At the end of World War II, the USSR and the countries of the socialist camp that appeared on the world stage took measures to strengthen their defenses in order to effectively resist the capitalist encirclement. In 1955, a treaty was solemnly signed in Warsaw, which laid the foundation for the existence of a military bloc of the countries of the socialist community.
Signing of the Warsaw Pact
In May 1955, at a meeting of European states held in Warsaw, the agenda of which included issues of ensuring peace and security, the leaders of a number of countries signed a Treaty of Friendship, Mutual Assistance and Cooperation. The adoption of the document took place on May 15, while the initiative to sign the treaty belonged to the Soviet Union. In addition to him, the actually created military bloc included Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Albania, East Germany and Romania. The agreement was signed for a thirty-year term, which was subsequently extended. This is how the Warsaw Pact Organization was born.
The treaty stipulated that the signatory countries in international relations would refrain from the threat of the use of force. And in the event of an armed attack on one of the countries participating in the treaty, the rest of the parties pledged to provide assistance to it by all available means, not excluding military force. One of the tasks of the bloc was to preserve communist rule in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
The world community understood that the Warsaw Pact Organization had become a fully justified and adequate response to the creation of the NATO bloc, which was stubbornly striving to expand its influence in Europe. From that moment on, a confrontation between two military organizations of a global scale arose and continued for quite a long time.
The nature and significance of the Warsaw Pact Organization
Within the framework of the Warsaw bloc, there was a special military council that governed the Joint Armed Forces. The existence of a military and political union of socialist states gave legal grounds for the participation of Soviet military units in the suppression of the anti-communist rebellion in Hungary and in later events in Czechoslovakia.
The greatest benefit from participation in the Warsaw Pact Organization was received by the Soviet Union, whose military potential was the basis of the political bloc. The agreement signed in Warsaw actually gave the USSR the opportunity, if necessary, to use the territory of the allied countries without hindrance for basing its armed forces. As part of the treaty, Soviet troops received a completely legal right to deploy their troops almost in the very heart of Europe.
Later it turned out that there are intractable contradictions within the countries that signed the treaty. Due to internal disagreements, Albania withdrew from the treaty. Romania has repeatedly openly demonstrated its exceptional position in relation to the bloc. One of the reasons for the disagreement was the USSR's desire to establish tight control over the armies of other countries that make up the bloc.
When the Berlin Wall fell and a wave of velvet revolutions swept across the countries of Central Europe, the military bloc of the socialist countries lost its foundation. Formally, the Warsaw Pact Organization ended its existence in July 1991, although in fact it collapsed already in the late 1980s.
