Due to the strong historical, political, cultural and religious ties between them, Greece and the United States today enjoy excellent diplomatic relations and consider each other an ally.[1][2][3][4] Today Greece is one of the United States's closest allies.
The United States is the largest foreign investor in Greece; direct U.S. foreign investment in Greece was about $4.5 billion in 2006.
Americans are consistently well liked in Greece. In 2005 67% of Greeks viewed Americans favorably, in 2016 the figure was 66%.[12] A 2024 poll showed that a majority of Greeks viewed the role and stance of the United States of America towards Greece positively, making the U.S. more popular than in any of the other Western European countries surveyed by YouGov.[13][14]
Americans view Greece very favorably too, with 67% viewing Greece positively while only 4% view it negatively. This makes Greece one of the most liked countries in America, placing it just 1% behind The United Kingdom but solidly above Germany and France.[15]
History
Greek immigrants embarking in a small boat for a steamer for America from the port of Patras, 1910Greek Americans return as volunteers to Greece on the outbreak of the First Balkan War, New York, October 1912.Archbishop Iakovos Library, Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, Massachusetts, USA.
The first draft of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 included praise of the Greek rebels in their revolt against the Ottoman Empire. American opinion strongly supported Greece. However, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams strongly objected and that passage was dropped. The final text indicated the U.S. government had no intention of interfering in European affairs.[16] However, as Angelo Repousis shows, private citizens including philanthropists, missionaries, and political activists, inspired by a vision of ancient Greece, were eager to become involved in Greek affairs.[17]
On November 9, 1837, the United States recognized the independence of Greece when the American Minister at London signed a treaty of Commerce and Navigation with the Greek Minister at London. That act marked the first negotiation of the United States with Greece and represented the U.S. recognition of Greece as in the independent country in the early 1800s.[18] The same year, the first American Consul Gregory Anthony Perdicaris took up his position in Athens. The mid-19th-century treaty established the Greek-U.S. relations in part to help liberate and establish Greece as a separate country from the Ottoman Empire.[18]
World Wars
President Franklin Roosevelt in meeting with members of the order of AHEPA (American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association), 1936
In 1914, on the eve of the First World War, the U.S. Navy sold two war-ready battleships to Greece, the former U.S.S. Idaho and Mississippi, which were renamed the Kilkis and Lemnos. The ships ensured Greece kept its naval superiority in the Aegean against Turkey, which was threatening to reclaim the islands it had lost during the Balkan Wars. The sale of the ships was arranged by the Wilson Administration, including then Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt, with Congressional authorization.[19]
The U.S. was active in providing humanitarian aid to Greece after the devastation it suffered in World War I.[20]
During World War II, the U.S. opposed the British plan to restore King George II of Greece to the throne because he was closely associated with fascism. Instead, the U.S. helped to establish a regency but did not oppose British efforts to defeat the communist insurgents.[21]
The British took a leading role in helping the Greek government fight the insurgency. When its financial crisis forced it to cut back, the British turned that role over to the U.S. in 1947, until the end of the Greek Civil War in 1949.
Truman Doctrine
The U.S. had largely ignored Greece since it was in the British sphere but lent $25 million on easy terms in 1946. However, it complained that its financial system was chaotic. The far left boycotted elections in March 1946 that were held under international supervision. The US judged them fair and supported the new conservative government, just like the plebiscite that brought back King George II. Behind the scenes, American diplomats tried to convince the government to end corruption. Fighting broke out in 1946, with the communist element receiving arms and bases of support across the border in Yugoslavia. London secretly informed Washington in February 1947 that its funding would run out in a matter of weeks. A crisis was at hand, and the U.S. decided to act decisively.[22]
Administration leaders, believed that the Eastern Mediterranean was ripe for an armed communist takeover since Britain had to withdraw its forces and its money from Greece. In the Greek Civil War, communist partisans, who had been organized to fight the Germans, were by 1946 strongly supported by the Tito's Yugoslavia but received no support from the Soviet Union.[23] If the Communists won, Turkey, with its large but weak and antiquated army, would be at very high risk.
