Fearing that the Korean war was a prelude to a Soviet attack against West Germany, NATO leaders reshaped the alliance into a military organization with an integrates command structure and established supreme allied commands for Europe and the Atlantic
NATO has two command branches. Civilian and Military branch. The civilian branch includes the North Atlantic Council, the highest authority in NATO. The council consists of the heads of the governments of the members or their representatives. A secretary-general heads the council. This post has always been held by a European. The Military Branch includes Allied Command Europe which is traditionally functioned as the heart of NATO. It’s head has always been a US general. The military committee consists of the military chiefs of staff or their representatives of the NATO nations. US influence over the alliance reached its height in the 1950s. But in 1957, when the Russians launched Sputnik, first earth orbiting satellite, doubts rose in Europe about the US commitment to its defense, because it implied that the United States itself would be vulnerable for an intercontinental ballistic missile attack in the event of a conflict. The Soviet achievement was exacerbated by Nikita Khrushchev provocative 1958 challenge to western access to Berlin. A unified stance by the allies forced Khrushchev to back down on his occasion. But three years later, in the summer of 1961, the crisis was repeated. August 13, East German troops installed the barbed wire and roadblocks that would become The Berlin wall. Next year’s ensuing of soviet-American tank confrontation and deployment of missiles in Cuba were two events that came close to sparkling a global conflict. However, the year 1962 was the begining of a new era now called the Cold war. During the Cold war, NATO helped maintain peace in Europe through its policy of deterrence. But it also experienced disagreements among its members. The most trouble some involved nuclear weapons. United states officials generally insisted that NATO rely on nuclear weapons to deter a Soviet Attack. But some people in Nato countries opposed the use of these weapons. Also, European countries sometimes doubted that the United states would use such weapons to defend Europe, because the Soviets also had a powerful nuclear force. For this reason, Belgium and France built their own nuclear weapons. In 1966, France withdrew from the military command structure. Paris was NATO’s central office. In 1967, NATO moved its headquarters to Brussels, Belgium. In conclusion, the NATO was created to protect the member countries from the USSR attack. USA played a key role in the forming process.