It could be said that, rather than scaring NATO to death, Vladimir Putin’s attempt to crush Ukraine has scared NATO back to life. For years, the alliance had been drifting. But with Putin trying to rebuild the Russian Empire and NATO returning to its core mission of deterrence, there’s broader support—and clearer need—for NATO than at any time since the coldest days of the Cold War. As NATO celebrates its 75th birthday, the alliance has enjoyed growth spurts—and endured lots of growing pains.

Origins To keep the peace after World War I, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau urged in 1919 the formation of “a postwar alliance of the victors,” historian Patrick Cohrs writes. But the American people were not yet ready for such a commitment. Soon after World War II, Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg created a defense pact under the Brussels Treaty. But Prime Minister Paul-Henry Spaak of Belgium warned that any alliance without the U.S. to be “without practical value.”

1946-1948 Moscow reneges on agreements made at Yalta to hold free elections in postwar Europe, supports communist forces in the Greek Civil War, pressures Turkey for basing rights and topples Czechoslovakia’s democratic government. Soviet forces blockade West Berlin. America and Britain respond with the Berlin Airlift.

1949 America, Britain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and Portugal sign the North Atlantic Treaty. The heart of the treaty is Article V, which declares, “an armed attack against one or more…shall be considered an attack against them all.” The U.S. Senate ratifies the treaty 82-13. Lord Hastings Ismay, NATO’s first secretary general, says NATO’s mission is “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans down.”

1950 Moscow gives a greenlight and much more to Kim Il-Sung—supplying North Korea and China with weapons and advisors to support the invasion of South Korea. NATO members Britain, Canada, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and America—plus future members Turkey and Greece—send troops to defend South Korea.

1951 NATO opens its military headquarters near Paris. President Harry Truman declares, “For the first time in history, there exists…an integrated international force whose object is to maintain peace through strength.” Taking the reins as NATO military commander, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower calls NATO “the last remaining chance for the survival of Western civilization.”

Growing NATO has been growing since it was born—not by conquest but by consent, not by the force of arms of its members but by the desire for security of its aspirants. It’s all there in Article X of the North Atlantic Treaty: The allies may “by unanimous agreement invite any other European state in a position to further the principles of this treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area to accede to this treaty.”

1952 Greece and Turkey join NATO.

1955 West Germany joins NATO.

The USSR, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania create the Warsaw Pact. The bloc fields 100 divisions. NATO fields 25.

1956 Soviet tanks crush Hungary’s efforts to form a multiparty government—killing 4,000 Hungarians.

France and Britain attempt to seize the Suez Canal. Eisenhower publicly condemns the attack as “illegal” and privately threatens to sell U.S. holdings of British pound-sterling bonds. Anglo-French forces withdraw.

Headaches In its second decade, NATO began to deal with numerous internal headaches, along with serious tests and challenges from the Soviet bloc.

1959 After Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev boasts about the Red Army’s conventional advantage in Germany, Eisenhower warns: “If you attack us in Germany, there will be nothing conventional about our response.”

To commemorate NATO’s 10th birthday, Bing Crosby records “The NATO Song.” The crooner cheers, “NATO went on guard and free men ceased to yield. We live again in peace and strength behind the NATO shield.”

1960 Turkey’s army seizes power in a coup.

1961 Spurred by an exodus from communist Eastern Europe, the Soviets and East Germans wall off West Berlin. President John Kennedy labels it “an offense against humanity.”

1962 Kennedy travels to West Berlin and declares, “Ich bin ein Berliner!”

1966 French President Charles de Gaulle pulls France out of NATO’s military command and insists that NATO’s headquarters—and all U.S. military personnel—leave France. Secretary of State Dean Rusk asks, “Does that include the dead Americans in military cemeteries?”

1967 NATO headquarters is relocated to Brussels.

The Greek army takes power in a coup.

1968 Warsaw Pact forces invade Czechoslovakia, smothering a period of liberalization known as the Prague Spring.

1974 Greece supports a coup in Cyprus; Turkey invades and occupies Northern Cyprus.

1975 Under the Helsinki Accords, Western and Soviet bloc nations formally recognize the post-World War II political-territorial settlement; the accords also press the Soviet bloc on human rights.

Crossroads As the 1980s approached, NATO was at a crossroads: take the path of least resistance and continue to give ground to Moscow, or return to deterrence and answer Moscow’s aggression. A president and a pope helped the alliance choose the right course.