Truman won bipartisan support in March 1947 for the Truman Doctrine, which gave $300 million in military and economic aid to Greece and $100 million to Turkey. They were grants, not loans. Truman declared to Congress on March 12:
It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.[24]
In a larger sense, the Truman Doctrine formalized a policy of Soviet containment in which the United States would oppose the further spread of Communism. The policy meant rejecting any rollback strategy to end communist rule where it already existed.[25]
The United States also contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild Greece's buildings, agriculture, and industry as part of the Marshall Plan.[26]
Tito's split with Stalin and American aid helped the Greek government and Army to win the war; by 1949, the government forces had won the civil war. Greece joined NATO in 1952.[27][28]
Postwar
The U.S. provided Greece with more than $11.1 billion in economic and security assistance after 1946. Economic programs were phased out by 1962, but military assistance continued. In the fiscal year 1995, Greece was the fourth-largest recipient of U.S. security assistance, receiving loans totaling $255.15 million in foreign military financing.[29]
In 1953, the first defense cooperation agreement between Greece and the United States was signed, providing for the establishment and operation of American military installations on Greek territory. The current "mutual defense cooperation agreement" provides a continued U.S. military support to Greece and the operation by the U.S. of a major military facility at Souda Bay, Crete.[30]
Relations between the two countries were later strained by the Cyprus dispute and after the end of the Greek military junta, which particularly the Greek left considered to be backed by the U.S. In 1974, Greece temporarily left the military branch of NATO to protest the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. In 1980, it rejoined the military branch and stayed a close US-ally during the Cold War and until now.[31]
Truman statue in Athens
A 12-foot bronze statue of Harry Truman was erected in Athens in 1963, with the help from Greek-Americans. It is one of only eight statues of American presidents outside the United States. The statue has been a focal point of anti-Americanism in Greece. It has been toppled over several times, painted and vandalized.[32] In March 1986, it was destroyed by a dynamite bombing by a group considering it as being a symbol of American imperialism. The statue was restored within a year by the government[33] although it had originally been refused by the Athens City Council.[34][35] More recently in April 2018, a group of students tried to topple the statue during a communist anti-American protest but were stopped by riot police.[36]
Mainly the Greek products exports to the United States involve petroleum products, cement, tobacco, fur products, olive oil, marble, clothing articles, steel products, pipes, and refractory products. On the other hand, U.S. imports to Greece mostly are industrial and agricultural products and machinery, telecommunications equipment, computers and electronic equipment, timber, medical and pharmaceutical items, machinery and parts, skins, and wood-pulp.[37] Even though the United States imposed restrictions on the importation of certain fresh or processed agricultural products, there is full freedom of sale of Greek industrial products in the whole U.S. market. The EU-United States Agreement signed in May 1993 allows Greek enterprises access to U.S. public contracts. Trade between the two countries amounted to nearly a billion US dollars in 2010.[38] Due to the Credit Crunch Crisis of 2008 that has negatively affected the Greek economy, thousands of U.S. firms have shifted their productive activities from other Balkan countries and Italy to Greece due to lower costs of production.[39] The Greece-US Economic & Commercial Cooperation Committee (ECCC) is also currently working to bilaterally expand trade flow and cooperation, and widen their market in Southeastern Europe, the Black Sea and the Middle East.[37]
Military collaboration
American and Greek troops landing at Panormos (July 1920) during the Greco-Turkish WarThe Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate USS De Wert (FFG 45) arrives for a port visit to Crete on 24 August 2011
Bilateral Greek-U.S. military relations can be dated back to the early 19th century when Greeks were fighting for their independence against the Ottoman Empire. During the movement of philhellenism, the two nations found commonality under their values of freedom and democracy, while many American philhellenes went also to help in Greece.
Military collaboration stemming from wars like World War I and World War II have set the foundation for the two countries as firm allies. Greece and the U.S. have also been allies through the Cold War as well as conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan within this past century.[40][41]
The U.S.-Greek Defense Industrial Cooperation Agreement,[42] which was signed on September 8, 1983, regulates defense and intelligence relations between Greece and the United States. A revised and expanded Defence Cooperation Agreement was signed in 2019, with the aim of enhancing the close defense ties between the two countries.[43][44] During the Gulf War collaboration strengthened relations between Greece and the United States, as Greece sent military and medical assistance to the U.S. forces in the Gulf region. In May 1995 Greece Defence Ministry organised the "NEW SPIRIT 95" military exercises in the area of Karditsa as a mean to foster military cooperation between Greece, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria and the United States. In parallel, exchange of visits between high-level political and military officials to the two countries such as that of Condoleezza Rice to Athens reinforced cooperation between Greece and the United States in the areas of fighting against terrorism and the war against drugs. Additionally the port of Thessaloniki is open to NATO exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean and Greece has been a main contributor to NATO operations in Afghanistan, including counterterrorism and counter-piracy maritime efforts.[45][46] Greece and the U.S. are also allies in the War of Terror and are closely cooperating in the coalition for the fight against the Islamic State, with Greece providing technical and arms support to the U.S.-led coalition in its efforts to drive out ISIL from Iraqi and Syrian territories.
On 6 November 2020, Greece raised an official request to the United States for the acquisition of 18-24 stealth multi-role F-35 fighter jets from the year 2021.[57]
On 13 October 2021, Greece and the US upgraded their defense pact, signing an agreement that allows expanded access for US troops to train and operate from four additional bases in Greece indefinitely. Greece also has a bilateral maritime defense pact with France, and the parties hold these to be complementary to NATO.[58]
The earliest Greek immigrants date back to the 1760s, although the first significant Greek community was not established until the 1850s in New Orleans, LA. The first Greek consulate and Greek Orthodox Church in the US were founded in New Orleans as well. Immigration of Greeks into the US was at its peak in 1945 after damage of the World Wars and Greek Civil War had left their economy in ruins. After admittance of Greece into the EU in 1981, immigration of Greeks into the US greatly decreased. As of 1999 there were 72,000 Greek-Americans who had migrated to Greece, but now those number might be minimal due to the current economic crisis in the EU and Greece.[59]
The 2000 US Census showed 1,153,295 Greeks living in the US. About 3 million Americans are of Greek ancestry.[60]Greek-Americans are an established, well-organized community in the U.S. (several notable politicians, including former Vice-president Spiro Agnew, and Senators Olympia Snowe, Paul Sarbanes and Paul Tsongas are of Greek ancestry as well as 1988 Presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis), and they help cultivate close political and cultural ties with Greece. There are several political advocacy groups founded by Greek-Americans that seek to bring awareness of ongoing public and economic issues occurring in Greece. The American Hellenic Council has been in service since 1974.[61] The Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York has been in service even longer, since 1938, and likewise seeks to strengthen the Greek-American community in New York by being a voice to the Greek people.[62]
Greek lobby in the United States
A group of Greek American lawyers, lobbyists, public relations firms are working under the American Hellenic Institute to promote the national interests of Greece in the U.S. Congress in cooperation with other national lobbies in the United States, with most important being the Israeli lobby and to a lesser extent the Armenian lobby.
↑ "Secretary Pompeo's Meeting With Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias". State Department. Retrieved 22 May 2018. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met today with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias at the Department of State. Secretary Pompeo and Foreign Minister Kotzias discussed the excellent state of bilateral relations and agreed to establish a U.S.-Greek Strategic Dialogue on key areas of cooperation.
↑ Antonis Klapsis, "From dictatorship to democracy: US-Greek relations at a critical turning point (1974-1975)." Mediterranean Quarterly 22.1 (2011): 61-73.
↑ Leonidas V. Georgiou, Conversations with FDR at his AHEPA Initiation: Frigates, Battleships, Espionage, and a Sentimental Bond with Greece, New York: Knollwood Press, 2019.
↑ Dimitra Giannuli, "American Philanthropy in Action: The American Red Cross in Greece, 1918-1923," East European Politics & Societies (1996) 10#1 pp 108-132.
↑ Lawrence S. Wittner, "American Policy Toward Greece During World War II," Diplomatic History (1979) 3#2 pp p129-149. online
↑ Robert Frazier, "Did Britain Start the Cold War? Bevin and the Truman Doctrine." Historical Journal 27.3 (1984): 715-727.
↑ Howard Jones, "A New Kind of War": America's Global Strategy and the Truman Doctrine in Greece (1989)
↑ Joseph C. Satterthwaite, "The Truman doctrine: Turkey." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 401.1 (1972): 74-84. online
↑ Şuhnaz Yilmaz, Turkish-American Relations, 1800-1952: Between the Stars, Stripes and the Crescent (Routledge, 2015).
↑ Judith S. Jeffrey, Ambiguous Commitments and Uncertain Policies: The Truman Doctrine in Greece, 1947–1952 (2000)
Amen, Michael Mark. American Foreign Policy in Greece 1944/1949 (P. Lang, 1978)
Coufoudakis, Van. “The United States, the United Nations, and the Greek Question, 1946–1952.” In Greece in the 1940s, edited by John Iatrides, (University Press of New England, 1981) pp 275–97.
Couloumbis, Theodore A. Greek political reaction to American and NATO influences (Yale University Press, 1966)
Couloumbis, Theodore A., and John O. Iatrides, eds. Greek-American relations: a critical review (Pella Publishing Company, 1980)
Fatouros, A. A. “Building Formal Structures of Penetration: The United States in Greece, 1947–48.” In Greece in the 1940s, edited by John Iatrides, (University Press of New England, 1981) pp 239–58.
Fields, James. America and the Mediterranean World (Princeton University Press, 1969).
Georgiou, Leonidas V., Conversations with F.D.R. at his AHEPA Initiation: Frigates, Battleships, Espionage, and a Sentimental Bond with Greece (New York: Knollwood Press, 2019). online
Goldbloom, Maurice. “United States Policy in Post-War Greece.” In Greece under Military Rule, edited by Richard Clogg and G. Yannopoulos, (1972) pp 228–54.
Harris Jr, William D. "Instilling Aggressiveness: US Advisors and Greek Combat Leadership in the Greek Civil War, 1947-1949." Thesis, Army Command and General Staff College (Fort Leavenworth Kansas, 2012). online
Iatrides, John. “The United States and Greece in the Twentieth Century.” In Greece in the Twentieth Century, edited by Theodore Kariotis and Fotini Bellou, (2003) pp. 69–110.
Iatrides, John. “The United States, Greece, and the Balkans.” In Greece and the New Balkans, edited by Van Coufoudakis, Harry Psomiades, and Andreas Gerolymatos, (1999) pp. 265–94.
Klapsis, Antonis. "From dictatorship to democracy: US-Greek relations at a critical turning point (1974-1975)." Mediterranean Quarterly 22.1 (2011): 61-73 online
Klarevas, Louis. "Were the eagle and the phoenix birds of a feather? The United States and the Greek coup of 1967." Diplomatic History 30.3 (2006): 471-508. online
Laipson, Helen. "US Policy towards Greece and Turkey since 1974." in The Greek-Turkish Conflict in the 1990s (Palgrave Macmillan, 1991) pp. 164-182.
Miller, James Edward. The United States and the Making of Modern Greece: History and Power, 1950-1974 (2009) online
Nalmpantis, Kyriakos. "Time on the Mountain: The Office of Strategic Services in Axis-Occupied Greece, 1943-1944" PhD dissertation Kent State University, 2010. online
Pelt, Mogens. Tying Greece to the West: US-West German-Greek Relations 1949-1974 (Museum Tusculanum Press, 2006).
Ploumis, Michail. "A New Way Forward: Rebalancing the US Security Cooperation with Greece in a Fast Changing Geostrategic Environment." Applied Finance and Accounting 4.1 (2018): 95-111. online
Repousis, Angelo. Greek-American Relations from Monroe to Truman. (Kent State University Press, 2013), a scholarly survey since the 1820s
Sakkas, John. "The Greek dictatorship, the USA and the Arabs, 1967–1974." Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans 6.3 (2004): 245-257.
Stathakis, George. "US Economic Policies in Post Civil War Greece, 1949-1953: Stabilization and Monetary Reform." Journal of European Economic History (1995) 24#2 pp: 375–404.
Stearns, Monteagle. Entangled allies: US policy toward Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus (Council on Foreign relations, 1992). online
Wittner, Lawrence. American Intervention in Greece, 1943–1949 (Columbia University Press, 1982).
Wittner, Lawrence. "American Policy toward Greece, 1944–49." In Greece in the 1940s, edited by John Iatrides, (University Press of New England, 1981) pp. 229–39.
Zervakis, Peter A. "The Role of the 'Justice For Greece Committee' for the American Involvement in Greece after World War II," Balkan Studies (1997) 38#1 pp 159–196
Zervakis, Peter A. "The Greek Diaspora in the United States and American Involvement in Greece after World War II," Modern Greek Studies Yearbook (1998), Vol. 14, pp 213–240.
The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the Foreign Policy Agenda of the Department of State, are "to build and sustain a more democratic, secure, and prosperous world for the benefit of the American people and the international community". Liberalism has been a key component of US foreign policy since its independence from Britain. Since the end of World War II, the United States has had a grand strategy which has been characterized as being oriented around primacy, "deep engagement", and/or liberal hegemony. This strategy entails that the United States maintains military predominance; builds and maintains an extensive network of allies ; integrates other states into US-designed international institutions ; and limits the spread of nuclear weapons.
The Truman Doctrine is an American foreign policy that pledges American "support for democracies against authoritarian threats." The doctrine originated with the primary goal of countering the growth of the Soviet bloc during the Cold War. It was announced to Congress by President Harry S. Truman on March 12, 1947, and further developed on July 4, 1948, when he pledged to oppose the communist rebellions in Greece and Soviet demands from Turkey. More generally, the Truman Doctrine implied American support for other nations threatened by Moscow. It led to the formation of NATO in 1949. Historians often use Truman's speech to Congress on March 12, 1947 to date the start of the Cold War.
A United States presidential doctrine comprises the key goals, attitudes, or stances for United States foreign affairs outlined by a president. Most presidential doctrines are related to the Cold War. Though many U.S. presidents had themes related to their handling of foreign policy, the term doctrine generally applies to presidents such as James Monroe, Harry S. Truman, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, all of whom had doctrines which more completely characterized their foreign policy.
The Mutual Defense Assistance Act was a United States Act of Congress signed by President Harry S. Truman on 6 October 1949. For U.S. foreign policy, it was the first U.S. military foreign aid legislation of the Cold War era, and initially to Europe. The Act followed Truman's signing of the Economic Cooperation Act, on April 3, 1948, which provided non-military, economic reconstruction and development aid to Europe.
Atlanticism, also known as Transatlanticism, is the ideology which advocates a close alliance between nations in Northern America and in Europe on political, economic, and defense issues. The purpose is to maintain or increase the security and prosperity of the participating countries and protect liberal democracy and the progressive values of an open society that unite them under multiculturalism. The term derives from the North Atlantic Ocean, which is bordered by North America and Europe.
Major non-NATO ally (MNNA) is a designation given by the United States government to countries that have strategic working relationships with the U.S. Armed Forces while not being members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). While the status does not automatically constitute a mutual defense pact with the United States, it does confer a variety of military and financial advantages that are otherwise unobtainable by non-NATO countries. There are currently 19 major non-NATO allies across four continents: 11 in Asia, 3 in Africa, 3 in South America, and 2 in Oceania.
The Republic of Turkey (Türkiye) and the United States of America established diplomatic relations in 1927. Relations after World War II evolved from the Second Cairo Conference in December 1943 and Turkey's entrance into World War II on the side of the Allies in February 1945. Later that year, Turkey became a charter member of the United Nations. Since 1945, both countries advanced ties under liberal international order, put forward by the US, through a set of global, rule-based, structured relationships based on political, and economic liberalism. As a consequence relationships advanced under G20, OECD, Council of Europe, OSCE, WTO, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, IMF, the World Bank and the Turkey in NATO.
Lincoln MacVeagh was a United States soldier, diplomat, businessman, and archaeologist. He served a long career as the United States ambassador to several countries during difficult times.
United States foreign policy in the Middle East has its roots in the early 19th-century Tripolitan War that occurred shortly after the 1776 establishment of the United States as an independent sovereign state, but became much more expansive in the aftermath of World War II. With the goal of preventing the Soviet Union from gaining influence in the region during the Cold War, American foreign policy saw the deliverance of extensive support in various forms to anti-communist and anti-Soviet regimes; among the top priorities for the U.S. with regards to this goal was its support for the State of Israel against its Soviet-backed neighbouring Arab countries during the peak of the Arab–Israeli conflict. The U.S. also came to replace the United Kingdom as the main security patron for Saudi Arabia as well as the other Arab states of the Persian Gulf in the 1960s and 1970s in order to ensure, among other goals, a stable flow of oil from the Persian Gulf. As of 2023, the U.S. has diplomatic relations with every country in the Middle East except for Iran, with whom relations were severed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Syria, with whom relations were suspended in 2012 following the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War.
