The Warsaw Pact Organization was created six years after the advent of NATO, in 1955. It is worth saying that close cooperation existed long before this date. At the same time, relations between states were based on agreements on cooperation and friendship.

In connection with the emergence of friction in relations between the USSR and allied states, since March 1953 in some countries of Eastern Europe belonging to the socialist camp, mass discontent of citizens began to arise. They found expression in numerous demonstrations and strikes. The greatest protest was expressed by the inhabitants of Hungary and Czechoslovakia. The situation in the GDR, where the standard of living of the population worsened, brought the country to the brink of a mass strike. To suppress discontent, the government of the USSR introduced tanks into the country.

The organization of the Warsaw Pact was the result of negotiations between the Soviet leaders and the leadership of the socialist states. It included almost all countries located in Eastern Europe, except for Yugoslavia. The formation of the Warsaw Pact organization served as a prerequisite for the creation of a unified command of the Armed Forces, as well as a Political Consultative Committee, coordinating the activities of the foreign policy of the allied states. All key positions in these structures were occupied by a representative of the USSR army.

The Warsaw Friendship and Mutual Assistance Organization was created to ensure the security of its member countries. Need this agreement was caused by the expanding activities of NATO.

The concluded agreement contained provisions that provided for the provision of mutual assistance to any participating country in the event that it would be attacked, as well as mutual consultations in the event of crisis situations with the creation of a unified command over the armed forces.

The Warsaw Pact Organization was created in opposition to However, already in 1956, the Hungarian government declared its neutrality and desire to secede from the countries participating in the agreement. The answer to this was the entry into Budapest popular unrest also happened in Poland. They managed to stop peacefully.

The split in the socialist camp began in 1958. It was during this period that the Romanian government achieved the withdrawal of the USSR troops from the territory of its state and refused to support its leaders. A year later, the Berlin Crisis arose. Even more tension was caused by the construction of a wall around the border with the installation of a control checkpoints.

The countries of the Warsaw Pact in the mid-sixties of the last century were literally overwhelmed by demonstrations against the use of military force. The collapse of the Soviet ideology in the eyes of the world community occurred in 1968 with the introduction of tanks into Prague.

The Warsaw Pact Organization ceased to exist in 1991, simultaneously with the collapse of the socialist system. The agreement lasted for more than thirty years, during the entire period of its validity it carried real threat free world.

In the year of the Anniversary of our country in the Great Patriotic War, we recall the post-war pages of history. Today is quite suitable occasion: Exactly 60 years ago, a Soviet military bloc appeared on the world map, which today can be called "red NATO", the successor of which today is the CSTO - the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The Warsaw Pact Organization (abbreviated as ATS) - we will talk about it today.

Before we move on to the story of our first military bloc, let's turn to history. So, the year is 1945. Europe is recovering after 6 years of war. Around the ruins, piles of garbage and corpses of both soldiers and civilians. Such a picture could be observed in post-war Germany and Austria. Women work on the streets instead of men. They rake rubble, transport construction sludge. Some people can't take the hard physical labor and fall exhausted on the asphalt. Later, in historiography they will be called Trümmerfrauen, whose memory will later be immortalized. Europe did not recover on its own. Britain, having formally won the victory by that time, no longer plays the role of the first violin in the world. The empire collapsed, and in Europe the interests of two new powers clashed: the USSR and the USA. London sided with Washington as expected, and the USSR pursued its independent foreign policy. All Western Europe, as after the First World War, was driven into the financial cabal of the United States: the "Dawes plan" replaced the "Marshall plan". The Americans offered their help to the Soviet Union, but the authorities Soviet Kremlin abandoned it, which aroused the indignation of the Americans. The Soviet diplomat V. Molotov recalled: "Since we refused to join the Marshall Plan, then we did the right thing." Both sides helped Europe get back on its feet: the USSR took care of Eastern Europe, which included Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Albania, Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland and which would join the Warsaw Pact 10 years later, and the United States, in turn, helped its main ally in Europe - Britain, France, Italy, BeniLux and the rest, except for Spain and Portugal, who took a position of neutrality. Both sides dealt with Germany and Austria together, along with England and France, dividing 2 (during the war - one) state into 4 parts. And if Austria managed to acquire a neutral status and withdraw the troops of 4 powers 10 years after the occupation, then Germany could not avoid such a fate. Post-war Germany became an arena of confrontation between the two systems, splitting into the GDR (Soviet zone) and the FRG (American zone).


