Question

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact were two important Cold War organizations. Describe their purpose and function as they relate to the Cold War.

Answer 1

After World War II, as the Cold War began, the the Soviet Union had shown that it wanted to expand its area of control in Eastern Europe.  In response, the United States, along with Canada, joined with ten European countries in signing the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949.  This created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which was a defensive military alliance of democratic states over against the expanding threat of communism felt in the Cold War environment.  The ten original Western European members of NATO were the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Italy, Iceland, and Luxembourg.

The formation of the Warsaw Pact was in direct response to the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Warsaw Pact was given that name because the agreement was signed in Warsaw, Poland.  Established in 1955, the Warsaw Pact included the Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.  The nations signing the treaty called on each other to defend of any member of the Pact that was threatened by enemy forces.  

Answer 2

The purpose of both organizations are pretty similar, being that they are both alliances formed to safeguard one another in the event that a hostile nation chooses to attack a member country, as well as dealing with political problems between the members. As with the theme of the Cold War, NATO was an alliance between the United States and many North American and European countries, while the Warsaw Pact was made to be a sort of counterbalance to NATO with an alliance between the Soviet Union and seven satellite nations. I hope this helps :)