The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was signed by countries of Western Europe, Canada, and the Unite States during the year 1949. The treaty's agenda was to provide group security measures against the Soviet Union. This event was the first peacetime military alliance the United States made after the Second World War. The United States aided Europe to recover from the massive destruction the war brought forth. It was a wise decision that Secretary of State George Marshall sought to prevent the further expansion of communists across the continent.