1979 Moscow deploys SS-20 nuclear missiles in Central Europe, dramatically reducing the time between launch and impact—and increasing fears of a preemptive strike.

Soviet troops invade Afghanistan.

On a visit to Poland, Pope John Paul II declares, “There can be no just Europe without the independence of Poland,” exhorting his countrymen: “Do not be afraid.”

1980 Warsaw Pact forces deploy almost three times as many tanks as NATO. The USSR fields 32,049 nuclear warheads, the U.S. 23,464.

Led by Lech Walesa, Polish workers form the Solidarity trade union. Warsaw institutes martial law.

Turkey’s military retakes power in a coup.

1982 Spain joins NATO.

1983 With NATO support, the U.S. deploys Pershing II missiles in response to Moscow’s SS-20 deployment.

President Ronald Reagan labels the USSR “an evil empire.”

Misreading NATO’s Able Archer exercise as the first move in a preemptive war, Moscow nearly launches its own preemptive strike.

1984 Visiting Normandy, Reagan declares, “It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost.”

1985 Mikhail Gorbachev is installed as Soviet leader. Reagan and Gorbachev meet in Geneva. Reagan calls Gorbachev a “die-hard communist.” Gorbachev calls Reagan a “caveman.” Yet they will hold four more summits that end the Cold War.

1987 In Berlin, Reagan demands, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Reagan and Gorbachev sign the INF Treaty, the first treaty eliminating an entire class of nuclear missiles.

January 1989 East Germany’s Erich Honecker boasts that the Berlin Wall “will stand in 50, even 100 years.”

November 1989 The Berlin Wall falls.

Whole and Free With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the security environment of Europe is radically transformed. NATO members propose a joint declaration with the Warsaw Pact “in which we solemnly state that we are no longer adversaries.” President George H.W. Bush declares, “Let Europe be whole and free. To the founders of the alliance, this aspiration was a distant dream…now it’s the new mission of NATO.”

March-May 1990 The legislatures of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia declare independence from the USSR.

July 1990 Gorbachev sighs, “The time will come when a united Germany will be in NATO, if that is its choice.”

October 1990 East and West Germany are unified. Germany remains in NATO.

November 1990 The CFE Treaty is signed, sweeping huge numbers of conventional weapons from Europe.

February 1991 The Warsaw Pact dissolves.

April 1991 Georgia declares independence from the USSR.

June 1991 Boris Yeltsin wins Russia’s first popular presidential election.

July 1991 Bush and Gorbachev sign the START treaty, significantly reducing nuclear arsenals.

August 1991 Hardliners launch an unsuccessful coup against Gorbachev. Ukraine and Belarus declare independence.

December 1991 Gorbachev resigns; the USSR formally ends.

1992 “The world can sigh in relief,” Yeltsin says. “The idol of communism, which spread everywhere social strife, animosity and unparalleled brutality, which instilled fear in humanity, has collapsed.”

Turning East With ethnic warfare flaring in the Balkans and with Eastern Europe concerned about Moscow’s commitment to democracy, many observers called on NATO in the early 1990s to play a role in stabilizing post-Soviet Europe. “There is an antidote to chaos,” Reagan said. “Its name is NATO. Forty- five years after it was founded as a bulwark against Soviet expansionism, NATO must again be made relevant to European peacekeeping.”

1993 Walesa, now Poland’s president, warns, “If Russia again adopts an aggressive foreign policy, that aggression will be directed toward Ukraine and Poland.”

1994 President Bill Clinton declares, “The question is no longer whether NATO will take on new members, but when and how.”

Russia signs the Budapest Memorandum, agreeing to “respect the independence…sovereignty and existing borders of Ukraine,” in exchange for Ukraine surrendering its nuclear arsenal.

1995 NATO conducts airstrikes to protect Bosnian-Muslims from Serbian attacks. NATO and Russia share peacekeeping duties in postwar Bosnia.

1997 NATO and Russia renounce the “threat or use of force against each other” and agree to “build together a lasting and inclusive peace in the Euro-Atlantic area.”

1998 Russia establishes a diplomatic mission at NATO headquarters.

March-June 1999 Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary join NATO. NATO launches airstrikes to protect Kosovo from Serbian attacks. Fissures emerge within NATO over targets, tactics and troop deployments. After Belgrade agrees to ceasefire terms, Russian forces attempt to seize an airfield in Kosovo; NATO commander Gen. Wesley Clark orders British Gen. Mike Jackson to block the Russians. The British general bluntly defies his American commanding officer’s order: “I’m not going to start World War III for you.”

