Member countries of the ATS. Which countries are part of the Warsaw Pact

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 pledged, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations (UN), to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force, to settle disputes by peaceful means, to consult among themselves on all important international affairs affecting their common interests, declared their readiness to take part in all international action aimed at providing international peace and security, seek acceptance effective measures to 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 Poland, as the depositary country, deposited the instruments of ratification by all parties to the Treaty.

The Warsaw Pact was concluded for 20 years with an automatic extension for a further 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 complete cessation actions of the Warsaw Pact 1955

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

Warsaw Pact 1955 On Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, signed by Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Czechoslovakia on May 14, 1955 at the Warsaw Conference of European States to ensure peace and security in Europe. Entered into force June 5, 1955.

The conclusion of the Warsaw Pact was caused by the threat to peace in Europe created by ratification by Western states. Paris Agreements 1954, providing for the formation of the Western European Union, the remilitarization of West Germany and its inclusion in NATO. The Warsaw Pact is strictly defensive in nature. It aims to accept necessary measures to ensure the security of the countries - its participants and maintain peace in Europe. The treaty consists of a preamble and 11 articles. In accordance with its terms and the Charter of the United Nations, the states parties to the Warsaw Pact pledged 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 seem necessary to them. including the use of armed force. The members of the Warsaw Pact Organization pledged to act in the spirit of friendship and cooperation in order to further develop and strengthen economic and cultural ties among themselves, following the principles of mutual respect for independence, sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of each other and other states. Mutual consultations of the Warsaw Pact participants on all important international issues affecting their common interests are envisaged. A Political Consultative Committee (PAC) has been established to consult and consider issues arising from the implementation of the Warsaw Pact. In practice, it has developed that all the member states of the Warsaw Pact are represented in the PAC at the very high level. The term of the Warsaw Pact is 20 years with an automatic extension for 10 years for those states that, a year before the expiration of the term, do not submit to the government of Poland a statement on the denunciation of the Warsaw Pact. It is open to the accession of other states, regardless of their social and political system. The Warsaw Pact will lose force if a system is created in Europe collective security and the conclusion of a pan-European treaty for this purpose.

To ensure effective protection against possible aggression, the Warsaw Pact participants decided to create a Joint Command of the Allied Armed Forces.

The joint command and headquarters of the Allied Forces provide interaction armed forces and strengthening the defense capability of the countries participating in the Warsaw Pact. To this end, they conduct joint command-staff and military exercises and maneuvers on the territory of these countries. Joint exercises and maneuvers of the allied armies were carried out on the territory of all its member countries. Among the largest are the exercises under the code names: "October Storm" (1965), "Dnepr" (1967) "North" (1968) ... "Brotherhood in Arms" (1970), etc.

At meetings of the PAC and other meetings of the countries participating in the Warsaw Pact, their representatives discussed the most important issues international relations and improvement of the organization of the Warsaw Pact, and also repeatedly took initiatives to defuse international tension. The Military Council of the Joint Armed Forces was also created. Conferences of foreign ministers, defense ministers and their deputies were repeatedly convened within the framework of the Warsaw Pact.

Already at the first (Prague) meeting of the PKK (1956), the member states of the Warsaw Pact made 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.

At the Moscow meeting of the PKK (1958) a Declaration was adopted in which it was proposed to conclude 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 withdraw nuclear testing provided that the Western Powers also do not resume nuclear explosions, and called for the creation of favorable conditions for the completion of a test cessation treaty nuclear weapons.

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

The most complete peace-loving program of the member states of the Warsaw Pact was formulated in the Declaration on the Strengthening of Peace and Security in Europe, adopted at the meeting of the PAC in Bucharest (1966). The Program of Achievement Unfolded in the Declaration European security provided, in particular, along with the solution of other important issues development of good neighborly relations among all European states on the basis of the principles of peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems; partial measures for military detente on the 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 Warsaw Pact member states proposed convening a pan-European conference.

The participants in the Bucharest meeting, as well as the meeting of the PKK in Sofia (1968), strongly condemned the armed intervention of US imperialism in Vietnam and reaffirmed their support for the liberation struggle of the Vietnamese people. An exchange of views on the problem of the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons also took place at the Sofia Conference.

