Warsaw Pact

Warsaw Pact

Military alliance of the Soviet Union, Albania (until 1968), Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania, formed in 1955 in response to West Germany's entry into NATO.

Its terms included a unified military command and the stationing of Soviet troops in the other member states. Warsaw Pact troops were called into action to suppress uprisings in Poland (1956), Hungary (1956), and Czechoslovakia (1968). The alliance was dissolved in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet bloc, and Soviet troops departed. Several Warsaw Pact members later joined NATO.

* * *

Europe [1955-91]
formally  Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, And Mutual Assistance (May 14, 1955–July 1, 1991) 

      treaty establishing a mutual-defense organization (Warsaw Treaty Organization) composed originally of the Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany (German Democratic Republic), Hungary, Poland, and Romania. (Albania withdrew in 1968, and East Germany did so in 1990.) The treaty (which was renewed on April 26, 1985) provided for a unified military command and for the maintenance of Soviet military units on the territories of the other participating states.

      The immediate occasion for the Warsaw Pact was the Paris agreement among the Western powers admitting West Germany to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Warsaw Pact was, however, the first step in a more systematic plan to strengthen the Soviet hold over its satellites, a program undertaken by the Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolay Bulganin after their assumption of power early in 1955. The treaty also served as a lever to enhance the bargaining position of the Soviet Union in international diplomacy, an inference that may be drawn by the concluding article of the treaty, which stipulated that the Warsaw agreement would lapse when a general East-West collective-security pact should come into force.

      The Warsaw Pact, particularly its provision for the garrisoning of Soviet troops in satellite territory, became a target of nationalist hostility in Poland and Hungary during the uprisings in those two countries in 1956. The Soviet Union invoked the treaty when it decided to move Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia in August 1968 to bring the Czechoslovak regime back into the fold after it had begun lifting restraints on freedom of expression and had sought closer relations with the West. (Only Albania and Romania refused to join in the Czechoslovak repression.)

      After the democratic revolutions of 1989 in eastern Europe, the Warsaw Pact became moribund and was formally declared “nonexistent” on July 1, 1991, at a final summit meeting of Warsaw Pact leaders in Prague, Czech. Deployed Soviet troops were gradually withdrawn from the former satellite countries, now politically independent countries; and the decades-long confrontation between eastern and western Europe was formally rejected by members of the Warsaw Pact.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Warsaw Pact —    / Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO)    Created in 1955 as a response to West Germany’s admission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance or as it was known in the West, the… …   Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation

  • Warsaw Pact — see under ↑Warsaw • • • Main Entry: ↑pact Warsaw Pact noun 1. An alliance of E European countries (including the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, E Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania) formed in 1955 and disbanded in 1991 2. The military… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Warsaw Pact — Warsaw Pact, the also Warsaw Treaty Organization a group of countries in eastern Europe, including Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and the former Soviet Union, which was established in 1955 to oppose ↑NATO during the… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Warsaw Pact — Not to be confused with the Warsaw Convention (airlines), and the Treaty of Warsaw (1970) between West Germany and the People s Republic of Poland. Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance Military alliance …   Wikipedia

  • Warsaw Pact — noun a) A pact (long term alliance treaty) signed on May 14, 1955 in Warsaw by the Soviet Union and its Communist military allies in Europe The Warsaw Pact formalized Moscows dominance in Europes east b) The Warsaw Treaty Organization which was… …   Wiktionary

  • Warsaw Pact —    Officially named the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, the pact was a military and economic alliance of the Marxist–Leninist Eastern Bloc countries signed in 1955 to consolidate resistance to the North Atlantic Treaty… …   Historical dictionary of Marxism

  • Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia — Invasion of Czechoslovakia redirects here. For the events of 1938, see German occupation of Czechoslovakia. Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia Part of the Cold War Date 20 August 1968 – 20 September 1968 Lo …   Wikipedia

  • Warsaw Pact — /ˈwɔsɔ pækt/ (say wawsaw pakt) noun (formerly, 1955–91) a military alliance comprising Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union; functions ceased with reunification of Germany in 1990; officially… …  

  • Warsaw Village Band — ( pl. Kapela ze wsi Warszawa) is a band from Warsaw, Poland, that plays traditional Polish folk music tunes combined with modern elements. About the band According to the band s creative manifesto, it was formed as a response to mass culture and… …   Wikipedia

  • pact — [pækt] n [Date: 1400 1500; : French; Origin: pacte, from Latin pactum, from pacisci to agree ] a formal agreement between two groups, countries, or people, especially to help each other or to stop fighting ▪ the Warsaw pact make/sign a pact ▪ The …   Dictionary of contemporary English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”