Warsaw pact
by: Kayla Carbajal, Class of 2012
The Warsaw Pact is the treaty between Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East
Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union. The Warsaw Pact was
signed in 1955, which was designed to bind these countries in the “Treaty of
Friendship” This pact was signed for the protection of others when one country
is threatened by a foreign aggressor. It was also a way to ensure cultural,
economical, and military policy between the communist countries (BBC). This pact
was soon used to maintain equality but the Soviet Union soon viewed the pact as
a way to hold power over its allies. The Soviet Union kept their allies under
military and political control by using the pact as an incentive. The Soviet
Union created tanks, aircrafts, and guns to help control their power (Warsaw
Pact).
NATO was formed on counter to the Warsaw Pact. Non-communist
countries formed NATO in 1949. The United States and 11 other
Western nations joined together to help stop the fight of communism.
Communist governments located in Eastern Germany formed the Warsaw
Pact as a counter to NATO. The three similarities that NATO and The
Warsaw Pact share are: they both had a secretary general, commander
and chief, and all had to pledge their promise to attack a foreign
invader. The differences are
that NATO was mostly made up of highly trained professionals
compared to the Warsaw Pact, which were mostly young men and women
defending their country. NATO was superior compared to The Warsaw
Pact. The Warsaw Pact was viewed as a huge military success based
off of propaganda. The Warsaw Pact’s military did succeed when it
came to aircraft and battle tanks. NATO did recognize a problem with
the Warsaw Pact military. The problem was that their military was
dated, which would increase the chance of turning to nuclear warfare
(The Warsaw Pact).
The Warsaw Pact was favorable to the communist party. The Warsaw
Pact was used to prevent uprisings in Hungary in 1956 and
Czechoslovakia in 1968.
This caused Albania to withdraw from the pact later in the year.
East Germany decided to withdraw in 1990. In 1991, The Warsaw Pact
leaders met in Prague to discuss terms. This meeting in Prague is
when the Warsaw Pact leaders declared Czechoslovakia “non- existent
(BBC).
The “Treaty of Friendship” was made for the protection of
communist governments against foreign attackers. The Warsaw Pact was
taken advantage of by the Soviets who abused their power by trying
to control military and political policies. When designing the pact
they were aiming for equality for all but soon turned to power for
the Soviets. The Warsaw Pact was the counter after the United States
created NATO. NATO succeeded above the Warsaw Pact or many different
reasons but the Warsaw Pact succeed above NATO. The Warsaw Pact
started to fall apart when countries were withdrawing from the pact.
The countries leaving the pact caused the Warsaw Pact to be formally
dissolved in 1991 (BBC).
Works Cited
"BBC ON THIS DAY | 14 | 1955: Communist States Sign Warsaw Pact."
BBC News - Home. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/14/newsid_3771000/3771065.stm>.