After World War II, German aviation was severely curtailed, and military aviation was completely forbidden after the "Luftwaffe" of the Third Reich had been disbanded in August 1946 by the Allied Control Commission. This changed in 1955 when West Germany joined NATO, as the Western Allies believed that Germany was needed to counter the increasing military threat posed by the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies. Therefore, on 9 January 1956, a new German Air Force called "Luftwaffe" was founded as a branch of the new "Bundeswehr".