Flag of Germany of the first post-war years (temporary), symbolizing the division of the country. 1946-49

The appearance of a competitor in the East was clearly not necessary for the Americans, and they tried with all their might to contain it. In March 1948, the Brussels Pact was concluded between Belgium, Great Britain, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and France, which later formed the basis of the "Western European Union" (WEU). It is considered to be the beginning of the formation of the North Atlantic Alliance. were conducted in parallel secret negotiations between the United States, Canada and Great Britain to create an alliance based on their civilizational unity. Negotiations between European countries with the United States and Canada on the creation of a single union soon followed. In 1946, Churchill delivers his "Fulton speech", which marked the beginning of " cold war". On August 18, 1948, the "Dulles plan" was adopted, and on April 4, exactly 10 years after the end civil war in Spain, a new military bloc has appeared on the map - NATO, which today personifies an evil beast that may soon cease to exist on its own, because there are signs of decay of this bloc, and to big war NATO is simply not ready, and the growth of anti-American sentiment is growing every year and every day. This year the bloc celebrated 66 years of its aggressive existence.

However, the NATO did not start as smoothly as they would like. Iceland is the only thorn in the bloc that doesn't have own army, in connection with which a protest rally broke out in the country.

The initiators of the riots are considered the United Socialist Party of Iceland, the successor to the Communist Party of Iceland. A group of protesters on the morning of March 30, 1949, gathered behind a school in the center of Reykjavik and headed for the Austurvollur park (Isl. Austurvöllur) in front of the Althing building. There was already another group of protesters there, who demanded that the Althing immediately cancel the decision to join NATO. Initially, the action was peaceful, but then one of the protesters, a member of the Socialist Party of Iceland, shouted into a megaphone that the party leader was taken hostage. This was the signal to start: a fight ensued.

The Althing ignored the protesters and confirmed the country's accession to NATO, but this led to massive anti-NATO protests throughout the country. From May 18 to May 21, 1951, the largest general strike in the history of the country took place, protesting against the Icelandic-American defense agreement of May 5, 1951, which was considered unequal. During all next years the slogans “Remove Iceland from NATO and disband the army!” sounded more than once. (Isl. Ísland úr NATO og herinn burt!). Left-wing parties went to the elections of the 50s and 60s with the promise of denunciation of the bilateral Icelandic-American defense agreement, but, getting into the government coalition, they were forced to abandon this promise.

The protesters began throwing stones and bricks at the parliament building and smashed all the windows. One stone almost hit the head of the Althingi. The police intervened in the case, and members of the Independence Party stood up to protect the Althing. The police beat the protesters with batons and dispersed them with tear gas. The number of participants was several thousand, data on the dead and wounded are unknown. In the end, in 2006, units of the US armed forces were forced to leave the Keflavik base, although Iceland remained a member of NATO (high-ranking Icelandic diplomat Einar Benediktsson writes that the decision to withdraw units from Iceland was made in the US long before that, and the final step was delayed for at least a decade due to the insistence of the Icelandic government).

The creation of the bloc in 1949 was perceived by the USSR as a threat to its own security. In 1954, in Berlin, at a meeting of the foreign ministers of the United States, Great Britain, France and the USSR, Soviet representatives were assured that NATO was a purely defensive organization. In response to calls for cooperation, the USSR sent a note on March 31, 1954 with a proposal to consider "together with the governments concerned the question of the participation of the USSR in the North Atlantic Treaty", but this initiative was rejected in a response note with the assertion that the organization is "more than military" and such the proposal “contradicts the very principles on which the defense system and security of Western states depend.” In 1954, the West ratified the Paris Agreements of 1954, providing for the formation of the Western European Union, carried out West Germany and the inclusion of Germany in NATO.

But the USSR did not sit idly by. Back in 1949. The Soviet Union managed to create its first organization, the CMEA, which had the character of economic integration. In 1952, Greece and Turkey entered the American bloc (the "First NATO Expansion"). West Germany became a member of NATO in 1955 ("Second NATO Enlargement"). Over the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe hung new threat. The leaders of the Kremlin took a retaliatory step. Even before the creation of the Department of Internal Affairs, Stalin said that "communism suits Poland like a mare's saddle", because Poland was cornerstone Europe. May 14, 1955 at the Warsaw meeting European states to ensure peace and security in Europe, the corresponding document was signed, securing the bipolar world until the end of 1991. Thus, a new bloc appeared on the map of Europe, representing an alternative to NATO. ATS - Warsaw Pact Organization.

