [neitÉu].
III. / :
Intensive air attack; cold war rivalry; perceived threat; vast wartime army; to be aggressive and expansionist; to contribute to ones defence; mutual defence; military cooperation in the event of war; the threat posed by Russia; joint action; to ensure efficient military co-operation, to rebuild shattered economies.
IV. : What is NATO?
NATO
In June 1999, after weeks of intensive air attack, troops of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) moved into Kosovo to liberate the Kosovan Albanian population from occupation by the Serbian Army. This was the first time since its formation 50 years earlier that NATO had deployed troops on a real combat mission as opposed to an exercise. They were deployed in very different circumstances and in a region far removed from what was originally expected in 1949.
What is NATO and why was it formed? Has it been a success or a failure? What are its strengths and weaknesses?
Cold War Rivalry
NATO was very much the product of the Cold War. It grew out of the rapidly developing fears and suspicions between the USSR and the Western powers at the end of the Second World War. It was an attempt to join the impoverished and war-weary western European states together with the USA to try to ensure that Soviet expansion in Europe went no further.
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The motives of President Harry Truman and his allies (including Britains Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin) varied, as each had to consider the interests of his own country, but were similar in that they were all responding to the same perceived threat.
Russia had not demobilised its vast wartime army and still maintained 250 divisions in eastern Europe, compared to fewer than 12 that the Western nations could put into the field. By 1949 Russia appeared to be aggressive and expansionist because of its imposition of control over states such as Poland, East Germany, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
The USA did not want communism to spread further and wanted to encourage the western European states to do more to contribute to their own defence. The Marshall Plan of 1947 was helping to rebuild shattered economies, but more than economic aid was needed.
Britain saw a strong need to unite western European countries for mutual defence. In 1947 Britain and France signed an alliance (the Treaty of Dunkirk) and in March 1948 those two states joined with Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (Benelux) in the Brussels Defence Treaty, which provided for military cooperation in the event of war. It set up a command HQ near Paris and appointed Britains Field Marshal Montgomery (Monty of Second World War fame) as the head of military planning. NATO was the next logical step, linking these countries with the USA and Canada.
In June 1948 the Soviet blockade of Berlin began. This threat to the Wests hold on Germanys capital proved a catalyst in binding together the capitalist powers. Western cooperation in mounting the airlift to supply Berlin provided the right atmosphere for the development of NATO. It highlighted the threat posed by Russia and showed the benefits of joint action.
In January 1949 Russia formed Comecon, its own economic organisation to rival Marshall Aid. This also helped to emphasise the divide between communism and capitalism, showing the advantages of joining NATO.
Later in 1949 the world appeared an even more dangerous place, in need of NATO, when the USSR tested its first atomic bomb in September.
In October 1949 China finally became fully communist, another apparent threat to the West.
