In 1941, Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Atlantic Charter – a joint declaration of their vision for a world following the Second World War. This statement would go on to be an inspiration for both the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). As we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Atlantic Charter on August 14th, 2021, this infographic highlights the major events and inflection points that have shaped NATO’s purpose since 1949, and its contribution to fulfilling the vision of these two historical figures.
Download here: A History of NATO
Photos in chronological order:
Photograph of President Truman signing the document implementing the North Atlantic Treaty at his desk in the Oval Office (1949), by Abbie Rowe via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
The Soviet Union’ first atomic bomb, known in the West as Joe-1, on Aug. 29, 1949, at Semipalatinsk Test Site, in Kazakhstan (1949), by Unknown Author via PBS. Public Domain.
Communist Bloc Conclave: The Warsaw Pact conference, 11 May 1955, Warsaw, Poland (1955), by Unknown Author via History Today. Public Domain.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Lunar Module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, poses for a photograph beside the deployed United States flag during an Apollo 11 Extravehicular Activity (EVA) on the lunar surface (1969), by NASA / Neil A. Armstrong via Apollo 11 Image Library. Public Domain.
Civilian with PM Md. 1963 during the Romanian Revolution of 1989 (1989), by Unknown Author via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
Italian armoured vehicle in the streets of the former Yugoslavia (1995), by NATO via NATO. Public Domain.
Pedestrians react to the World Trade Center collapse, September 11, 2001 (2001), by REUTERS/Stringer via REUTERS. Public Domain.
Unidentified soldiers accompanied by Russian military vehicles patrolling Sevastopol, Ukraine, on March 1, 2014, a few weeks before Russia annexed Crimea and the city (2014), by Andrew Lubimov/AP Images via Britannica. Public Domain.
NATO Leaders take part in a welcome ceremony featuring a multimedia tower display (2021), by NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Disclaimer: Any views or opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the NATO Association of Canada.
