The '''Warsaw Pact''' (''Officially the'' '''Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance''', ''Russian'' '''Договор о дружбе, сотрудничестве и взаимной помощи''') was a political and military organization made up of the [[communism|communist]] states of [[Eastern Central Europe]] and the [[Soviet Union]]. The Warsaw Pact was officially formed on May 14, 1955, in response to the integration of [[West Germany]] in to [[NATO]]. The Warsaw Pact effectively lasted until November 9, 1989, when the [[Berlin Wall]] fell<ref>[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1955warsawpact.html The Warsaw Pact], ''Fordham University''</ref> and officially ceased to exist on July 1st, 1991.<ref>Conservapedia Main Page</ref>
==Background==
Immediately after the [[World War II]], Soviet General Secretary of the Communist Party [[Josef Stalin]], sent [[Konstantin Rokossovsky]] to Warsaw and gave him the title of Marshal of Poland to add to his existing rank as Marshal of the Soviet Union. In Warsaw Rokossovsky held the posts of Minister of Defence, Deputy President of the Council of Ministers and Member of the Politburo of the Polish Communist Party. Thus a Marshal of the Soviet Union served as deputy to the head of the Polish government. Rokossovsky, nor any other General in the Polish army, spoke Polish, relying constantly on interpreters. The relationship between Generalissimo of the Soviet Union, J. V. Stalin and Rokossovsky was based upon the fact that Stalin gave the orders, and that Rokossovsky carried them out.
All decisions were taken in the [[Kremlin]] and monitored by the Kremlin. The Defence Ministers of the East Central European countries were regarded as equal in status to the Commanders of Soviet Military Districts and they came under the direct command of the Soviet Minister of Defence. All appointments and postings were decided upon by the Kremlin. The Defence Ministers of the `sovereign' states of Eastern Central Europe were either appointed from the ranks of Soviet generals or were `assisted' by Soviet military advisers. In [[Romania]] and [[Bulgaria]], for instance, one such `adviser' was Marshal of the Soviet Union Tolbukhin. In East Germany there was Marshal Zhukov himself, in Hungary Marshal of the Soviet Union Konev. Each adviser had at his disposal at least one tank army, several all-arms armies and special [[SMERSH]], or Red Army Counterintelligence punitive detachments.
In [[Czechoslovakia]] there was Ludwig Svoboda, who neutralised the Czech army in 1948 and again in 1968. He carried out the orders of the USSR promptly so it was not necessary to keep a Soviet Marshal in [[Prague]] holding a ministerial post in the Czech government. During World War II all of the East Central European countries had been enemies of the Soviet Union and it was therefore possible to execute any political figure, general, officer or private soldier, at any given time and replace them with someone more cooperative with the socialist system.
==Founding==
During the Organisation's first thirteen years the Ministers of Defence of the sovereign states, whether they were pro-Soviet puppets or actual Soviet generals and Marshals, were subordinated to the Commander-in-Chief, who was appointed by the Soviet government and who was himself Deputy Minister of Defence of the USSR. Thus, even in a legal sense, the Ministers of these theoretically sovereign states were directly subordinated to a Soviet Minister's deputy.
After the Prague Spring in 1968, the Consultative Committee was set up. In this committee, Ministers of Defence and Heads of State from the Eastern Central European occuped countries gathered to talk as equals and allies, but in reality all decisions were still made in the Kremlin. During [[Czech_Republic#The_1968_Soviet_Invasion|'Operation Danube']], the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslavkia, the `allied' divisions of the Warsaw Treaty Organisation were integrated in the Soviet Armies. None of the East Central European countries had the right to set up its own Corps, Armies or Fronts. They had only divisions commanded by Soviet generals. In the event of war with [[Nato]], they would be fully integrated into the United (or Soviet) Armed Forces.
==References==