Thus, by the beginning of the summer of 1955, the division of Europe between the USSR and the USA was finally fixed. Dual power reigned in the world.

Warsaw pact - military-political bloc, which was the largest military entity in the world that ever existed, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bwhich exceeded the area of ​​\u200b\u200btoday's NATO with all 28 of its members. About 30 million square kilometers of land, 22.1 of which were in the Soviet Union, it resembled a huge colossus, supporting which was akin to the work of Atlas to maintain the sky. The number of the Armed Forces was more than 7.5 million soldiers, 5 million of which were units of the Red Army.

Taking into account the fact that the total military potential of the countries of Europe participating in the Warsaw Pact was not comparable with the military potential of the USSR, the essence of the Warsaw Pact was the nuclear "umbrella" of the USSR over the European socialist countries and the ability of the Soviet Armed Forces to use the territory of the allies. The creation of the Department of Internal Affairs legitimized the deployment of Soviet troops in the countries Central Europe. In the mid 80s. in the GDR, a grouping of Soviet troops of 380 thousand people was stationed, in Poland - 40 thousand, in Czechoslovakia - 80 thousand, in Hungary - about 70 thousand SA servicemen. At the end of the 50s. the opening was being prepared naval base on the Adriatic Sea (Albania). Within the framework of the Warsaw Pact, the USSR Ministry of Defense got the opportunity to control the armed forces of the countries participating in the Warsaw Pact and rearm them. An exchange of intelligence information was established. Within the framework of the ATS, the troops of the Warsaw Pact countries were constantly rearmed, and the officers were retrained as planned. A wide exchange of military experience was developed.

According to the number of its participants, 8 languages ​​​​were adopted in the ATS, and Czech and Slovak were adopted instead of Albanian, and all documentation and command were conducted in Russian. If NATO was a typically expansionist bloc, which it remains today, then the Warsaw Treaty Organization was a counterbalance and was purely defensive in nature.

The political leadership of the ATS was carried out by the Political Consultative Committee, which united the heads of states - members of the organization. Military leadership carried out the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, which, according to tradition, was headed by Marshal Soviet Union. The first commander was the hero of the Great patriotic war Marshal I.S. Konev.

In line with the diplomatic efforts of the USSR to prevent a global nuclear conflict, the Warsaw Pact was positioned as a defensive bloc, whose activities are directed against possible aggression from NATO.

Within the framework of the ATS, decisions were not made by consensus. The organization was under the complete control of the Soviet leadership, militarily - General Staff MO USSR. Within the framework of the Warsaw Pact, a policy of bilateral multi-level comprehensive military-political integration of the socialist countries of Central Europe with the USSR was pursued, and the establishment of strict control over the armies of the countries - allies of the Soviet Union. The effectiveness of this policy was demonstrated in 1981, when the armed forces of the Polish people's republic actually performed police functions, saving the OD from the need to interfere in the internal affairs of Poland, following the example of 1968 in Czechoslovakia.

Like NATO, the Warsaw Pact was not without internal contradictions and problems. In 1961, due to political and ideological disagreements between Moscow and Tirana, Albania ceased its participation in the activities of the Department of Internal Affairs, in 1968 Albania formalized its withdrawal from the organization. In 1966, General de Gaulle made the same demarche, withdrawing his country from NATO, retaining only his political structures in the bloc. leader" National Front Marine Le Pen plans to completely slam the door heartily and completely withdraw the country from NATO, including not only the military, but also political structures, if he wins the 2016 presidential election. In the 70-80s, periodically his special position in Romania demonstrated the activities of the ATS. Periodically, leaks of military-technical information to NATO member countries were detected in the activities of the allies.

The most important part of the activities of the Department of Internal Affairs was the broad cooperation of special services and various special forces, which constitute the main support ruling regimes in the member countries of the organization.

The treaty entered into force on June 5, 1955. April 26, 1985, due to the expiration date, was extended for 20 years. Now it doesn't work.
The treaty consisted of a preamble and 11 articles. In accordance with its terms and the Charter of the United Nations, the member states of the Warsaw Pact were obliged to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force, and in the event of an armed attack on any of them, to provide immediate assistance to the attacked states by all means that would be presented to them. necessary, including the use of armed force.

The governing structures of the ATS
The Political Advisory Committee (PAC) is the organization's highest collective body. Created to conduct consultations and consider issues arising in connection with the implementation of the Warsaw Pact.
Joint Command armed forces(OKVS) - to ensure the interaction of the armed forces and strengthen the defense capability of the countries participating in the Warsaw Pact.

Commanders-in-Chief OKVS:
1955-1960 - I. S. Konev - Marshal of the Soviet Union,
1960-1967 - A. A. Grechko - Marshal of the Soviet Union,
1967-1976 - I. I. Yakubovsky - Marshal of the Soviet Union,
1977-1989 - V. G. Kulikov - Marshal of the Soviet Union,
1989-1991 - P. G. Lushev - General of the Army.

Chiefs of Staff:
1955-1962 - A. I. Antonov - Army General,
1962-1965 - P. I. Batov - Army General,
1965-1968 - M. I. Kazakov - army general,
1968-1976 - S. M. Shtemenko - army general,
1976-1988 - A. I. Gribkov - Army General,
1989-1991 - V. N. Lobov - General of the Army.

ATS declarations
At the Moscow meeting of the PKK (1958), a Declaration was adopted proposing the conclusion of a non-aggression pact between the member states of the Warsaw Pact and NATO members.

In the Declaration adopted at the meeting of the PKK in Moscow (1960), the allied states approved the decision Soviet government unilaterally renounce nuclear testing, provided that the Western powers also do not resume nuclear explosions and called for the creation favorable conditions to complete the development of a test termination agreement nuclear weapons.

At the Warsaw meeting of the PAC (1965), the situation that had developed in connection with the plans for the creation of NATO multilateral nuclear forces was discussed, and also considered protective measures for the implementation of these plans.

The most complete peace-loving program of the states-participants of the Warsaw Pact was formulated in the Declaration on the Strengthening of Peace and Security in Europe, adopted at the meeting of the PKK in Bucharest (1966). The program for achieving European security unfolded in the Declaration provided, in particular, along with the solution of other important issues, the development of good neighborly relations among all European states on the basis of the principles of peaceful coexistence of states with different social order; partial measures for military detente on European continent; exclusion of the possibility of admitting the FRG to nuclear weapons in any form; recognition of real-life borders in Europe, etc. To discuss issues of ensuring security in Europe and establishing pan-European cooperation, the member states of the Warsaw Pact proposed to convene a pan-European conference.

Budapest meeting of the PAC (March 17, 1969) - the Declaration on the Strengthening of Peace and Security in Europe was adopted. The Budapest meeting of the PAC, along with consideration of issues to strengthen and improve military organization Warsaw Pact, paid great attention European security issues and adopted an Appeal to all European countries regarding the preparation and holding of a pan-European conference with the aim of finding ways and means leading to the elimination of the division of Europe into military groupings and the implementation of peaceful cooperation between European states and peoples, to the creation of a stable system collective security.

The members of the bloc were not inactive. Like NATO, they also conducted joint command and staff and military exercises and maneuvers. The exercises were conducted on the territory of all countries included in the ATS. Among the largest were the exercises under code names"Quartet" (1963), "October Storm" (1965), "Rhodopes" (1967), "Dnepr" (1967), "North" (1968), "Brotherhood in Arms" (1970), "West-81" (1981), "Shield-82" (1982).

Within the framework of the ATS, the Military Council of the Joint Armed Forces was also created. The presence of the Warsaw Pact provided a legal basis for the participation of Soviet troops in the suppression of the anti-communist uprising in Hungary in 1965. In 1968, the military contingents of the countries participating in the Warsaw Pact took part in the events in Czechoslovakia, suppressing the Prague Spring. In the same 1968, the participants in the Bucharest meeting of the Warsaw Pact, as well as the meeting of the PKK in Sofia, strongly condemned the US armed intervention in Vietnam.

The war in Afghanistan was the beginning of the end not only for the USSR, but also for the bloc itself. The Red Army fought alone against the Mujahideen, while its allies simply sat in their offices. The main thesis worked Russian history: "our allies are the army and the navy; everyone else is against us." Perhaps due to the fact that the Soviet leaders were too disdainful of them, history punished them for this. On July 1, 1991, the "Union of Peace and Socialism", the "red nuclear porcupine" ceased to exist.