The Budapest meeting of the PAC, along with consideration of issues to strengthen and improve military organization Warsaw Pact, paid great attention to 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 strong system of collective security.

The idea of ​​the Budapest meeting of the PAC to convene a pan-European meeting was further development at a meeting of foreign ministers of countries participating in the Warsaw Pact. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs suggested holding a meeting in Helsinki. They recommended two questions for the agenda of the meeting: on ensuring European security and on renunciation of the use of force or the threat of its use in mutual relations between states in Europe; on the expansion of trade, economic and scientific-technical ties on an equal footing, aimed at developing political cooperation between European states.

The position of the countries participating in the Warsaw Pact, aimed at strengthening security and developing peaceful cooperation in Europe, was reaffirmed at the Berlin meeting. The participants of the Berlin meeting noted great value for destinies European world recognition of the existing situation in Europe, which developed as a result of the 2nd World War, pointed to the importance of concluding an agreement between the USSR and the FRG.

The meeting participants reaffirmed their readiness to continue to provide strong support to the peoples of Indochina and the Arab peoples, including the Arab people of Palestine, who were subjected to aggression, and reiterated the need for a political settlement in Indochina and the Middle East.

In connection with the aggression of the colonialists against the Republic of Guinea, the participants in the Berlin Conference demanded an end to the imperialist provocations against the independent peoples of Africa.

The proposals put forward by the member states of the Warsaw Pact are at the center of attention of all European peoples. These proposals, like all the activities of the Warsaw Pact Organization, testify to the genuine peacefulness of its participants and their concern for maintaining peace and security in Europe.

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It continued to be quite difficult. There was a cold war. The countries of NATO and the bloc of socialist countries led by the USSR still considered each other as potential adversaries. AT various corners the planets flared up, then faded local conflicts(in Korea, Indochina), capable of developing into a new world war. Soviet Union he quite reasonably feared that the European continent is the most dangerous space, where any conflict could turn a "cold" war into a "hot" war, become a pretext for the use of nuclear weapons.

The greatest concern was the plans to remilitarize West Germany and include it in the NATO bloc, which was sought by the United States and its allies. Despite the opposition of the USSR, in 1954, agreements were signed in Paris between the Western powers and the FRG (which entered into force in May 1955), according to which West Germany received the right to restore its armed forces under the control of the Western European Union (established in 1954 ) and was admitted to NATO. All this went against the Potsdam agreements of 1945 and changed the balance of power on the continent.

The response step of the USSR was the signing on May 14, 1955 between Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland, Romania, the USSR, Czechoslovakia and Albania (withdrew from the treaty in 1968) of the Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. The countries that signed the treaty pledged "in the event of an attack on any of them, to provide the victim of aggression with immediate assistance by all necessary means, including the use of armed force." The aggressor meant, first of all, Germany, but the USSR and its allies understood that a possible war should be expected with the entire NATO bloc. On the basis of the agreement signed in Warsaw, the Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO) was created, designed to coordinate a joint defense policy.

Within the framework of the ATS, there was the Joint Command of the Armed Forces and the Political Advisory Committee. As a result of the creation of the Internal Affairs Directorate, the USSR received a legal basis for the presence of its troops in Eastern Europe and strengthened its geopolitical positions.

DISSOLUTION OF THE OVD

The crisis of this structure can be associated with the new international course of M.S. Gorbachev. 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. But already in October 1985 M.S. Gorbachev offered to reduce the armed forces of NATO and the Warsaw Pact in Europe, promising that the USSR would destroy significantly more weapons than the United States. At the UN General Assembly in December 1988, he announced a unilateral reduction in the Armed Forces of the USSR by 500 thousand people. and output Soviet troops from the countries of Central Europe and Mongolia.

After lengthy negotiations in November 1990 in Paris, the heads of state of the Organization for the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe signed the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE). The treaty provided for the mutual reduction of armaments between the member states of NATO and the Warsaw Pact to a reasonable sufficiency. Under the treaty, five categories of conventional weapons and equipment were limited - tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery of 100 mm caliber and above, combat aircraft, attack helicopters. Provided for the exchange of information, extensive inspection activities.

