Warsaw Pact
The era from 1946 to 1990 is known as the Cold War, during which the U.S. and other N.A.T.O. countries attempted to contain the rapid spread of communism by the Warsaw Pact nations, including the Soviet Union. The Warsaw Pact played a major part in the Soviet Union’s plan to spread communism through the Eastern European countries and then throughout the west. The Warsaw Pact is, overlooked part of the Cold War, was a key factor in the communist countries and in relations to N.A.T.O. During World War Two, the Soviet Union’s Red Army liberated Eastern Europe from Nazi Germany control. The Red Army liberated Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. So, by the end of World War Two, all of these countries, including East Germany were under Soviet control. The Red Army also combined with the armies of the liberated countries, creating a force consisting of 500,000 troops. After the war ended, tensions grew between the Soviet Union and its former World War Two allies. France, Great Britain, and the U.S. disagreed with the Soviets on topics such as the division of Germany, free elections in Poland, and the reparations paid by Germany. These disagreements caused a separation between the Soviet Union and its form
With the end of the Cold War in 1990, and the failure of cooperation between the Warsaw Pact Nations, the Warsaw Pact fell apart. The once NATO countering alliance of the Communist countries ceased to convene, while NATO still pushed on. The Warsaw Pact was not a complete failure, but it did not succeed it fulfilling its purpose to spread Communism throughout the entire world. The Soviet forces made up most of the Warsaw Pact’s military manpower, providing 73 of the 126 tanks and motorized rifle divisions. The main goal of the Soviet military strategy was to have a quick victory over NATO in a non-nuclear war. The Soviets planned to defeat NATO before it could even convene a strategy if the Warsaw Pact planned to attack. The Warsaw Pact countries would provide forward bases, staging areas, and interior lines of communication for the Soviets to quickly attack NATO, hoping to knock out some of its members. Also, with a quick victory over NATO, this would prevent the U.S. from starting a nuclear war. The Soviets believed they had enough support from the Warsaw Pact to remain loyal to them. The Warsaw Pact forces would be on the offensive, while the NSWP forces would be placed defensively. Although the NSWP forces had less modernized weapons, so they couldn’t overthrow the Soviet military, they still had enough force to put up an effective defense (Appendix C: The Warsaw Pact, online). A new threat to the Warsaw Pact arose in Czechoslovakia, in 1968, when Alexander Dubeck, the Communist leader, attempted to run a liberation program. But this time, instead of just the Soviets taking action, the new joint exercises paid off and it was a joint effort from the Warsaw Pact. In the end five Soviet divisions stayed in Czechoslovakia to prevent it from trying any new liberalization programs. This multi country invasion showed that the Warsaw Pact countries were coming together as a whole; working to keep communist parties in power of their countries. This didn’t prove to be true for all countries. Czechoslovakia had been the Soviet Union’s closest ally. However, with Czechoslovakia’s loyalty in question, the Soviet Union turned to Poland for its major Eastern Europe ally. Also, because of the Warsaw Pact’s invasion, Romania demanded that the Soviet Union remove its troops from their territory. Romania reduced its participation in the Warsaw Pact and followed the defense strategy of Yugoslavia and Albania called, “Ear of the Entire People” (Appendix C: The Warsaw Pact, online). The military organization of the Warsaw Pact was very loose; it didn’t have any command structure; it was primarily the Soviet Ministry of Defense. In the invasion of Czechoslov
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Approximate Word count = 1822
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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