Greek–British relations are foreign relations between Greece and the United Kingdom. Greece and the United Kingdom maintain excellent and cordial relations and consider each other an ally with the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, paying an official visit to London in 2021. Greece and the United Kingdom are both members of the United Nations, NATO and the Council of Europe.
Greco-Russian relations are the bilateral foreign relations between Greece and Russia. The two countries first entered into diplomatic relations in 1828. Both Greece and Russia are members of international organizations and agreements, including the United Nations, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.
Greece and Italy enjoy special and very strong bilateral diplomatic relations. Modern diplomatic relations between the two countries were established right after Italy's unification, and are today regarded as cordial. The two states cooperate in fields of energy, security, culture and tourism, and are major trading partners, both in exports and imports. Greeks and Italians often exchange the phrase "una faccia, una razza", meaning "one face, one race".
Relations between the NATO military alliance and the Russian Federation were established in 1991 within the framework of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. In 1994, Russia joined the Partnership for Peace program, and on 27 May 1997, the NATO–Russia Founding Act (NRFA) was signed at the 1997 Paris NATO Summit in France, enabling the creation of the NATO–Russia Permanent Joint Council (NRPJC). Through the early part of 2010s NATO and Russia signed several additional agreements on cooperation. The NRPJC was replaced in 2002 by the NATO–Russia Council (NRC), which was established in an effort to partner on security issues and joint projects together.
France–Greece relations, or Franco-Greek relations, are foreign relations between France and Greece. In modern history, both countries established diplomatic relations in 1833, three years after Greek Independence. France and Greece, due to strong cultural and historical ties, have had a traditionally strong and special relationship and strategic alliance for decades and today enjoy strong diplomatic relations also.
United States foreign aid, also known as US foreign assistance consists of a variety of tangible and intangible forms of assistance the United States gives to other countries. Foreign aid is used to support American national security and commercial interests and can also be distributed for humanitarian reasons. Aid is financed from US taxpayers and other revenue sources that Congress appropriates annually through the United States budget process. It is dispersed through "over 20 U.S. government agencies that manage foreign assistance programs," although about half of all economic assistance is channeled through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The Turkish Straits crisis was a Cold War-era territorial conflict between the Soviet Union and Turkey. Turkey had remained officially neutral throughout most of the Second World War. After the war ended, Turkey was pressured by the Soviet government to institute joint military control of passage through Turkish Straits, which connected the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. When the Turkish government refused, tensions in the region rose, leading to a Soviet show of force and demands for territorial concessions along the Georgia–Turkey border.
The Office of Defense Cooperation Turkey to Turkey is a United States Security Assistance Organization (SAO) to Turkey. It was established in 1947 as the Joint American Military Mission for Aid to Turkey (JAMMAT), and renamed the Joint United States Military Mission for Aid to Turkey (JUSMMAT) in 1958. It became the ODC-T in 1994. After Turkey joined NATO in 1952, JAMMAT became the largest of the United States European Commands (USEUCOM).
Crete Naval Base is a major naval base of the Hellenic Navy and NATO at Souda Bay in Crete, Greece.
The history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) begins in the immediate aftermath of World War II when British diplomacy set the stage to contain the Soviet Union and to stop the expansion of Soviet power in Europe. The United Kingdom and France signed, in 1947, the Treaty of Dunkirk, a defensive pact, which was expanded in 1948 with the Treaty of Brussels to add the three Benelux countries and committed them to collective defense against an armed attack for fifty years. The British worked with Washington to expand the alliance into NATO in 1949, adding the United States and Canada as well as Italy, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland. Greece and Turkey joined in 1952, West Germany joined in 1955, Spain joined in 1982, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined in 1999, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined in 2004, Albania and Croatia joined in 2009, Montenegro joined in 2017, North Macedonia joined in 2020, Finland joined in 2023, and Sweden joined in 2024.
The main issues of the United States foreign policy during the 1945–1953 presidency of Harry S. Truman include:
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