Wanting to hit the western public opinion Gorbachev promised to carry out the reduction of the Soviet Armed Forces on an enormous scale. Long years the security of the USSR was based, among other things, on a significant predominance over NATO in armored vehicles in the European theater (there were about 60 thousand tanks alone). For improved relations with NATO and Western assistance, the USSR was forced to limit itself to 6400 tanks in this theater. The disarmament did not extend to naval forces where the US and NATO had significant superiority. Having made big concessions, Gorbachev agreed to reduce Soviet army by another half a million and withdraw a significant part of it from the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe, which gave rise to the problem of employment and housing for former military personnel.

The de-ideologization of international relations radically changed the nature of the USSR's ties with the socialist states. From now on, the former allies of the USSR should not have counted on automatic protection and privileges in trade, credits, prices, etc. Gorbachev actively contributed to the decommunization of Eastern European countries. The Soviet leaders refused to support the pro-Soviet leaders of the Eastern European Communist Parties, who did not have the strength to independently resist the wave of liberalization. The new presidents and prime ministers of these states hastened to "distance themselves" from the USSR and took up pro-Western positions. In 1989, the leaders of the Solidarity movement came to power in Poland, which was in opposition to the former leadership, headed by V. Jaruzelski. Similar changes from pro-communist governments to pro-Western ones took place in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania. The leader of the Romanian communists, N. Ceausescu, and his wife were arrested at the end of 1989 and, according to the verdict of the tribunal, were hastily executed. Shocking footage of their execution was shown on Romanian and then on Soviet television. Gorbachev had something to think about.

In October 1989, celebrations were held in the GDR on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the state. East German leader E. Honecker met with M.S. Gorbachev. But Honecker did not seek to follow the path of Soviet perestroika, watching the economic crisis in the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, in the GDR, the opposition movement was gaining momentum. Under pressure from Moscow and the majority of members of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, the seriously ill Honecker was forced to resign. new general secretary The SED was elected by E. Krenz. Unexpected even for German politicians was Gorbachev's consent to the unification of both parts of Germany by joining the GDR to the FRG. However, this step was caused, first of all, by pressure on the Kremlin from the administration of the United States. The most active role in the process of unification of Germany (and in fact the absorption of the eastern part of the country by West Germany) was played by German Chancellor G. Kohl, who managed to establish friendly relations with Gorbachev. In November 1989, the "Berlin Wall" collapsed. The state border between East and West Germany was opened. On September 12, 1990, an agreement was signed in Moscow between the USSR, the USA, Great Britain, France, the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany on the unification of Germany. The united Germany recognized the post-war borders with Poland, the USSR and Czechoslovakia, declared that only peace would come from its land, pledged not to produce and not to have nuclear, chemical and bacteriological weapons on its territory, to reduce land and air Force. The state of the GDR disappeared from the map of Europe.

In the process of German reunification, the leadership of the United States and NATO verbally promised Gorbachev and Shevardnadze that the NATO bloc would not extend its influence further to the east. However, no official statements were signed and this promise was subsequently broken. The reunification of the two parts of Germany, and, consequently, the appearance in the center of Europe is even more powerful country received mixed reviews in London and Paris. But Gorbachev did not pay attention to the concerns of British Prime Minister M. Thatcher and French President F. Mitterrand. He saw the USA and the FRG as his main partners.

The withdrawal of Soviet troops from the territory of East Germany and Berlin was to take place by the end of 1994. In fact, the withdrawal of a powerful Soviet group by May 1994 was more like a hasty flight: the property of the disorganized Nazi Party, the SS and other fascist formations that belonged to the USSR by right of the winner was abandoned , people and equipment were often placed in an "open field", without prepared barracks and housing for officers and their families. As compensation, the German authorities allocated funds for the construction of part of the housing for the military.

Even earlier than from Germany, and also hastily, Soviet troops were withdrawn from the territory of Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia. This finally undermined the military cooperation of the now former socialist camp. On February 25, 1991, a decision was made in Budapest to denounce the Warsaw Pact. The military structures of the Warsaw Pact Organization were officially dissolved on April 1, 1991. The issue of compensation: on the one hand, for the property left behind (weapons, military camps, airfields, communications and communication lines), and on the other hand, for damage caused to nature at the landfills , tankdromes, etc. objects, was resolved by mutual waiver of claims. The USSR announced the withdrawal of Soviet military units from Cuba and Mongolia. 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.

