Immediate Impact
The original intent of the treaty was to aid and protect Western European members because of the devastating effects of WWII. After realizing the treaty could benefit all members and not just be a way to support the European countries, the members decided to extend the treaty. NATO has lasted about seven times its original planned duration. It was the second international treaty America ever made. It marked a point when American isolationism started to crumble and when America became irreversibly entangled in world affairs.
A map showing the development of NATO. World History Commons.
This entanglement in foreign affairs was demonstrated in the Korean War where America intervened when North Korea was attacking South Korea. In The Vietnam War America used the conflict between North and South Vietnam as a proxy war to mitigate the threat of escalation by avoiding direct conflict with the Soviet Union. The creation of NATO also spurred the making of the Warsaw Pact, formally known as the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation, and Mutual Assistance six years later on May 14, 1955. It was a collective defense agreement between the Soviet Union and six other Soviet satellite states that strengthened them through economic and military assistance. The Warsaw Pact and NATO opposed each other until the Warsaw Pact’s end in 1991, just five months before the fall of the Soviet Union.
Machine Gunners in the Korean War. 1950-1953, Encyclopædia Britannica.
American forces bombing tunnels in the Vietnam War. 1954-1955, Encyclopædia Britannica.
The Warsaw Pact symbol. NATO.