December 1999 Yeltsin resigns and installs Vladimir Putin as Russia’s president.

Another Crossroads After outlasting the Soviet Empire, wading into Eastern Europe and laying the foundations of a Europe “whole and free,” NATO would be forced to confront a range of new and old threats in a new century—terrorism, cyberattacks, internal divisions and external aggression launched by its oldest enemy.

2001 Al Qaeda attacks the United States. For the first time in history, NATO invokes Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty. NATO deploys planes to patrol U.S. airspace.

President George W. Bush and Putin sign the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, slashing U.S. and Russian deployed nuclear missiles to around 2,000 warheads apiece.

2003 Germany and France oppose U.S.-British efforts to secure UN authorization to disarm Iraq. Turkey blocks U.S. forces from transiting Turkish territory into Iraq. Yet 18 NATO members (plus Ukraine and Georgia) contribute troops to operations in Iraq.

NATO takes command of operations in Afghanistan. NATO continues to struggle waging war by committee: Italian fighter-bombers deploy without bombs. Germany requires its troops to shout warnings to enemy forces—in three languages—before opening fire. Non-NATO members Australia, Georgia and Sweden deploy more troops than several NATO members.

2004 Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia join NATO.

NATO establishes a training mission for Iraq’s military.

2005 Putin declares, “The demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century.”

2006 NATO calls on all members to invest at least 2 percent of GDP in defense. Only eight members reach that target by 2022.

2007 Putin claims NATO’s growth violates post-Cold War agreements, calling it “a serious provocation.” Yet Gorbachev counters, “The topic of NATO expansion was not discussed at all” as the Cold War thawed.

Russia-based hackers launch cyberattacks crippling Estonia’s digital-communications infrastructure.

April 2008 Germany and France block NATO from granting Ukraine and Georgia membership-action plans—a pathway to membership. Though NATO agrees that “these countries will become members of NATO,” no timetable is set. Due to disputes over Macedonia’s name, Greece blocks Macedonia from joining NATO. NATO endorses U.S. missile-defense deployments in Eastern Europe.

May 2008 Term-limited as president, Putin becomes Russia’s prime minister.

August 2008 Russia invades Georgia. The U.S. Air Force transports thousands of Georgian troops from Iraq to Georgia, likely preventing Russia from taking Tbilisi.

2009 President Barack Obama cancels missile-defense deployments in Eastern Europe. Polish officials call the decision “catastrophic.”

In the dead of winter, Russia shuts off natural gas bound for Ukraine, Bulgaria, Hungary and Greece.

Albania and Croatia join NATO.

Russia conducts war games simulating a nuclear attack against Poland.

France returns to NATO’s military command structure.

2010 Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sign New START, further reducing nuclear arsenals.

2011 NATO enforces a UN no-fly zone over Libya, leading to the ouster of Moammar Qaddafi.

Washington deactivates the Navy’s North Atlantic-focused 2nd Fleet. 

2012 Washington deactivates the Army’s Germany-based V Corps.

Putin reclaims Russia’s presidency and increases military spending by 25 percent.

2013 Washington withdraws every U.S. tank from Europe. Britain announces closure of its garrison in Germany.

2014 Russia invades Ukraine, seizes Crimea and arms separatists in eastern Ukraine. Washington sends “nonlethal aid.” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko jabs, “One cannot win a war with blankets.”

Russia is found in violation of the INF Treaty and CFE Treaty.

U.S. tanks return to Europe.

NATO allies Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Netherlands and the U.S. conduct airstrikes against ISIS.

Warnings from Washington As the alliance headed toward the 2020s, two successive U.S. presidents would openly express frustration with NATO and call on the allies to carry more of the burden. Yet NATO would prove its worth and importance yet again. “If we did not have NATO today,” Gen. James Mattis intoned in 2017, “we would need to create it.”

2016 NATO establishes four battlegroups to deter attacks against its most at-risk members: Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland.

Russia conducts disinformation operations against the U.S., Britain, Netherlands, Estonia, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Obama tells Britain’s prime minister, “You have to pay your fair share.”

Suspecting a coup, Turkish President Recep Erdogan arrests 40,000 soldiers, judges and journalists.

2017 Calling NATO “obsolete,” President Donald Trump complains that members “aren’t paying what they should.” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg concedes, “We still do not have fair burden sharing within our alliance.” At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. accounted for 56 percent of NATO’s defense spending; by 2017, it’s closer to 70 percent.

Montenegro joins NATO.

U.S. generals accuse Russia of arming the Taliban.

Turkey purchases Russian air-defense systems.

2018 Asked during a NATO summit, “Would you leave us if we don’t pay our bills?” Trump responds, “I would consider it.”

Washington reactivates 2nd Fleet.

2019 Washington removes Turkey from the F-35 partnership.

French President Emmanuel Macron fears “the brain death of NATO.”

2020 The Republic of North Macedonia joins NATO.

Washington reactivates V Corps.

May 2021 Russia-based hackers launch cyberattacks against U.S. energy infrastructure.

August 2021 President Joe Biden orders U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. As operations come to a close, 74 percent of the foreign troops deployed in the country that spawned 9/11 are not American. More than 1,140 non-U.S. troops are killed during the Sisyphean mission, the vast majority from NATO countries.

December 2021 Putin demands that NATO not expand eastward, cease all military activities in Eastern Europe, and pull back forces to where they were before Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic joined the alliance.

Cornerstone With threats to the Free World metastasizing—from Central Europe and the Arctic, to Southwest Asia and the South China Sea, to space and cyberspace—NATO solidified its role not only as the cornerstone of America’s security and transatlantic security, but as the coordinating hub for international security.

February-April 2022 Putin launches his second invasion of Ukraine—an all-out effort to seize Kiev, remove Ukraine’s democratically-elected government and absorb Ukraine. NATO members respond with military and economic assistance for Kiev, along with sanctions against Moscow. Although Ukraine is not a NATO member, the allies recognize, finally, that Putin’s war on Ukraine threatens what the North Atlantic Treaty calls the “stability and…security of the North Atlantic area.”

NATO activates its rapid-response force for the first time and establishes new battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announces a near-doubling of defense spending, declaring, “The world will no longer be the same.”

In a visit to Poland, Biden echoes Pope John Paul II, urging Ukrainian refugees and their Polish hosts, “Be not afraid. A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase a people’s love for liberty.” 

May 2022 In a stunning reversal, longtime neutrals Sweden and Finland apply for NATO membership.

U.S. troop strength in Europe grows to 102,000—30 percent higher than 2021.

June 2022 For the first time, NATO invites Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand to an alliance summit; identifies China as a challenge; and commits to work with “partners in the Indo-Pacific to tackle…shared security interests.” During the summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky intones, “We are deterring Russia from destroying us and from destroying you…There will be either urgent help for Ukraine…or Russia’s postponed war with you.”

2022-2023 Kosovo requests “accelerating” its NATO membership-application process.” Polling reveals 83-percent support for NATO membership in Ukraine, 73-percent support in Georgia.

Early 2023 Russia is found in violation of New START.

Washington establishes Army Garrison-Poland.

Spring 2023 Finland joins NATO. Turkey and Hungary delay Sweden’s accession.

Summer 2023 After sowing the wind, Putin reaps the whirlwind. Led by warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian mercenaries mount an armed mutiny, take control of the Rostov region, shoot down multiple Russian military aircraft, kill more than a dozen Russian troops, lunge at Moscow and weaken Putin’s hold on power.

Germany announces deployment of 4,000 troops to Lithuania.

Putin deploys nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Stoltenberg reports NATO is crafting plans to “bring Ukraine closer to its rightful place in NATO.” NATO establishes a NATO-Ukraine Defense Council to spur those efforts.

Late 2023 Britain announces deployment of 20,000 troops to defend NATO’s northern flank.

In the wake of the Hamas assault on Israel, Stoltenberg declares, “Israel does not stand alone.” U.S., British, Danish, Italian, German and French warships deploy to the Red Sea to protect international shipping.

2024 Sweden joins the alliance, increasing NATO’s membership to 32 nations and bringing a total of 967 million people under NATO’s protective umbrella.

The U.S. and Germany announce deployment on German territory of hypersonic weapons and Tomahawk land-attack missiles.

On its 75th anniversary, NATO—now 32 members—calls Russia a “direct threat to allies’ security.”

A shorter version of this essay appeared in the October 2024 issue of The American Legion Magazine.

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