NATO

North Atlantic Treaty OrganizationOrganisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord
"Animus in Consulendo Liber"
Political information
Type	Intergovernmental military alliance
Commander-in-chief	Secretary General Manfred Wörner
Affiliation	United States of America and member states
Military	Armed forces of member states
Societal information
Capital	Brussels, Belgium
Language(s)	English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek
Historical information
Date established	April 4, 1949
Conflicts	World War III
Status
Exists

“

In a world falling apart, NATO stands united. NATO in Combat

”

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or simply known by its abbreviation NATO, is one of the three factions in World in Conflict and a playable faction in the game's single player campaign, as well as that of World in Conflict: Soviet Assault.

Background

After World War II ended with the surrender of Nazi Germany, the Treaty of Brussels (the precursor to the NATO agreement) was signed in March 17, 1949, leading to the establishment of the Western European Union's Defence Organization half a year later. Sometime later, the American involvement in the organization would result in the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C. on April 4, 1949. From then, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed.

Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance aimed at ensuring the defense of Western Europe from aggressions from the Soviet Union and its allies (which would later come in the form of the Warsaw Pact). It is comprised of many nations of Western Europe, Allied-controlled West Germany, and the United States of America. NATO does not administer a single unified armed force, but instead each nation manages its own armies and security forces. However, the member states of the alliance have agreed to cooperate with each other in terms of both humanitarian and military aid should any member of the alliance be attacked. Many NATO nations host a large number of American airbases within their own territories.

World War III

During the year 1989, the Soviet Union found itself in a severe economic depression that threatened to cause the dissolution. Desperate to maintain its structural integrity, the Soviet Union attempted to blackmail NATO to get the economic aid it needed to stay in power, but failed in its entirety. NATO was unmoved by the blackmail, and attempted to resolve the situation diplomatically through a series of political negotiations with the Soviet Union. After a month of stagnant negotiations, the Soviet Union launched a full-scale surprise invasion across the Iron Curtain and into Western Europe in order to stay in power.

NATO was caught by surprise in the initial onslaught. The Soviets poured into West Berlin as they plowed through the Berlin Wall, conquering the city and continuing their progress across the West German border. While its unknown how much of the country was lost in the initial assault, with all of Denmark lost, much of Germany was still in Allied hands, however NATO forces were still at a strategic disadvantage on the retreat. Attacks were soon launched at the Nordic countries. The Soviets quickly overran the non-aligned communist country of Yugoslavia and forced their way towards the Greek border. The Soviet Northern Fleet infested NATO waters and soon were spread across both the Mediterranean Sea and the Denmark Strait, the latter in which they attempted to invade the remote NATO nation of Iceland. The Soviets then launched an assault on France, distracting NATO forces from their attempts to counterattack in West Germany.

NATO acted quickly to repel the Soviet assault. As a founding member The United States was quickly mobilized to assist. American reinforcements arrived from the U.S. to assist NATO forces, and despite severe losses, to stabilize the German line, though for a short time. Meanwhile, U.S. Marines joined the battle in Iceland to confront a Soviet amphibious assault on the country. However, they were less successful in the Mediterranean. The U.S. Sixth Fleet was wiped out or otherwise rendered inoperable in its fight against the Soviet Navy, allowing the Soviets to launch and maintain, an amphibious spearhead in Southern France. The Soviets moved quickly to overrun the southern coastline and launched numerous air raids on major French cities and factories. Fortunately, the U.S. deployed several battalions to reinforce the French Army in its efforts to repel the invasion. After several weeks of combat, the Soviets lost their hold on France and were ultimately forced to abandon the invasion. The damage to the Soviet fleet in combat with the 6th US fleet is unknown, however it is assumed all ships allocated to the front were either damaged beyond timely repair, or lost in the conflict as well considering a front was never reopened in the Mediterranean.

During the fall, the U.S. arrived to cooperate with the Norwegians in a reconnaissance mission deep within Russia. Their stated goal was the recovery of intelligence gathered from an American prototype stealth plane that was shot down over Russia, as well as the rescue of its crew. NATO and the U.S. also worked together in their follow up raid on Soviet naval yards in Severomorsk. The attacks were costly for the Soviets who lost much of their submarine fleet, and failed to meet any meaningful strategic or tactical objectives on the front, including failing to destroy the invading force before it retreated with all its objectives accomplished.

The status of NATO and its member states is currently unknown, especially after the American forces returned to the U.S. in an effort to defend their territories from the Soviet aggression following the occupation of Seattle. However it can be extrapolated the war soon ended after the failed invasion of Seattle.

Member States

The member states of NATO, as of the year 1989, are:

• Founding members:
  • United States of America
  • Canada
  • United Kingdom
  • Belgium
  • Netherlands
  • Luxembourg
  • Denmark
  • Norway
  • Iceland
  • Italy
  • Portugal
• Other members:
  • Greece (Joined in 1952, but withdrew from its military structure in 1974 before returning in 1980)
  • Turkey (Joined in 1952)
  • West Germany (Joined in 1955)
  • Spain (Joined in 1982)

France was a founding member of NATO, but withdrew from its military structure in 1966. Now declassified documents show that if World War III did start, France would quickly re-assimilate with NATO for mutual defense in the Lemnitzer–Ailleret Agreements.

See also

• NATO on Wikipedia