North Atlantic Treaty

The North Atlantic Treaty is the treaty that founded NATO. It was signed in Washington, DC on April 4, 1949. 
Members
The original twelve nations that signed it and thus became the founding members of NATO were the following:













Later the following nations joined:

   (2004)
   (1999)
   (2004)
   (1955)
   (1952)
   (1999)
   (2004)   (2004)
   (1999)
   (2004)
   (2004)
   (2004)
   (1982)
   (1952)

When Germany was reunified in 1990, the country as a whole became a member of NATO.
Article V
The key section of the treaty was Article V which says that each member state has to consider an armed attack against one state to be an armed attack against all states.  The treaty was created with an armed attack by the Soviet Union against Western Europe in mind, but Article V was never used during the Cold War. It was used for the first time in 2001 when the September 11, 2001 attacks against the World Trade Center and The Pentagon had taken place.
US ratification
In the United States, the treaty was approved by the Senate in a vote of 82 to 13 on July 21, 1949.

Related pages 
NATO
Warsaw Pact

Other websites

Text of the North Atlantic Treaty 

Category:1940s treaties
Category:NATO
Category:20th century in Washington, D.C.
Category:1949
Category:Treaties of Belgium
Category:Treaties of Bulgaria
Category:Treaties of France
Category:Treaties of Germany
Category:Treaties of Hungary
Category:Treaties of Italy
Category:Treaties of the Netherlands
Category:Treaties of Spain
Category:Treaties of the United Kingdom
Category:Treaties of the United States