(12 Mar 1999) English/Nat
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic are now members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
The three countries are completing their improbable migration from communist rule tied to the Soviet Union to full-fledged democratic members of the U-S - led NATO alliance.
For the people of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, the ceremony will be historic - a formal end of the Cold War.
NATO's mission has changed dramatically since its founding in 1949, a time when the West was intent on halting the westward spread of Soviet-led communism.
It was a threat Winston Churchill warned about in his famous "Iron Curtain" speech delivered on March 5, 1946, at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, 130 miles (180 kilometres) east of Independence.
UPSOUND: (English)
"From Stetin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic and Iron Curtain has descended across the continent."
SUPER CAPTION: Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister
On Friday, three former members of the Warsaw Pact have joined their old enemy, NATO.
The accession of the former Warsaw Pact members into NATO took place at a ceremony Friday at the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence.
It was during the Truman presidency that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was founded on April 4, 1949, just under 50 years ago.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"The free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their freedoms. If we falter in our leadership we may endanger the peace of the world."
SUPER CAPTION: Harry Truman, United States President
It was in Independence, on August 2nd, 1952, that Truman signed two agreements
relating to NATO.
Both had to do with the role of what was then West Germany in what would have been the European Defence Community - an alliance that would have allowed German forces to be brought into NATO without creating a German military establishment.
France failed to ratify that treaty, but Germany was brought in three years later after the end of Allied occupation.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"This treaty is a simple document. If there is anything inevitable in the future it is the will of the people of the world for freedom and for peace."
SUPER CAPTION: Harry Truman, United States President
One of the first tests of the alliance was the Berlin Airlift, a direct confrontation with the Russians.
The creation of the Berlin Wall underscored the tensions between east and west.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"All freemen, where ever they may live are citizens of Berlin, and therefore as a free man I take pride in the words: Ich Bin Ein Berliner."
SUPER CAPTION: John F. Kennedy, United States President
There were 12 original members of NATO at the time of its founding.
Since 1949, it has been expanded to include Greece and Turkey in 1952, Germany in 1955 and Spain in 1982.
The new additions bring the total to 19 and many other hopefuls are waiting in the wings: Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.
The future shape of the alliance will be discussed at the upcoming 50th anniversary summit in Washington, DC in six weeks.
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