The Green Papers Worldwide
NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO)
Membership and History

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has its origins in the so-called "Brussels Pact", signed on 17 March 1948 between Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom to provide- among other things- for collective defense (presumably against the Soviet Union and its satellites). In June of that year, the Soviet blockade of Berlin began and, in the midst of this crisis, the United States began organizing a more comprehensive Western defensive alliance, including the members of the "Brussels Pact", which culminated in the North Atlantic Treaty, signed on 4 April 1949 and coming into force on 24 August 1949.

The table below lists all NATO Member-States and the date they, respectively, joined the organization. The term "original signatory" refers to the 12 Nation-States that signed and ratified the original North Atlantic Treaty in 1949.