On January 1, 1991, the USSR stopped making settlements with the countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance in conditional "transferable rubles" and switched to world currencies and prices in relations with its members. This dealt the final blow to the entire CMEA system, which was officially dissolved on June 28, 1991.

And in December 1991, the USSR finally collapsed. The countries that were once members of the Warsaw Pact began to join NATO, which sharply worsened Russia's strategic position and violated parity in conventional arms in the European theater against Russia. The collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Comecon meant the collapse of the "security belt" of the Soviet Union on the western borders. Meanwhile, the armed forces of the United States and NATO countries have been intensively improving all the subsequent time. NATO's further advance to the east (which today also affected the former Soviet republics) created a direct threat to the security of our state.

NOSTALGIA

According to a VTsIOM survey, more than half of Russians felt most secure when the organization existed Warsaw Pact.

Respondents considered the safest period in foreign policy in recent history to be " Soviet times, in the 60-80s of the twentieth century "- 55% (recall that these years fall, for example, the Caribbean crisis - the "hottest" moment cold war between the USSR and the USA).

The least safe - "90s" - 4%. The vast majority - 89% - believe that the WTO was "defensive" in nature, being a proportional response to the creation of NATO. “Communists (96%), Socialist-Revolutionaries (94%), respondents over 45 years old (91%) and those who do not use the Internet (93%) are convinced of the positive impact of the ATS on the international situation. Only 6% of the respondents see the aggressor and offender of the countries of Eastern Europe in the police department” (the events of 1968 in Czechoslovakia), - VTsIOM reveals these figures.

Slightly more than half - 51% of respondents believe that modern Russia needs a different military alliance, modeled on the Warsaw Pact and NATO, in order to feel more secure. At the same time, “only a third of Russians (34%) can say something meaningful about the Warsaw Pact twenty years after its collapse.”

Six years after the formation of NATO, in 1955, the Organization appeared in opposition to the alliance. The creation of the Warsaw Pact marked new round However, the socialist countries actively cooperated with each other long before that. After the end of the war, in 1945, they came to power in the Eastern European states in part due to the presence of Soviet troops in these states, as well as the general psychological background. Prior to the creation of the Department of Internal Affairs, the relationship between them was built on the basis of friendship. In 1949, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance appeared. However, the creation of the Department of Internal Affairs was entirely the initiative of the USSR.

The members of the new bloc were: the USSR, Romania, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Albania and Bulgaria. The treaty was signed for twenty years with a simplified extension for another decade. In 1962, Albania ceased to participate in the bloc due to political differences. In 1968, she completely left it.

The creation of the Department of Internal Affairs was a military-political act. This is evidenced even by the structure governing bodies bloc: the unified command of the Armed Forces and a political advisory body that coordinated a common foreign policy. The education of the Department of Internal Affairs played a huge role political role. The bloc was the main mechanism that helped the USSR control the countries of the socialist camp. Militarily, the Treaty was also of great importance. The troops of the participating countries regularly conducted joint exercises, and in the territories of the Eastern European states there were military bases of the USSR.

In 1968, the ATS countries jointly sent troops to Czechoslovakia to suppress the processes of liberalization and democratization of this country, which could eventually lead to its exit from the bloc. Under the conditions of the Cold War, it was unacceptable for the USSR to lose such a key state for the security system as Czechoslovakia. However, the main danger was that other states could follow its example.

The creation of the Department of Internal Affairs provided for the equality of all participants. However, the formal equality of the members of the Treaty, who were supposed to collectively make political and military decisions, was just an appearance. The relations of the USSR with other members of the bloc differed little from its relations with its own republics. All important decisions were made in Moscow. The history of the Department of Internal Affairs has preserved many such examples.

When there was a change in political course during the time, the country abandoned the doctrine of control and interference in the internal affairs of its allies in the organization. In 1985, the bloc members extended their membership for another 20 years. However, in 1989, the active destruction of the socialist system began. A wave of "velvet revolutions" took place in the socialist countries, and within a short time the communist governments were liquidated. This, in fact, destroyed the system of power of the police department. After these events, the bloc ceased to be a mechanism that helped the USSR control the Eastern European countries. In 1991, the Treaty finally ceased to exist, along with the complete collapse of the socialist system.

