Map of NATO and the Warsaw Pact

This map shows a part of Europe and it is color coded to show which countries belonged to NATO, the Warsaw Pact, states that were not allied and other comunist states.

-NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was founded on 1949 and its purpose was to prevent future wars by having european and north american countries allied in the same organization. The problem in the Cold War was that with the Korean War they had to do a military plan to defend themselves and they did a Long Term Defence Plan. NATO believed that the Soviet countries were conspiring together and actually they had succesful operations while NATO tried to defend itself. After all of this, the Soviet Union suggested to join NATO in 1954 so there would be peace in Europe but NATO refused fearing that the Soviet Union's plan was to weaken the alliance. Due to this, East Germany joined NATO. NATO continues to this day.

-The Warsaw Pact signed on 1955 was a response to East Germany joining NATO. The countries that signed it were Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union. It was officially called the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance. The purpose of this pact was that if any of the countries that agreed to it were victim of foreign aggression, the other countries would come to aid. The problem was that the Soviet Union started using the pact to its benefit and used the other countries's armies. The pact was dissolved in 1991 due to causes like the Soviet Union along with other countries invaded Czechoslovakia and the diminishing power of the Soviet Union.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO#Cold_War
http://www.warsaw-life.com/poland/warsaw-pact