The Treaty of Dunkirk was signed on 4 March 1947, between France and the United Kingdom in Dunkirk (France) as a Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance against a possible German attack in the aftermath of World War II. The Dunkirk Treaty entered into force on 8 September 1947 and it preceded the Treaty of Brussels of 1948. According to professor of Political Science Marc Trachtenberg, the German threat was a pretext for defense against USSR.