It all started with the seizure of power in Poland by the Solidarity trade union under the leadership of L. Walesa. It is no longer a secret to anyone that Solidarity nurtured the CIA and the seizure of power actually symbolized the transfer of Polish sovereignty from one hand to another. Whether representatives of the current Polish elite remember this fact is already a question for them. One way or another, Poland became the first state after Albania to leave the ATS zone. In 1993, the country joined NATO, where it is still located, but under a different protectorate.
Events in Poland are present in the song of the Civil Defense group "New Patriotic":

"We are not afraid of Alma-Ata and the events in Poland
After all, there are more and more heroic patriots every day
And for a counter mother like Lech Walesa
We will rediscover Buchenwald and Auschwitz
Experiment on any anarchists
We have solid arguments for everything.

After all, the flaming path we go to communism
On a flaming path we go to communism"

The "flaming path" of the USSR eventually led not to communism, but to its own disintegration. Today, the Americans themselves disdain it, having brewed the whole global mess, and now they are disentangling it and fighting terrorism alone and without the help of allies, and unfortunately, unsuccessfully, thereby signing for inciting terrorism and stepping on the same rake.

The Red Army left, and the USSR ceased to exist. But who knows when we will return again and when the United States will disappear is a matter of time. The creation of the CSTO is one of important steps in the foreign policy of post-Soviet Russia, which does not provide for the creation of puppet governments in the Eurasian space, unlike the Warsaw Pact and NATO, and is a more advanced model of a military-political bloc, taking into account all the features of its members. Therefore, I want to address a question to those people who want to go back to the USSR: do you really want pro-Russian puppet governments to appear in Europe? Think again, the 21st century is the age of information and information wars. No one will ever lick your anus for your desire to see this or that country in your ranks. Time to collaborate with healthy forces Europe, time to find common ground on equal conditions. The lesson of Soviet influence in the West, however, but at least formally, was nevertheless learned - why again expose your country to the stigma of an occupier?
As the Spanish philosopher Jorge Santayana remarked: "He who does not learn history is doomed to repeat it." Experience shows that you need to learn from the mistakes of others, so as not to repeat them later. Let the Americans repeat them, but this is no longer our business and there is no need for us to help them in anything. Our job is to go our own way.

So, good luck, and let heavenly light shows you the way to a bright future! And the police department will remain a memory to this day. happy memory about the glorious era of military and ideological brotherhood!

May 14, 1955 Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union signed the Warsaw Pact. This powerful structure provided a counterbalance to NATO for 36 years, and was dissolved almost routinely. Mikhail Gorbachev did not even take part in the final meeting of the leadership of the Department of Internal Affairs.

Peacefulness willy-nilly

The Warsaw Pact was created 6 years after the formation of NATO. After the end of World War II, the USSR was not at all as eager to export the revolution as our “Western partners” tried to present. It is a known fact that in post-war years The Communists of France (the then most popular party in the country) were preparing to start a general uprising and turned to Stalin with a request to support them in the event of US and British intervention. What did Stalin, the supreme commander of the powerful army world at that time, answered with a categorical refusal. The reason for such peacefulness of the victors of fascist Germany was mainly huge losses suffered by the Soviet and, above all, the Russian people. Stalin understood that the USSR, most likely, would not survive another large-scale (besides with the participation of nuclear weapons) war with the West. It is no coincidence that the thesis received such a spread among our people for half a century: if only there was no war.

Forced Union

However, it was absolutely impossible not to react to the growing US military presence in Europe. The last straw, which forced the USSR to create a military interstate socialist organization in Europe, was the entry into NATO of the FRG, contrary to the initial post-war plans to turn the divided Germany into a demilitarized zone.

May 14, 1955 was signed by the Warsaw Treaty (WTS) on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance. Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Czechoslovakia became its participants. All these were countries where, after liberation from fascist occupation, with the tacit support of the Soviet Union, socialist regimes were established.

Members of the police department emphasized that the organization was strictly defensive in nature. And, as history has shown, by and large, so it was. A Political Advisory Committee (PAC) was created to lead the bloc.

well forgotten old

Talk about collective security in Europe began more than half a century ago. Already at the first (Prague) meeting of the PKK (January 27-28, 1956), the member states of the Warsaw Treaty Organization came up with proposals that provided for the replacement of military groups existing in Europe with a collective security system, the establishment of zones of limitation and control over arms, etc.

