acknowledged the independence of Indonesia. The Dutch navy was stationed in Western New Guinea until that too was turned over to the Indonesians in 1962, due to diplomatic intervention of the US and UN. Cold War and NATO cooperation At the time of the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the military focus was on the army and air force; it was not until the Korean War (1950–1953) that the navy got more recognition. The government allowed the creation of a balanced fleet consisting of two naval squadrons. Apart from the carrier , the Dutch navy consisted of four s, two s, eight s, four s, six s and a large number of minesweepers. The Netherlands developed its defence policy in close cooperation with other NATO members. The establishment of the Warsaw Pact in 1955 intensified the arms race between West and East. Technical innovations rapidly emerged; the introduction of radar, sonar and guided missiles was particularly relevant for the navy. The Soviet Union-dominated Warsaw Pact was perceived as the main permanent threat; this made a fixed military strategy useful. From 1965 onwards the Netherlands joined certain permanent NATO squadrons like the Standing Naval Force Atlantic. In the 1960s the Soviet Union abandoned its traditional land based strategy and built up a navy with worldwide impact, with many submarines and even an aircraft carrier. The main task of NATO navies was the protection of shipping lanes across the Northern Atlantic between the NATO-allies in North America and western Europe. Current navy After the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 the international military situation changed drastically. Globally, new conflicts emerged and the borders between friend and foe seemed to gradually fade. NATO's reorientation of the organisation's goals created a more prominent role for the United Nations as international peacekeepers. From 1990 onwards navy units were engaged in conflicts in Cambodia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon but also the Gulf War and the Yugoslavian conflict. The new goals of the Dutch navy were now changed to an expeditionary peacekeeping and peace enforcing force. Gallery of famous Dutch sea battles The tradition of maritime painting was strong in the Netherlands, especially in the Golden Age, and one of the favourite topics was celebrating Dutch Naval victories. See also Royal Netherlands Navy Royal Netherlands Navy Submarine Service References Sources: