Saintman2884
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One major reason why historically throughout most of NATO's existence, the U.S. took on a major preponderance of the military payments, debts and leading role was because our post-WWII economy, then and now, was the world's sophisticated, technological advanced, and strongest in the world and most European nations' economies, militaries and overall influence was drastically weakened after WWII. After WWII, U.K. was essentially broke, a good portion of its internal, domestic infrastructure, overall economy was damaged, outdated and couldn't afford to maintain its control over it's far-flung colonial empire in Indian subcontinent, Palestine/Isreal, Cyprus, South Africa, Rhodesia, Kenya within 25-30 years following WWII, all of those former colonies were gone, some only after a very violent protracted struggle (Cyprus, Kenya, Malayan Emergency), U.K.'s economy was still so perilous and weak following WWII that it wasn't until late 50's that war-time rationing, and National Service were abolished. France, immediately post-WWII was in an even worst state economically and they too, gradually lost all of their colonial empire in Africa, and Asia, the one that really stung them the hardest and in some ways, still affects their national consciousness was Algerian civil war and how De Gaulle's decision to.grant independence in 1962 lead to a nearly-successful Algiers Putsch, right-wing French army officers revolting against his decision, tried to assassinate de Gaulle and tried to overthrow him internally in a right-wing coup. The Algerian affair probably remains the biggest internal threat to security and safety of French Fifth Republic and likely France's worst internal, dangerous security threat post-WWII. Some French, particularly on the far-right, have never truly gotten over the lose of Algeria.
Belgium, Holland, France, U.K. and even Franco's Spain were so preoccupied with rebuilding and re-innovating their economies and internal problems that they couldn't afford nor did they have the ability to match our financial and military committment to funding and arming NATO as a counterweight to prevent future Soviet aggression, expansion into eastern and central Europe, establishing pro-Soviet communist "Warsaw-Bloc" dictatorships and setting up friendly "client-states" in newly-independent countries in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Caribbean and South America (Cuba, Nicaragua). India in its first 40-45 years of existence was a Soviet-leaning sovereign country under Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Indira Gandhi even abolished Congress, civil rights and jailed opposition politicians, journalists during India's "Emergency Period" for 20 months from 1975-77. One of the world's largest countries as well as democracies was essentially a dictatorship for almost two years.
