The history of NATO
You will know the history of NATO.
You will be able to explain the reasons for its creation and enlargement.
You will understand the role NATO plays in the world nowadays.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created in 1949 and consists of 29 member states. At the beginning, the main purpose of the pact was to defend the member states in case of Soviet aggression. However, as time went by, the organisation started to play a balancing role between the East and the West. After the disestablishmentdisestablishment of the Warsaw Pact the North Atlantic Treaty Organization concentrated mainly on preventing local conflicts from spreadingspreading to a larger scale. 1999 marks an important date in the history of NATO – in that year the organisation was joined by three states from the former Soviet sphere of influence: Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. It was a great moment in the Polish history, too. It took ten years of diplomatic effortsefforts until our state could finally be accepted as a member state. Now watch a short documentary about the history of the organisation and a presentation about the enlargement of NATO.
Check, how well you already know the member states of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization – solve the exercise.
Take a close look at the map and answer, which of the following states are members of European Union but do NOT belong to NATO.
- Austria
- Slovakia
- Ireland
- Sweden
- Romania
- Cyprus
- Finland
- The Netherlands
- Malta
Which of the states did not sign the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949?
- Portugal
- Belgium
- the UK
- France
- Spain
- the US
How many member states are the in NATO?
- 29
- 27
- 25
Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Then do the vocabulary exercise. Match the pairs: English and Polish words.
wysiłek, rozprzestrzeniać się, traktat, sojusz, rozwiązanie
| alliance | |
| treaty | |
| disestablishment | |
| to spread | |
| effort |
Keywords
pact, defend, member states, Warsaw Pact, enlargement
Glossary
sojusz
traktat
rozwiązanie
rozprzestrzeniać się
wysiłek