Western Defence

Abstract

The Second World War ended in Europe when the armistice came into effect at midnight on 8 May 1945. Two months later the leaders of the three principal victorious powers, the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, met at Potsdam near Berlin to decide, as they hoped, how the post-war world should be ordered. Nearly four years later, on 3 April 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington, signalling the collective will of the West to resist the advance of communism. This swift change needs elaboration.