Stefan Petrov | September 23 Movement (Bulgaria)
The creation of NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty was signed on 4 April 1949 in Washington. At that time, the United States did not hide its claims to world domination. American imperialism, immediately after the end of the Second World War, was at the peak of its power. In the wake of the world war, all of the United States’ direct imperialist rivals had been either defeated or severely weakened and were unable to challenge American supremacy. By April 1949, when the treaty was signed, the United States was the only country in the world to possess nuclear weapons. The Soviet Union’s first nuclear test was conducted in August 1949, and the United Kingdom’s in 1952.
US military bases were located all over the world, and from them American heavy bombers could reach any place on earth with nuclear bombs. The US managed to take scientists and engineers from the defeated countries – Germany and Japan – as ‘war trophies,’ along with the most advanced weapons and technologies they had developed. For example, all the key people involved in developing German ballistic missiles and jet aircraft were taken to the US and stayed there to work for the rest of their lives.
The only country that could afford to have an independent policy after the war and not bow to US demands was the USSR. But the Soviet Union had to heal the terrible wounds of the war against fascism, in which millions of Soviet citizens died and a third of the country’s national wealth was destroyed. The gross domestic product of the USSR after the end of the war was only a quarter of that of the United States. Only the extremely powerful, glorious and highly experienced ground forces of the Soviet state had a restraining effect on the aggressive plans of the United States. The Pentagon began developing plans for war against the USSR as early as the end of 1945.
That is why American imperialism created the NATO military bloc with two main goals: to keep its imperialist rivals in check and to destroy the USSR as the last obstacle to US world domination. It should be emphasised that the two world wars in the first half of the 20th century were not accidental, but a logical consequence of the operation of the fundamental economic law of capitalism in its imperialist stage. As Stalin put it in 1952, the essence of this basic economic law of modern monopoly capitalism is to ensure maximum capitalist profit through the militarisation of the economy and war.
Just one year after the founding of NATO, the United States proceeded to implement its plans for the military defeat of socialism. The pact did not formally participate in the Korean War, but the so-called ‘UN forces’ consisted almost entirely of troops from the United States and its closest NATO allies.
Moreover, the participation of Turkey and Greece in this war was a condition for their admission to NATO in 1952. According to Pentagon strategists, the first blow had to be struck against the people’s democracies in Asia. The DPRK and the People’s Republic of China, in their opinion, were the ‘weak link’ in the world socialist system. Today, this war is seen as one of many local conflicts during the Cold War, but all the evidence points to the fact that in 1950, the United States had much more ambitious goals. The war in Korea was supposed to be the first phase of a ‘hot war’ against the world socialist system. The blitzkrieg against the DPRK was to be followed by the defeat of the People’s Republic of China and finally a war against the USSR. However, the results of the military operations in Korea threw all the plans of American imperialism into disorder. After the US military machine failed to secure victory over little Korea, it became clear that plans for the military defeat of the PRC and, even more so, the USSR were completely unrealistic and had to be abandoned. During the same period, 1950-53, the USSR, much earlier than predicted, developed and successfully tested nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. By 1955, the USSR already had the potential to stop the aggressor, including thermonuclear bombs and heavy bombers that could reach the territory of the United States.
The Cold War
The real ‘Cold War’ began after the Korean War. In the United States, after realising the catastrophic consequences that a war with the use of nuclear weapons against the USSR and the socialist countries could have for them, a new strategy was developed. This strategy included economic sanctions and blockades, an arms race, undermining socialism from within, and stirring up local wars. To distinguish it from a real war, this period was called the ‘Cold War’ and was intended to lead to the exhaustion and collapse of the USSR without direct armed conflict. Despite the widespread claim today that the USSR lost the ‘Cold War,’ it should be emphasised that by 1980, the foundations of communism had not been laid, but the USSR was winning on all fronts of the conflict with the United States.
The US also suffered defeats in local wars. The defeat suffered by imperialism in Vietnam was particularly severe. The armed forces of two leading imperialist countries were directly involved in the war against the Vietnamese people. First, the French colonisers suffered a heavy defeat in 1954, followed by the American interventionists and their satellites, who were forced to leave Vietnam in 1973. Finally, the puppet regime in South Vietnam was overthrown and the country was liberated and reunified in 1975. The victory of the Vietnamese people over the most powerful imperialist countries was a demonstration of the changed balance of power in the world in favour of the forces of peace and socialism.
After the Cold War
The collapse of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact, and the restoration of capitalism in the former socialist countries of Europe and the republics of the USSR during the period 1989-92 was mainly a consequence of internal processes in these countries. However, the United States and NATO celebrated and announced to the world that they had ‘won’ the Cold War. At that moment, it seemed that the main goal of the pact – the global domination of American imperialism – had been achieved. The misjudgement of the real reasons for the collapse of the USSR and, above all, of the consequences of this so-called ‘victory’ led to complacency and a gross overestimation of the strength and capabilities of the US and NATO. The pact considered itself the winner of a real war and tried to dictate its terms to the ‘defeated.’ On the other side, however, was Russia, which did not consider itself defeated and unwilling to tolerate foreign dictates.
In the spring of 1999 the United States decided to teach a lesson to all countries that did not recognise its hegemony. The so-called remnant of Yugoslavia, which consisted only of Serbia and Montenegro, was chosen as the victim. The reason was that it was Russia’s only remaining ally in the Balkans. With the active assistance of NATO, the so-called ‘Kosovo Liberation Army’ was created, which began an armed struggle to separate Kosovo from Serbia. The actions of the Yugoslav army and police to defend the country’s territorial integrity were used as a pretext for intervention, and on 18 March 1999, NATO issued an ultimatum to Yugoslavia to allow the occupation of its entire territory by NATO troops. When this ultimatum was rejected, NATO began air strikes against Yugoslavia. This was in violation of all norms of international law and without a decision by the UN Security Council.
In the years that followed, NATO as an organisation did not participate in military conflicts, but the United States and many other NATO countries were the main organisers and participants in a series of wars. In 2001, the United States attacked and occupied Afghanistan. In 2003, Iraq suffered the same fate. In 2011, NATO countries bombed Libya. The imperialist intervention in Syria lasted almost 15 years before the government there was replaced by a Western proxy promoting the most reactionary views. In all these countries, military intervention caused chaos and destruction that continue to this day. Their economies are ruined, entire cities have been destroyed and abandoned by their populations, and hundreds of thousands of peaceful civilians have been killed and continue to die.
Once again, we are witnessing a race to develop new weapons. As in the past, the initiative for every new step in this race always belongs to the United States. They have withdrawn from treaties limiting missile defence systems and, most recently, from the treaty limiting medium-range missiles. This was a transparent attempt to put pressure on and intimidate Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.
The United States is constantly expanding its use of economic and financial sanctions to damage the economies of independent countries. This has led to the daylight robbery of property and assets belonging to these countries. Even the purchase of food and medicines, etc., is being blocked. All means are being used to destabilise and overthrow governments and leaders that are not to the liking of the United States. Armed conflicts such as those in Ukraine, Yemen and Palestine are being fuelled.
Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, it is the US that is trying to impose its hegemony over the rest of the world by force. The countries threatened by the US are obviously uniting in common resistance. Among them are China, North Korea, Cuba, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, etc.
Bulgaria in NATO
On 29 March 2004, the documents for Bulgaria’s membership in NATO were deposited in Washington, and this date is officially considered the date of Bulgaria’s accession to the pact. Thus, our country was once again turned into a satellite of the most powerful and aggressive imperialist state. It is striking that the United States has no trust in the Bulgarian army and has done everything possible to disarm it to the maximum extent. In this way, they showed unequivocally that they treat Bulgaria as a defeated country, not as an ally. The attitude of the USSR towards Bulgaria was completely different.
After 20 years of NATO membership, the Bulgarian army is a picture of misery. There is practically no air force or navy. The missile forces were destroyed at the insistence of the United States. The ground forces have been reduced to 14,000 men with 80 tanks, which have no real combat value and can only be used for security and police tasks. There are no trained reserves, mobilisation reserves have been destroyed, and there is no fortified line.
When, on 18 March 2004, the Bulgarian National Assemblyapproved the North Atlantic Treaty on NATO membership, the atmosphere in the room was similar to that of March 1941. Back then, in the same hall, it was decided that Bulgaria would join the alliance of Hitler and Mussolini.
The struggle against NATO
Today, NATO continues to be an emanation of the most aggressive and reactionary imperialist forces. The struggle against the expansion of this organisation and against its very existence has been a fundamental task of all anti-imperialists since its creation in 1949. Today, the time has come for this reactionary alliance to be swept into history by the united forces of the peoples of the worldseeking a better future for humanity.