The collapse of the Warsaw Pact Organization (WTO) and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) - a series of events that put an end to the existence of the military and economic blocs of the socialist countries of Europe, the military and economic presence of the USSR in Eastern Europe. It is considered one of the key milestones in the process of ending the Cold War.

Formation of the Warsaw Pact.

The Warsaw Pact (officially the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance) was signed on May 14, 1955 in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. It meant the creation of a military alliance of socialist states in Europe - the Warsaw Pact Organization (OVD). It included Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Czechoslovakia. Contracted for 20 years, with the right of automatic renewal for another 10 years, entered into force on June 5, 1955.

According to the document, the agreement was concluded in the interests of maintaining peace in Europe, in accordance with the UN Charter, on the basis of the sovereignty of states and non-interference in their internal affairs. It assumed mutual defense and military assistance in the event of an attack on one of the participating countries, consultations on the most pressing issues. Within the framework of the ATS, the Joint Command of the Armed Forces (OKVS) and the Political Consultative Committee (PAC) were created.

Not all socialist countries joined the Warsaw Pact. Yugoslavia remained outside it, preferring to pursue an independent policy and in 1961 became one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement. Albania ceased its activities within the Warsaw Pact in the early 1960s. due to political disagreements with the USSR, and finally withdrew from its composition in 1968.

At a meeting of the PKK in 1958, a proposal was made to conclude a non-aggression pact with NATO members, which remained unanswered. In 1961-1962 The Department of Internal Affairs became a participant in the two largest crises of the Cold War - the Berlin and the Caribbean. In both cases, representatives of the countries participating in the Warsaw Pact expressed support for the policy of the USSR.

The most controversial episode in the activities of the Department of Internal Affairs was the suppression of anti-communist protests in 1956 in Hungary and in 1968 in Czechoslovakia. In the first case, in Hungary, Soviet troops carried out Operation Whirlwind, in the second case, the participants in Operation Danube were military formations not only the USSR, but also the GDR, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria. Romania condemned the entry of troops into Czechoslovakia and after it reduced its participation in the Warsaw Pact. In 1981, within the framework of the Warsaw Pact, a response to the crisis of socialism in Poland was discussed, but the troops of other countries did not enter the country to suppress anti-communist uprisings.

As part of the ATS, command-staff and military exercises and maneuvers were held on the territory of all countries that were part of the organization. Among the largest were the exercises under the code names "Quartet" (1963), "October assault" (1965), "Rhodopi" (1967), "Dnepr" (1967), "North" ( 1968), "Shumava" (1968), "Brotherhood in Arms" (1970), "West-81" (1981), "Shield-82" (1982). After 1968, Romania refrained from participating in the military maneuvers of the Warsaw Pact, limiting itself to staff exercises.

Membership in the Warsaw Pact did not imply the mandatory participation of the member states in hostilities outside Europe. Thus, other countries participating in the Warsaw Pact in 1979 did not send their military contingents to Afghanistan. At the same time, they expressed support for the actions of the Soviet Union. Following the USSR, the participating states of the Warsaw Pact (except Romania) boycotted the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. This action was a response to the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics by the United States and a number of NATO countries.

Their efforts were also coordinated by the intelligence services and other special services of the countries participating in the ATS. Since 1979, within the framework of the Warsaw Pact, the electronic intelligence system (SOUD) began to operate. It included the space and electronic intelligence forces of the USSR, Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, as well as Vietnam, Cuba and Mongolia, which were not part of the ATS. Romania did not participate in the SOUD.

The Warsaw Pact secured the presence of Soviet troops in a number of European states. Their task was officially to repel a possible attack from NATO. Unofficially, the presence of Soviet military contingents could guarantee the inviolability of the ranks of the Department of Internal Affairs and counteract attempts to change the socialist system and break the military-political alliance with the USSR.

The largest of the Soviet military formations in the countries of the Warsaw Treaty Organization was the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSVG), created on the territory of the GDR from units that had been stationed there since the end of the Great Patriotic War. (Since 1989 it has been called the Western Group of Forces, ZGV). Its population in the 1980s exceeded 500 thousand people. In total, about 8.5 million Soviet military personnel served in it.

