Final answer:
The correct answer is option C) NATO and the Warsaw Pact were both established to promote global peace and cooperation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in April 1949 and the subsequent establishment of the Warsaw Pact in 1955 were significant events in the Cold War era that represented the division of Europe into Western and Eastern Blocs. NATO was a military alliance formed by Western nations, including the United States, Canada, and various Western European countries, to provide collective security against potential Soviet aggression. In response to West Germany joining NATO in 1955, the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite states formed the Warsaw Pact as a counterbalance and a means of mutual defense against what they perceived as a potential threat from the united Western Europe and resurgent Germany.
Both alliances exemplified the heightened tensions between the two superpowers and their respective allies. NATO sought to ensure the peace and stability of Western Europe, never aiming at expansion but rather collective defense. The Warsaw Pact, largely seen as a reaction to the formation and expansion of NATO, played a key role in maintaining Soviet influence in Eastern Europe. These alliances solidified the division symbolized by the Iron Curtain and became defining features of the Cold War's geopolitical landscape.