orts and exports for the US. Second, historically West Germany had been an industrial hub and needed to be brought back to tip-top shape to buffer the expanding USSR. Third, with its increasing mass the USSR was becoming a rival to the US. Lastly, without this aid Western Europe might look to the USSR for help, which would make life a lot tougher for American interests. The year of 1948 was pivotal for Europe. In February, the Communists in Prague staged a coup d'etat and the spring brought the beginning of the Cold War. Immediately after WWII, Germany was divided in to occupation zones by Britain, France, the US, and USSR. The capital of Germany at the time was Berlin, which happened to fall in the Soviet zone. The governing administration located in Berlin fell, because of the obvious reason of "too many cooks spoil the broth". When this happened, the USSR demanded that Berlin become solely part of the Soviet zone, since its status as capital was ruined. The USSR enforced this ruling by blockading all land routes into and tried to force the other powers out of its respective sectors of Berlin. Eventually the Berlin Blockade was squelched by a military airlift that lasted the rest of the year. The city still remained divided and became known as East (Soviet controlled) and West Berlin. This transgression on the part of the USSR prompted negotiations between Western Europe, the US and Canada that resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty.
             The language of the North Atlantic Treaty originally consisted of its preamble and fourteen articles. The preamble states that members will promote common values and will "unite their efforts for a collective defense." The key article of the North Atlantic Treaty is number five (it's the one that inspired my title) it reads, "The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them...shall be considered an attack against them all." Another interesting a...