The grouping of Soviet troops in Poland was called the Northern Group of Forces (SGV), it also existed since the end of World War II. The headquarters of the SGV in the city of Legnica housed the general command of the Soviet troops in the countries of the Department of Internal Affairs (the High Command of the Western Direction). In Hungary, after the events of 1956, the Southern Group of Forces (YUGV) was permanently located. After the events of 1968, the Central Group of Forces (CGV) was stationed in Czechoslovakia. All military formations were located in these countries on the basis of bilateral agreements between the USSR and the governments of these states.

Velvet revolutions in Eastern Europe.

In 1985, the Warsaw Pact was extended for another 20 years. But perestroika began in the USSR, which led to a radical change in the internal and foreign policy. The country's leadership declared its adherence to the principles of collective security and disarmament. The USSR also proclaimed a policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of the socialist countries, which developed in an unfavorable direction for the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact.

In 1988-1989 in Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia, mass anti-government demonstrations began to be noted. They laid the foundation for the process of change of power in all states of the Warsaw Pact. On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, after which the process of German unification began. The Soviet Union did not interfere with him, and as a result, on October 3, 1990, the GDR ceased to exist. Being a single territory with the FRG that was part of NATO, the territory of East Germany automatically withdrew from the Warsaw Treaty Organization and became part of the North Atlantic Treaty.

In 1989, as a result of many months of negotiations and a number of political reforms power in Hungary and Poland passed to anti-communist forces. In Czechoslovakia, the Communist Party lost power in December 1989 as a result of peaceful mass protests, called " Velvet Revolution". In Romania, communist power fell in the bloody revolution of December 1989. In Bulgaria, a new, non-communist leadership came to power in 1990. The Soviet Union experienced difficult times, centrifugal tendencies began in it, and it did not interfere in any way in the process of transition of power in the states of the Warsaw Pact .

End of the Cold War.

The Warsaw Pact countries took an active part in the Paris Meeting of the States Parties to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) on November 19-21, 1990. It adopted the Charter of Paris for new Europe about the end of the Cold War. During the meeting, the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) was signed, limiting the number of troops for ATS countries and NATO. In addition, 22 NATO and WTO states adopted a special joint declaration.

The forces that came to power in the countries of Eastern Europe announced a sharp turn in the country's foreign policy in favor of cooperation with the United States and Western European countries and the rejection of close cooperation with the USSR. In 1991, Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia created their own association (the "Visegrad Group"), the purpose of which was to facilitate the integration of these states into Euro-Atlantic structures. The same was stated by the new authorities of Bulgaria and Romania.

The dissolution of the Department of Internal Affairs and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Eastern Europe.

Under the new conditions, the ATS ceased to perform its former functions and lost its former significance. On February 25, 1991, a decision was made to dissolve the military organization of the Warsaw Pact. At the meeting of the heads of states and governments of the Warsaw Pact in Budapest on June 30 - July 1, 1991, its participants decided to dissolve the Warsaw Pact. Now each of the states included in it got the opportunity to independently choose military and political allies.

The new authorities of Hungary, united Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia insisted on the withdrawal of Soviet troops stationed on their territory. In accordance with the agreements concluded by the Soviet Union with Hungary and Czechoslovakia, the withdrawal of formations of the Southern Group of Forces and the Central Group of Forces from their territories began, which ended in June 1991. in 1993, after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The withdrawal of Soviet troops from the territory of the former GDR was carried out on the basis of the Treaty on the final settlement with respect to Germany of September 12, 1990, signed by the USSR, the USA, Great Britain, France, the FRG and the GDR. In accordance with it, the withdrawal of Soviet troops had to be completed before the end of 1994. In 1992, Russia confirmed its obligations regarding the withdrawal of the Western Group of Forces, and the deadline for its final withdrawal was moved four months - from December 31 to August 31, 1994. After this era of the Soviet (since 1992 - Russian) military presence in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe ended.

The consequence of the collapse of the Warsaw Pact was the expansion of NATO at the expense of the former members of the Warsaw Pact to the east and the approach of the North Atlantic Alliance to the borders of Russia. In 1999, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic joined its ranks, in 2004 - Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Estonia, in 2009 - Albania and Croatia.

