Brussels Treaty Organization

a military-political organization of Belgium, France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands; it was created in accordance with the Brussels Treaty of Mar. 17, 1948.

The signing of the Brussels Treaty (it went into force on Aug. 25, 1948, for a period of 50 years) signified the creation of the first post-World War II aggressive military alignment in Europe. In the Preamble and in Article 7 mention is made of the preparedness of its participants to undertake necessary joint measures in the event of new aggression by Germany. However, Article 4 and a number of other articles of the treaty were formulated in such a way that the Brussels Treaty Organization could be directed against the socialist countries. Great Britain, counting on using the alliance to strengthen its own international position which had been weakened by the war, initiated the creation of the Brussels Treaty Organization. The organization served essentially as a preparatory stage for the creation in 1949 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); all participants in the Brussels Treaty Organization became members of NATO. In 1950 the military organization of the Brussels Treaty Organization was replaced by the NATO command, headed by a representative of the United States. In May 1955, as a result of the signing of the Paris Agreements of 1954, one of the protocols of which provided for changing and supplementing the Brussels Treaty, the Brussels Treaty Organization was transformed into the Western European Union with the participation of the Federal Republic of Germany and Italy.