Mini-Review MR-32E THE WARSAW PACT Michel Rossignol Political and Social Affairs Division 22 December 1988 Library of Parliament Bibliothèque du Parlement Research Branch
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U : i CANADA LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT BIBLIOTHEQUE DU PARLEMENT THE WARSAW PACT ORIGINS AND MEMBERSHIP The Warsaw Pact was formed when the Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Poland and Rornania signed the Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance on 14 May 1955. After the Second World War, the Soviet Union had signed bilateral treaties of friendship and mutual assistance with each of its East European satellites, but it decided to supplement these with a multilateral agreement in reaction to the 1954 Paris agreement between the Western powers which admitted West Germany into NATO. As well as establishing a unified military command and providing for the maintenance of Soviet forces in the member states, the Warsaw Treaty allowed the Soviet leadership to strengthen its hold over the East European satellites. Although articles 4 and 8 of the Treaty exclude interventions by Pact forces to quell a civil war in member states or to deal with anything other than an enemy attack, Soviet and Pact troops marched into Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968 to restore Soviet control. Of the original signatories, only Albania which took a prochina stand in the Sino Soviet dispute, has left the Pact, curtailing its participation in 1962 and formally ending it in 1968 to protest Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia. Apart from Albania s departure and a short-lived repudiation of the Treaty by Hungary during the 1956 uprising, the Pact s membership has not changed. Article 9 of the Treaty allows any country to join, regardless of its form of government, but the Pact remains a Soviet dominated grouping defence coordination. of East European states preoccupied with
LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT BIBLIOTHQUE DU PARLEMENT 2 ORGANIZATION The Pact accelerated the standardization on the Soviet model of the armed forces of the East European countries undertaken in the early 195Os and made the Soviet Union the main weapons supplier of the alliance. It also established committees for mutual consultations and set up a joint command structure. The main political body of the Warsaw Pact is the Political Consultative Committee (PCC) where delegations from member states led by the General Secretary of the Comunist Party meet to consult on general policy or a crisis situation. Although the PCC was intended to meet twice a year, the frequency of its meetings has varied considerably. Between 1972 and 1985, meetings took place every second year, but since 1985, the PCC has met annually. Pact leaders, however, also hold summit meetings which are not formally described as PCC meetings. The Treaty does not spell out how decisions are reached, but they are presented as being unanimous. Other political committees include the Committee of Defence Ministers and the Committee of Foreign Ministers established in 1969 and 1976 respectively. There is also a Joint Secretariat which was reinstituted in 1976 following a period of inactivity. On the military side, there is the Military Council composed of national Chiefs of Staff or Deputy Ministers of Defence which meets twice a year, the Technical Committee of the Joint Armed Forces, the Joint Command of the Armed Forces and the Combined General Staff headquartered in Moscow. Although a consultative process was established, the preeminent position of the Soviet military and Soviet security considerations is demonstrated by the fact that the Commander-in-Chief of the Pact forces has always been a Soviet officer. CURRENT SITUATION The Warsaw Treaty was signed for an initial period of 20 years followed by an automatic 10-year extension. The Treaty was renewed in April 1985 for another 20 year period with an option for an additional 10 years. The terms of the Treaty were not changed and the Warsaw Pact remains the Soviet Bloc s answer to the NATO alliance on both the military
LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT BIBLIOTHQUE DU PARLEMENT 3 and diplomatic levels. Warsaw Pact forces, including Soviet forces based on the territory of its allies, confront NATO forces on the central front in Western Europe in keeping with the defensive character of the Treaty, although the Pact s superiority, at least in terms of numbers, and its emphasis on offensive operations have always been of concern to NATO countries. On the diplomatic front, Warsaw Pact representatives have participated with their NATO counterparts in the Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions (MBFR) negotiations since 1973 and in the 35-nation Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Summit and PCC meetings have often been used to present the Soviet Bloc s arms control and disarmament proposals. The May 1987 meeting of the PCC proposed substantial cuts in force levels by both East and West, but also recognized the need for asymmetrical reductions. At their summit meeting in Warsaw on 15-16 July 1988, the Warsaw Pact leaders adopted resolutions which called for comprehensive talks with NATO on the reduction of conventional forces, a freeze on military spending, moratoriums on nuclear testing and chemical-arms production and negotiations on the reduction of battlefield nuclear weapons. It is clear, however, that the agenda of the Pact s meetings is set by the preeminent partner, the Soviet Union, and that the Warsaw Pact s proposals reflect above all the Soviet position. By the same token, there is no doubt that the Warsaw Pact members support Soviet troop reduction proposals made outside the context of the Pact such as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev s 7 December 1988 announcement at the United Nations General Assembly concerning the reduction of Soviet forces by 500,000 men and the withdrawal of 5,000 Soviet tanks from Eastern Europe. While the Warsaw Pact still maintains a common front on security issues, relations within the alliance are not without tensions. Romania has been a recalcitrant member in recent years and refuses to allow Soviet troops on its soil. Relations between Romania and Hungary deteriorated seriously in early 1988 due to renewed complaints by Hungary concerning the treatment of ethnic Hungarians in Romania. The biggest problem facing the East European regimes in the Warsaw Pact, however, is how to respond to the push towards economic reform and democratization in
LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT BIBLIOTHEQUE DU PARLEMENT 4. the Soviet Union led by Mikhail Gorbachev. Indeed, the relationship between the Soviet Union and its satellites is changing significantly. Gorbachev s speech in Prague in April 1987 and other statements appear to repudiate the Brezhnev Doctrine, which has guided Soviet relations with its satellites since 1968. Shortly before the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Soviet leader Brezhnev had reiterated the Soviet Union s control over Eastern Europe and had justified its right to intervene in the affairs of its satellites. Recent statements by Mikhail Gorbachev, however, imply that the Soviet Union is no longer claiming complete supremacy over Eastern Europe and is inviting the regimes in the area to undertake reforms. The satellite regimes, especially those who in the past received strong Soviet support for their hard-line stand against demands for liberalization, were hesitant at first, but most have welcomed developments in the Soviet Union and have undertaken similar reforms. Besides, the Soviet Union is not the only Warsaw Pact country facing economic difficulties and growing public demands for social and political reforms. Indeed, the East European regimes of the Warsaw Pact can only welcome proposals for armed forces reductions and the easing of East-West tensions at a time when they need to increase trade with the West to bolster their weak economies and to reduce military spending to free resources for economic and social development. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Braun, Aurel. Whither the Warsaw Pact in the Gorbachev Era? tional Journal. Vol. 43, No. 1, Winter 1987-88, p. 63-105. Interna- Clauson, Robert, and Lawrence Kaplan, (eds.). The Warsaw Pact: Political Purpose and Military Means. Scholarly Resources, Wilmington, Delaware, 1982, 297 p. Holloway, David, and Jane Sharp (eds.). The Warsaw Pact. Transition? Macmillan Press, New York, 1984, 290 p. Mason, David. Affairs. Glasnost, Perestroika and Eastern Europe. Vol. 64, Summer 1988, p. 431-48. Staar, Richard. The Warsaw Treaty Organization. Vol. 86, November 1987, p. 357-60. Alliance in International Current History,
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APPENDIX 1 Warsaw Pact Forces in July 1987 according to International Institute of Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 1987-1988
Army Navy Air Force Total Regular Forces Bulgaria 110,000 8,800 34,000 152,800 Czechoslovakia 145,000 56,000 201,00 German Democratic Republic 120,000 40,000 176,000 22,000 106,000 16,000 Hungary 84,500 Poland 230,000 19,000 80,000 394,000 Romania 140,000 7,500 32,000 179,000 2,000,000 477,000 454,000 2,931,000 USSR 298,000 520,000 USSR Strategic Forces USSR Air Defence Force USSR railway construction and labour troops, command and support troops 1,477,000 USSR Total 5,226,600
APPENDIX 2 Extract from NATO document Conventional Forces in Europe: The Facts, November 1988.
LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT BIBLIOTHEQUE DU PARLEMENT PERSONNEL Covers full-time military personnel o Land Forces, including Army personnel who perform ground-based air defence duties. Also included are Command and General Support troops and Other Ministry of Defence troops. Paramilitary forces are. excluded.. Country National Totals BELGIUM 68,000 CANADA DENMARK. Country National Totals BULGARIA 135,000 5,000 CSSR 145,000. 20,540 GDR 120,000 FRANCE 267,000 HUNGARY GERMA.NY 351,800 POLAND 230,000 GREECE 116,990 ROMANIA 180,000 ICELAND USSR ITALY 80,000 2,200,000 297,000 LUXEMBOURG 695 NETHERLANDS 68,000 NORWAY 25,059 PORTUGAL 46,949 SPAIN 210,000 TURKEY 380,000 UNITED KINGDOM 140,560 UNITED STATES 216,000....
LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT BIBLIOTHEQUE DU PARLEMENT PERSONNEL (Ground Forces) CA DA FR/..?. / J:_ / /// \ RO K :... POL NL PC [:.:.:. KY IT,,.1 r I i,,/. // Uss R LUX / GE...:::::.:::::::::::::::: :::. Us BU HUGDRCSSR MEMBER COUNTRIES OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC ALLIANCE MEMBER COUNTRIES OF THE WARSAW TREATY ORGANIZATION TU P NO