The economic situation in the USSR and Eastern Europe in the 80s.

During the 80s. there was a consistent increase in problems within the CMEA. Although cooperation between the CMEA member countries ensured relatively stable economic development in the 1960s and 1970s, in 1975 the CMEA member countries accounted for a third of the world industrial production, the economic potential of these states has increased several times since 1949. Many countries of the world (for example: China, Mexico, Finland) were part of the organization as observers.

But still, in the late 70s, the model of the "socialist division of labor" began to falter. A so-called "structural barrier" has come to light on the path of further expansion of mutual trade. The possibilities of increasing the supply of fuel and raw materials from the USSR narrowed noticeably without a compensating increase in Soviet exports of finished products.

The main importer of goods to the CMEA was the USSR, which satisfied 77% of the import demand for ready-made clothing and leather shoes, furniture, 95% - in haberdashery. In turn, the Soviet Union supplied to the CMEA countries more than 40% of the value of its export resources of oil and petroleum products, 70% of solid fuel, more than 50% of gas, 87% of rolled ferrous metals, 96% of iron ore, providing their import needs by an average of 70%, and for oil and oil products - 72%, natural gas - about 100%, coal - 96%, electricity - 98%, iron ore - 75%, rolled ferrous metals - 67% .

At the same time, for example, Soviet oil and gas prices for CMEA members were on average 25–45% lower than the world average, but it should also be noted that the Eastern European countries also exported their industrial products to the USSR at prices lower than the world average (by 15–30%) (up to 65% of total Eastern European exports in the 1970s and 80s).

Growing technological gap.

Meanwhile, the scale and forms of industrial cooperation within the CMEA lagged significantly behind Western standards. This gap widened due to the non-market economy's resistance to scientific and technological revolution. Along with a noticeable stagnation of interstate exchange, other problems began to emerge in the CMEA: a growing shortage of high-quality goods in mutual trade, an increase in its cost imbalance, a powerful inertia in the structure of trade turnover as a result of the inability of the CMEA member countries and the system of their mutual cooperation to practically master new scientific, technical and technological solutions.

At a party meeting in Sofia in the autumn of 1985 Soviet side proposed the development of a comprehensive program of scientific and technological progress of the CMEA member countries in order to reduce and subsequently eliminate the backlog of the Commonwealth in terms of science and technology.

An attempt to give a new impetus to the organization.

In November 1986, in Moscow, at a working meeting of the top leaders of the CMEA member countries, Gorbachev declared that it was necessary to activate such a "powerful factor of progress" as cooperation between socialist countries. He also noted that "in the second half of the 1970s - early 1980s, the development of the world socialist system slowed down."

In this regard, in 1987 it was decided to create a single socialist market. In order to implement the adopted "market" strategy at the 44th session of the CMEA (1988), a temporary working group its executive committee, designed to prepare specific proposals regarding the methods and timing of the planned transformations of the cooperation mechanism. One of the specific steps towards the formation of the market was the development of the SEPROREV certification system, which, in addition to health and environmental safety requirements, placed great importance on the quality technical and economic parameters of products supplied to the CMEA member countries.

The collapse of the organization.

The growing disintegration processes in the socialist camp and internal economic problems associated with the collapse in energy prices forced the leadership of the USSR in 1989 to propose to its CMEA partners that they switch to trading at average world prices in freely convertible currency. This was only partially achieved: at the 45th session of the CMEA (Sofia, January 1990), a decision was made on a phased transition to mutual settlements in freely convertible currency at world market prices.

On June 29, 1990, the State Bank of the USSR notified the CMEA countries about the withdrawal of the USSR from January 1, 1991 from the system of settlements in transferable rubles and the transition to settlements in freely convertible currency, which actually undermined the basis for the existence of the organization.

On January 5, 1991, at a meeting of the executive committee of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, which took place in Moscow, a decision was made to transform the CMEA into the Organization for International Economic Cooperation.

On June 28, 1991 in Budapest, at the 46th session of the Council session, the CMEA member countries: Bulgaria, Hungary, Vietnam, Cuba, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Czechoslovakia signed the Protocol on the dissolution of the organization. At the same time, the history of socialist economic integration also ended.