West Germany's accession to NATO 50 years ago on 6 May 1955 took place against the backdrop of both East-West conflict and the project of European integration. The second round of NATO enlargement, by which the Federal Republic became the Alliance's15th member, was an important step in the country's post-war rehabilitation and paved the way for Germany to play a substantial role in the defence of Western Europe during the Cold War.
Both NATO and the German Federal Republic were created in 1949. When signed in April 1949, the Washington Treaty was a traditional alliance agreement in which the 12 NATO Allies promised to take adequate measures in the event of attack against any member by an external enemy. At the time, it lacked a political structure, a joint command and military forces earmarked for Alliance defence. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation itself, that is the structures underpinning the Treaty, only came into being after the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 when the threat of attack by Soviet forces in Central Europe appeared imminent.
Like NATO, the Federal Republic was a child of the Cold War. The establishment of two states on German soil was a result of the inability of the Four Powers - France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States - to administer Germany jointly as had been agreed at the 1945 Potsdam Conference. The Berlin Blockade of 1948 and 1949 was but a foretaste of conflict to come and the Korean War confirmed the most pessimistic views about Soviet intentions.
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