Members of the NATO:
North Atlantic Treaty Organization

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Originally, NATO was founded by France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg to coordinate the European economy, culture and self-defence after the Second World War and to prevent a resurgence of Germany. In the immediate post-war years, Russia developed into a new military and threatening great power, which is why the then NATO countries turned to the USA for military protection.

In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed, under which all member states assured each other of mutual protection. In the years that followed, other European countries, Canada and the Alliance joined to protect themselves from the communist Eastern bloc. In 1952, Turkey was the only country to accede to the treaty, mainly from the Middle East.

Germany's accession to NATO in 1955 played an important role in several respects. On the one hand, it included a country against which the original version of NATO still wanted to defend itself. With the Paris Treaties, West Germany was once again recognised as a sovereign state and integrated into the Western defence strategy. As a counter-reaction, the countries of the Eastern bloc joined forces in the same year to form the Warsaw Pact. It is worth mentioning that some of the member countries of the Warsaw Pact, which was dissolved in 1991, subsequently allied themselves with the West and thus positioned themselves against the Soviet Union. These were (in chronological order) Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania.

Former member countries

Dependent territories

Some of the above-mentioned Member States have other external territories dependent on them. These are not independent states, but they do have some economic and political autonomy. The treaties concluded by the NATO apply to them at least in part. These countries are not listed as official member states.