That is, the ideological-military confrontation in Europe was not at all in the interests of the leadership of the USSR, who understood well that a country weakened by the war should devote all its strength to restoring its own industry and Agriculture for the conservation of human potential.

On the shoulders of the USSR

Just as during the Second World War, the USSR took over main blow Nazi Germany and bore the brunt of the war in 1941-1945, so the Soviet Union had to play a "leading role" in the ATS. This meant virtually full funding for the activities of the organization and the supply of weapons to the participating countries.

The role of the USSR in the ATS is shown at least by the fact that throughout the history of the existence of the organization, the commanders-in-chief of the Joint Armed Forces were exclusively soviet marshals and generals.

Parity at a high price

NATO, opposing the Warsaw Pact, initially consisted of 12 countries, including such powers as the USA, Great Britain, and France. Before the collapse of the ATS in north atlantic alliance included 4 more states.

The Warsaw bloc, despite the fact that, according to the charter, it was open to the entry of new members, throughout its existence did not increase, but, on the contrary, lost one of the participating countries - Albania. Thus, from the beginning of the 60s of the last century until 1991, the socialist bloc of 7 countries was opposed by a bloc of 15 "capital" countries. Even an approximate comparison of the potential of these states, say, in terms of total strength population, shows how much more advantageous position was NATO. Its member countries, relying on the support of the United States, which had grown rich during World War II, felt quite comfortable in the bloc. At the same time, military spending did not burden the state budgets. The USSR, on the other hand, was forced to send “the best brains” and huge funds for defense. As a result, at the cost of great efforts, the parity of the Warsaw Treaty Organization and NATO was created and maintained for several decades.

According to the data given in the book "The Unique" by Valentin Varennikov, by the beginning of the 80s, NATO in Europe had a slight advantage in conventional weapons. The alliance had 94 combat-ready divisions at its disposal (including about 60 separate combat-ready brigades), the Warsaw Pact had 78 divisions. At the same time, the number of deployed American divisions was 16-19 thousand, and the division of the FRG - more than 23 thousand people, while the division of the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries consisted of a maximum of 11-12 thousand people. The ATS had a significant superiority in tanks. But NATO had significantly large quantity anti-tank weapons. In addition, the United States and its allies outnumbered the socialist bloc by 1.2 times in combat aircraft and by 1.8 times in helicopters.

However, a comparison of all types of weapons, including nuclear ones, spoke of an approximate equality in the combat capabilities of the parties.

Parallels

Members of the ATS organization, signing the agreement, "undertook to act in the spirit of friendship and cooperation in order to further development and strengthening economic and cultural ties among themselves, following the principles mutual respect independence, sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of each other and other states.

However, in practice, the sovereignty of one of the participating countries was violated ATS troops. We are talking about the famous entry of troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968. This episode is often cited to this day as proof of the aggressive policy of the USSR. However, a few months before soviet tanks found themselves on the streets of Prague, the leadership of the USSR already had information that the activists of the so-called "Prague Spring" were ready to ask NATO to send alliance troops to Czechoslovakia. Several divisions were in full combat readiness. air force USA. As during the recent Ukrainian events, the leadership of the USSR was faced with a choice: to let events take their course with unpredictable consequences, or to intervene, preventing Czechoslovakia from leaving the Warsaw Pact, which would be tantamount to a serious defeat in the Cold War.

Silent liquidation

A little more than two decades have passed and the new leadership of the USSR calmly, almost indifferently, “surrendered” not only Czechoslovakia, but also all the other countries participating in the Warsaw Pact, which, after the “quiet dissolution” of the Warsaw Pact in 1991, fell into the sphere of influence of NATO, and later 8 years 3 of them joined the block. In 5 more years everything former members Warsaw Pact, in addition to the legal successor of the USSR - Russia, became members of the North Atlantic Alliance.

In the first post-war decade, a bilateral system of international relations was established in the world. This is the time when the global confrontation between the two superpowers - the United States of America and the Soviet Union, as well as the confrontation between the two military-political organizations - the North Atlantic Alliance and the Warsaw Pact Organization began.

The Warsaw Pact was signed in Eastern Europe. It happened in 1955. Its main task was to exercise control over these states, as well as to ensure security and peace in Europe. According to the Treaty, it was supposed to provide assistance to the participating countries in the event of a military threat, conduct mutual consultations in crisis situations and form the Joint Command of the Armed Forces.

The Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance was signed by Albania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, East Germany, Romania, Czechoslovakia and the USSR 6 years after the formation of NATO. It should be noted that cooperation between these states existed long before the signing of the document. The fact is that in most of them, after the end of the war, a communist system of government was established, which was largely facilitated by Soviet troops remaining in Eastern Europe. And until the signing of the agreement, all relations between them were carried out on the basis of agreements on friendship and cooperation. In 1949, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance was formed, which initially included Bulgaria, the Soviet Union, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Czechoslovakia, and later other countries.

At the same time, after 1953, in some of the countries of Eastern Europe, there were signs of mass discontent caused by the controversial policy of the USSR. Thus, mass demonstrations and strikes took place in Czechoslovakia and Hungary. And in the GDR they were so numerous that the Soviet leadership was forced to bring in tanks to suppress the protests of workers dissatisfied with the deteriorating standard of living. When I. Stalin died in 1953 and new leaders came to power, they made a number of trips to countries socialist camp. Their result was the signing of the Warsaw Pact. It included almost all Eastern European states, with the exception of Yugoslavia, which adhered to neutrality. Signing this document It was caused primarily by the emergence of military threats as a result of the ratification of the Paris Agreements of 1954, which provided for the creation of the Western European Union and the accession of West Germany to the North Atlantic Alliance.

The signing of the above document formalized the creation of the Organization Warsaw Pact- the military-political organization of the socialist European states. Its creation was a kind of response to the formation of NATO, which was aimed against the socialist camp.

The goals of the Warsaw Pact were to ensure the security of the participating countries. It consisted of a preamble and eleven articles. According to its terms and the Charter of the United Nations, all signatory states were obliged to refuse or abstain from international politics from threats or direct application forces, and in the event of an armed conflict, to provide assistance by all available means.

Also, the participating countries were obliged to act in order to strengthen cooperation and friendly relations for the further development of cultural and economic relations, while respecting national sovereignty, and not interfering in each other's internal politics. But at the same time, it should also be noted that membership in the Organization was not always voluntary, and rare attempts to leave it were severely suppressed (for example, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland).

Was created and supreme body Warsaw Pact Organization - Political Consultative Committee, whose main task was to conduct consultations on contentious issues that have arisen in the implementation of the Treaty.

But the activities of the Department of Internal Affairs were very controversial and not always successful. It is important to recall that in its confrontation with NATO there were two big crises that almost caused the Third World War: these are the Berlin and Caribbean crises.

Cause Berlin Crisis 1959-1962 there was a mass resettlement of residents of East Germany in West Berlin. In order to put an end to unauthorized resettlement, the famous Berlin Wall was built overnight, where checkpoints were set up. But such actions caused even greater discontent of the population, huge crowds of those who wanted to leave the borders gathered near the checkpoint. Soviet Berlin. This led to the fact that Soviet and American tanks were concentrated near the Brandenburg Gate and the main checkpoints. As a result, the confrontation between the two states ended with the fact that Soviet authorities were forced to withdraw their tanks from these positions.

Another crisis arose in 1962 in the Caribbean, putting the world at risk of beginning nuclear war. It all started with the fact that the Americans placed their missile base in Turkey. The Soviet Union could not leave this unanswered, so they secretly placed their missiles on the island of Cuba. When this became known in the United States of America, a real panic began there, since the actions of the Soviet leadership were perceived as the beginning of preparations for war. Fortunately, everything ended not so badly: the Soviet troops withdrew their missiles from Cuba, the Americans liquidated their base in Turkey and gave an obligation not to take any action against Cuba.

In addition to these conflicts, there have been many other crises within the Organization itself. The main reason for them was the desire of some countries to a better life and the desire to break free from the influence of the Soviet Union. Such crises include the uprising in Hungary that took place in 1956 (Operation Whirlwind), attempts to reform Czechoslovakia in 1968 (“ Prague Spring", Operation "Danube"). All of them were solved with the help of Soviet tanks.

Do not forget about the war in Afghanistan in 1979-1989. In 1979, as a result of a military coup, a new leadership came to power there, which had the intention to build a model of a socialist state, taking the USSR as a model. Such a policy caused discontent among the population, as a result of which Afghan President Amin was forced to turn to the Soviet Union for help. What happened next is known to all. Introduction to the Afghan territory of the Soviet limited contingent who was only to keep the situation under control. The result is a 10-year war and the international isolation of the Soviet Union.

In 1985, due to the expiration of the Warsaw Pact, it was extended for 20 years.

When perestroika began in the USSR, changes took place throughout foreign policy countries. The Soviet leadership did not interfere with the "velvet" revolutions in the Eastern European states of 1989-1990. In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, and a year later, the two Germanys were united into single state. For the Union, this meant the loss of a true ally.

The impetus for the start of the collapse of the military Soviet empire was the signing of the Budapest Treaty in 1991 by three countries - Poland, Hungary and East Germany. This document drew a line under the existence of the Warsaw Treaty Organization.

The Warsaw Pact itself raises many questions. So, for example, what did the Soviet Union directly acquire with its signing? AT recent times many historians are inclined to think that it was a well-thought-out political move by N. Khrushchev, who sought to create some joint organization to ensure collective security. The Soviet leadership began to understand the fact that NATO was beginning to threaten military power USSR and its advantage in European territory.

However, if we talk about the superiority of the West that really existed at that time, then it consisted only in methods of intimidation using nuclear weapons. As for conventional weapons and equipment, the indisputable advantage was on the side of the Soviet Union. Moreover, this, according to many experts, was the reason for the emergence of the North Atlantic Alliance.

America and its allies, immediately after the end of the war, began disarmament and mass dismissal of military personnel, but the USSR was in no hurry with this. Yes, and the Americans could only feel safe until 1957, when the first Soviet artificial satellite and, thus, there was a threat of bringing nuclear weapons into orbit.

Be that as it may, the Warsaw Pact ceased to exist, however, in exactly the same way as the USSR. But the unspoken confrontation between the United States and Russia still persists.

On friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance between Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Czechoslovakia was signed on May 14, 1955 at the Warsaw Conference of European States to ensure peace and security in Europe.

Representatives of eight European states, who met at a meeting on May 11, 1955 in Warsaw (a representative from China was present as an observer), motivated the conclusion of the Warsaw Pact by the need to respond to the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the inclusion of West Germany in this bloc and its remilitarization policy. Joint Security and Defense Measures Based on Bilateral Treaties 1943-1949 on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance were considered insufficient.

The goals of the Warsaw Pact were proclaimed to ensure the security of the countries participating in the Treaty and the maintenance of peace in Europe.
The treaty consisted of a preamble and 11 articles. The preamble formulated the goals of concluding the Warsaw Pact, and stated that the parties to the agreement would respect the independence and integrity of the allied states and not interfere in their internal affairs.

The purely defensive nature of the Warsaw Pact was declared. The member states of the Warsaw Pact undertook, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations (UN), to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force, to resolve disputes by peaceful means, to consult among themselves on all important international issues affecting their common interests, declared readiness to take part in all international actions aimed at ensuring international peace and security, to seek the adoption of effective measures for the general reduction of armaments and the prohibition of weapons mass destruction provided for the provision of immediate assistance by all means, including the use of armed force, in the event of an armed attack in Europe against one or more States Parties to the Treaty.

To implement the goals and objectives of the Warsaw Pact, it provided for the creation of relevant political and military bodies, incl. Political Advisory Committee and the Joint Command of the Armed Forces of the participating States.

(Military Encyclopedia. Chairman of the Main Editorial Commission S.B. Ivanov. Military Publishing. Moscow. In 8 volumes 2004. ISBN 5 203 01875 - 8)

The Warsaw Pact entered into force on June 5, 1955, after the deposit of instruments of ratification by all parties to the Treaty, as the depositary country, for Poland.

The Warsaw Pact was signed for 20 years automatic renewal for the next 10 years for those states that do not denounce the Treaty one year before the expiration of this period.

Albania did not participate in the work of the Warsaw Pact since 1962, and in 1968 announced its denunciation.

On April 26, 1985, the member states of the Warsaw Pact signed in Warsaw a Protocol extending the validity of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. In accordance with the Protocol, which entered into force on May 31, 1985, the Warsaw Pact was extended for 20 years with the possibility of a subsequent extension for another 10 years.

The GDR ceased to be a member of the Warsaw Pact in 1990 due to its unification with the FRG.

In connection with the socio-political transformations in the USSR and other states of Eastern Europe at the turn of the 1980-90s. in February 1991, the participating countries decided to abolish the military structures of the Warsaw Pact. On July 1, 1991 in Prague, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Czechoslovakia signed a protocol on the complete termination of the 1955 Warsaw Pact.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources