The Warsaw Pact was established six years after the advent of NATO, in 1955. It is worth saying that close cooperation between the socialist countries existed long before this date. At the same time, relations between states were based on agreements on cooperation and friendship.
Due to the emergence of friction in relations between the USSR and the 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 Soviet government brought tanks into the country.
The organization of the Warsaw Pact was the result of negotiations between the Soviet leaders and the leadershipsocialist 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 foreign policy activities of the allied states. All key positions in these structures were occupied by a representative of the USSR army.
The Warsaw Pact Organization for Cooperation, Friendship and Mutual Assistance was established to ensure the security of its member countries. The need for 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 a crisis with the creation of a single command over the armed forces.
The Warsaw Pact was created in opposition to the NATO bloc. However, already in 1956, the Hungarian government declared its neutrality and desire to withdraw from the countries participating in the agreement. The answer to this was the introduction of Soviet tanks into Budapest. Popular unrest also took place in Poland. They were stopped peacefully.
The split in the socialist camp began in 1958. It was during this period that the Romanian government achieved a withdrawal fromthe territory of their state troops of the USSR 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 West Berlin with the installation of checkpoints at the border.
The Warsaw Pact countries 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 in 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 a real threat to the free world.
