WI: NATO was never created?

This is just a stupid thought but something that came up in a chat. What if NATO was never created or thought up? I don't have a TL for it but what do you guys think? What is the Alternative? What would the world look like, the same or different? Let me know what you think!
 
One idea which was floated in the late 1940’s by some was that only European countries would form a defensive alliance (like the Brussels Pact) but the United States would guarantee the safety of its members against military attacks. This would have allowed the US to have less military presence in Europe while still helping to secure the safety of Western Europe. On the other hand, this would have also meant less coordination between US and European armies. It would have also meant that in the event of surprise attack by the Soviets it would have taken time before American help could have arrived to Europe. I’m not sure this solution would have satisfied Western Europeans or most Americans at the time though.
 
There was/is a recent thread where someone asked WI Czechoslovakia remained democratic - essentially Finlandized. I think you would need Poland and Czechoslovakia, if not the rest of Eastern Europe, to operate under this model. Butterfly the Berlin Airlift and you the nature of the rivalry between East and West is a lot less intense thereby negating NATO. Also, IIRC, at NATO's formation, there was a lot of debate about including West Germany and its inevitable rearming. Coming so soon after two world wars, this was not as obvious as it appears in hindsight.

So, I dont think it's a stupid thought but the perceived threat that each side viewed each other needs to be dialed back quite a bit.
 
Robert Taft, who voted against the North Atlantic Treaty, suggested as an alternative a unilateral US declaration that the US would resort to war if the USSR attacked western Europe:

"…Why did I vote against the Atlantic Pact? I wanted to vote for it-at least I wanted to vote to let Russia know that if she attacked western Europe, the United States would be in the war. I believe that would be a deterrent to war… We issued just this warning in the Monroe Doctrine, and though we were a much less powerful nation, it prevented aggression against Central and South America. [Needless to aay, this is a questionable interpretation of history--DT] That was only a President’s message to Congress, and there were no treaty obligations, and no arms for other nations. But it was one of the most effective peace measures in the history of the world. I would favor a Monroe Doctrine for western Europe.

"But the Atlantic Pact goes much further. It obligates us to go to war if at any time during the next 20 years anyone makes an armed attack on any of the 12 nations. Under the Monroe Doctrine we could change our policy at any time. We could judge whether perhaps one of the countries had given cause for the attack. Only Congress could declare a war in pursuance of the doctrine. Under the new pact the President can take us into war without Congress. But, above all the treaty is a part of a much larger program by which we arm all these nations against Russia…" http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/speech-on-the-north-atlantic-treaty/
 

oberdada

Gone Fishin'
Alternative: New US isolation - not very likely

A US led UN without the Soviets

Individual defence treaties

Stalin dying in '45 resulting in a long internal succession struggle in the Soviet Union, it being a lot less aggressive, so that there is no need for NATO right away
 
There would have to be no threat to Western Europe from the USSR for this to happen

Perhaps a situation where France does not fall in 1940 or for whatever reason eastern Europe does not get dominated by Russia.
 
Remember in the late 1940's many European countries were virtually bankrupt and therefore slashed defence spending to compensate, I.e the United Kingdom. Contrary to idiots like Noam Chomsky who project an anti-American image, the USSR had expansionist aims, a good example is Czechoslovakia and subversive activities in France, Greece. So there was a real threat presented by the communist bloc. The only alternative would be a "European League" bolstered by American funding.
 
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