НАТО И КОНЦЕПЦИЯТА ЗА „FORWARD DEFENCE“ В ЮГОИЗТОЧНА ЕВРОПА (1951–1954 Г.)
NATO AND THE CONCEPT OF „FORWARD DEFENCE“ IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE (1952–1954)

Summary/Abstract: This article aims to shed light on an important element of the Alliance’s strategy – forward defense, the extent of its implementation on NATO‘s Southern flank, the role of Yugoslavia and the impact of evolution on the 1953-1954 North Atlantic Treaty strategy on this concept. Forward defense become particularly relevant in connection with the rearmament and integration of the Federal Republic of Germany into Western European defense structures and the first enlargement of the Alliance to the Balkans, along with attempts to build a stable front/barrier against the Eastern Bloc and the USSR in the first half of the 1950s. Unlike nuclear weapons, the use of which would cause enormous destruction in depth, this defense concept enjoys serious attention (especially in Athens), allowing in the event of war to preserve most of the territory. The implementation of forward defense is associated with the presence of large conventional forces, but in the defense of the Southern Flank the Alliance could not allocate the necessary resources and therefore relies on local forces and the conclusion of the Balkan Pacts of 1953/1954 follows this model. The paradox in this case is that forward defense is made possible by the evolution of NATO‘s strategy (1953–1954) towards the widespread use of tactical nuclear weapons.

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