The Warsaw Pact was an agreement between communist states of Europe, initiated by the Soviet Union in response to NATO. It dissolved in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The pact united each nation’s military might and had two main tasks: the Political Advisory Committee and the Unified Command of the Covenant Armed Forces. The pact was created to alleviate fears of Western aggression against Eastern Bloc states. Many former members joined NATO in 1999 and 2004. Classified documents revealed offensive contingency plans for war with Western powers.
The Warsaw Pact is the name given to an agreement, concluded in Poland in 1955, between several communist states of Europe. It is also known as the Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. The Soviet Union initiated the agreement in response to the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which itself was formed in response to the perceived threat to European and North Atlantic nations by the Union Soviet. The Warsaw Pact has been made available in Polish, Czech, German, Hungarian, Romanian and Russian.
Originally, members of the group that signed the pact included the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia. The GDR joined in 1956 and Albania left the pact in 1961 after the Sino-Soviet split. The accord finally dissolved in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed and many of the communist states that made up the pact switched to democratic systems.
The Warsaw Pact had two main tasks and two main branches. The Political Advisory Committee was responsible for non-military activities among the various nations that made up the pact. The Unified Command of the Covenant Armed Forces was responsible for the various troops under its auspices from the various nations that made up the covenant. The Supreme Commander of the United Command was also the First Deputy Minister of Defense for the Soviet Union itself.
The basic idea of the agreement was that the various signatory nations would help each other in case of external aggression. There were fears among many of the members that Western nations, especially after the formation of NATO, might choose to invade or take military action against Eastern Bloc states to try to overthrow their Communist governments. The Warsaw Pact alleviated these fears somewhat by uniting each nation’s military might into a much larger force. The Soviet Union also used the deal as a way to control its smaller allies, as it did when it invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968 with the assistance of other pact members to overthrow a government said to show imperialist leanings. and, therefore, threatened other pacts. members.
Despite the Cold War and the rivalry between NATO nations and Warsaw Pact nations, there were many examples of mutual cooperation between the two. Both groups frequently deployed troops under the auspices of the United Nations, who would serve alongside each other. The International Commission of Control and Supervision, for example, has deployed Canadian and Polish troops in Vietnam.
In 2005, Poland released many classified documents since the deal, which shed light on much of the member countries’ strategy. Most surprising to many were the contingency plans of nations in the event of war with Western powers. The main strategy was incredibly offensive, with plans laid out for how to quickly and effectively deploy into Western Europe to seize control, using nuclear force if necessary. Very few defensive plans were found, with strategy relying on speed and efficiency to neutralize the European powers.
A number of former Warsaw Pact member countries, and the governments that have since replaced them, joined NATO in 1999. In 2004, even more joined. The accession of Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Lithuania represents in many ways the closing of one of the last circles of the Cold War.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
