NATO and the Warsaw Pact
I can explain why NATO and the Warsaw Pact were formed.
NATO and the Warsaw Pact
I can explain why NATO and the Warsaw Pact were formed.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- The USSR and Germany were considered threats to Western Europe after WW2.
- NATO was founded in 1949 as a military alliance of Western countries.
- West Germany was allowed to join NATO in 1955.
- The USSR opposed West German entry into NATO.
- The Warsaw Pact was an alliance of Eastern European countries founded in 1955.
Keywords
Alliance - an agreement between countries or political parties to work together to achieve something
Controversial - something that causes a lot of disagreement or argument
Rearmament - the process of supplying yourself or others with new weapons, especially in order to become a strong military power again
Common misconception
NATO was established in response to the USSR setting up the Warsaw Pact.
The Warsaw Pact was a response to NATO's formation in April 1949 (which itself followed the Berlin Crisis and Soviet takeover of Czechoslovakia).
To help you plan your year 11 history lesson on: NATO and the Warsaw Pact, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 11 history lesson on: NATO and the Warsaw Pact, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 history lessons from the Cold War development: how peaceful was 'peaceful co-existence'? unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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