Warsaw Pact and NATO

Why in news?

• Amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Russia resented NATO's granting of membership to countries that were once part of the Soviet Union or were in its sphere of influence as members of the Warsaw Pact.

About NATO:

• To know about NATO please Click here

About Warsaw Pact:

• The Warsaw Treaty Organization, also known as the Warsaw Pact, was a political and military alliance established in 1955 between the Soviet Union and various Eastern European countries.
• This alliance included the Soviet Union, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania
  • The Soviet Union had formed this alliance as a counterbalance to NATO, a collective security alliance concluded between the United States, Canada and Western European nations in 1949.
• It was formally known as the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance and embodied what was referred to as the Eastern bloc, while NATO and its member countries represented the Western bloc.
• It was a military treaty, which bound its signatories to come to the aid of the others, should any one of them be the victim of foreign aggression.

Criticism:

• It became a powerful political tool for the Soviet Union to hold sway over its allies and harness the powers of their combined military.
• When Hungary tried to leave Warsaw pact, it was crushed.
• Similarly, in 1968, the Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia (with support from five other Pact members), after the Czech government began to exhibit ‘Imperialistic’ tendencies.

Decline:

• Following the diminishing power of the USSR in the 1980s and the eventual fall of Communism, Warsaw Pact became redundant.
• It was officially dissolved in Prague in 1991 after many countries withdrew from it

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Consider the following statements regarding Warsaw Pact:

1. It came into existence immediately after First World War

2. It is a military treaty, which bound its signatories to come to the aid of the others in response to an attack by any external party.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer