NATO and the Warsaw Pact
Twelve Western Nations signed NATO in April of 1949. Signers agreed that if one member was attacked, all members would take action. In 1952, Turkey and Greece joined NATO. In 955 West Germany joined. After West Germany joined NATO, the Soviet Union made a formal alliance of its own. The Soviet Union named their alliance, the Warsaw Pact. In May 1955 a meeting was held with representatives from the Eastern bloc. All of these countries made a 20-year mutual defense agreement. The Warsaw Pact troops outnumbered NATO troops in Europe by a long shot. The outnumbered troops reinforced the Western Powers' reliance on using nuclear weapons as a deterrent.