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Home , Brezhnev Doctrine, Cold War, Cold War (1947–1953), Cold War (1962–1979), Cold War (1979–1985), Cold War (1985–1991)

CLASSROOM COUNTRY PROFILES The Pact and Eastern During the Cold

The Union dominated Central and during the . After War II, it formed the , a of European communist states meant to counter NATO. The alliance included six European countries by the USSR following Nazi defeat plus and is also referred to as the . Although it was ostensibly a military alli- ance, the Warsaw Pact was used as an instrument to keep com- munist regimes in power in those countries. It was dissolved af- ter the communist regimes collapsed at the end of the Cold War.

By the final of the Second , Soviet troops had advanced westward, pushing the Nazi back to . When the war ended, Soviet troops occupied several Central and Eastern European states, including the eastern part of . Warsaw Pact Members—The Warsaw Pact included the , , , , East During the war, the USSR absorbed the three formerly independent Baltic Germany, , , and Albania. states—, , and —as well as a piece of Romania, which it established as the Moldavian Soviet Socialist . In the remaining Albania withdrew in 1968 when it split with the USSR Central and Eastern European states it occupied, the USSR helped establish over differing interpretations of and disa- hardline communist modeled after the Soviet system. greements over regional policies. The USSR, along with the , Britain, and , jointly occupied NATO—The North Atlantic Organization was Germany and . The victorious powers established Austria as an inde- formed in 1949 out of fear of further communist ex- pendent and neutral but disagreed over the fate of Germany. The pansion into Europe. The persists to three powers established the market-based of Germany in the , while the USSR established the hardline socialist this day and now includes many former Warsaw Pact of the German in the east. members.

Escalating tensions and fear of further communist expansion prompted —The strongman of the Soviet the formation of NATO. In response and out of anger that the from the mid- until his death in 1953. allies had allowed rearmament in , the USSR formed led the USSR to victory over Warsaw Pact, named after the where the treaty was signed. and oversaw of hardline communist The governments of the Warsaw Pact carried out repressive policies regimes in postwar Central and Eastern Europe. throughout their existence, including severely limiting , preventing opposition parties from gaining power, and establishing exten- sive networks of spies to monitor citizens and arrest those suspected of opposing the regimes.

The states of the Warsaw Pact generally enjoyed higher living standards than the Soviet Union but lagged far behind .

Updated: June 2017 The Hungarian of 1956.

Although Soviet troops were welcomed as liberators as they pushed Nazi forces out of Eastern Europe, citizens there soon grew wary of Stalinist policy and the new communist leaders. In autumn 1956 an uprising in Hungary attempted to top- ple the hardline communist rulers and replace them with a freely elected govern- ment. Traditional Ukrainian Eggs

When student protesters were arrested in , revolution swept across the country. The collapsed and political prisoners were freed. The interim government announced plans to withdraw Hungary from the Warsaw Pact and Soviet face protesters during the hold free . However, only days later, the Soviet Union invaded and Spring of 1968. crushed the movement. More than 2,500 and an esti- mated 700 Soviet soldiers were killed during days of violence.

The Soviet Union installed a new hardline government, which moved quickly to —Named after Soviet arrest anyone associated with the uprising. The Hungarian Revolution demonstrat- , the doctrine held ed that the USSR would not tolerate any attempts to free Eastern European states that the Soviet Union could resort to military from its influence. force to preserve communist regimes in the Warsaw Pact.

By the mid-, more relaxed policies brought by de-Stalinization in the Soviet Hungarian Revolution—An uprising in 1956 Union saw the proliferation of independent, underground publications and talk of that toppled the Soviet-supported communist change. In Czechoslovakia, a new movement sought to reform the faltering econ- government in Hungary. The short-lived inter- omy and to relax hardline policies. im government was overthrown and jailed after the Soviet Union invaded, leading to Dubcek, who became the leader of Czechoslovakia in 1968, an- days of deadly street . nounced a new policy, which he called “ with a face.” He began relaxing controls on the media, tolerating freedom of speech, and liberalizing the —A period of reform in Czech- command . These policies allowed public debate about the merits of oslovakia headed by Alexander Dubcek. The and the country’s relationship with the Soviet Union for the first time. period saw improved freedom of speech, mar- ket , and relaxed control over Leonid Brezhnev, who had become leader of the Soviet Union after Nikita Khrush- society by the . The Warsaw chev was ousted by his own party, had begun reversing some of the more relaxed Pact led by the Soviet Union invaded, policies of his predecessor. Brezhnev saw the reforms in Czechoslovakia as a replacing Dubcek and his government despite threat to Marxist-Leninist dogma and Soviet in the . He urged mass across the country. Dubcek to halt his reform program, but Dubcek refused. —The Council for Mutual Eco- In 1968, Brezhnev ordered the Warsaw Pact armies to invade Czechoslo- nomic Assistance. It was an economic associ- ation established in Eastern Europe following vakia and oust Dubcek and his government. Thousands of soldiers and tanks en- the War. It expanded to other tered the country, seizing control of Prague despite massive nonviolent protests communist countries during the Cold War, but Dubcek was replaced with a more obedient leader and reassigned to a lowly post it was used primarily as a tool to maintain eco- in the Forestry . The event was the opening volley of what historians have nomic cooperation among Warsaw Pact referred to as the “Brezhnev Doctrine,” which meant that the USSR could use states and to deter individual states from force to maintain hardline communist governments in the Warsaw Pact. forming relations with the West.

More resources for USEFUL LINKS educators are available on the Henry M. Jackson CIA World Factbook: School of International BBC Country Page: Studies website. : Post English

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By the from the Soviet Union and the communist countries of the Warsaw Pact were gaining attention internationally. Prominent figures such as the former prisoner , nuclear scientist , and Czech playwright Vaclav were publishing underground to in- spire resistance to the regimes, despite heavy repression. Traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs

A Polish , known as , began gaining influence in the country after a wave of labor strikes in 1980. Although it was heavily repressed by the state, Solidarity members remained active throughout the decade and the events Czech and playwright Vaclav Havel was elected president following the Velvet Rev- of 1980 energized anti-communist sentiment. olution of 1989.

When began to liberalize the Soviet economy and to allow freedom of speech through his policies of and , anti- communist movements throughout Eastern Europe gained new life. However, the hardline in these countries, particularly in , resisted calls What was the Brezhnev Doctrine? Why did the Soviet Union intervene when movements by Gorbachev to implement reform. Ironically, by 1989 the Eastern European tried to replace communist governments? Did communist states were more faithful to Soviet-style communism than the USSR. the policy benefit Soviet interests?

By that time growing unrest had led to mass street protests across the region. What led to the of 1989? Why did Gorbachev, breaking with the Brezhnev Doctrine, indicated that he would not send communism fall in every country of the War- Soviet troops to save the embattled communist regimes. saw Pact?

In 1989 Solidarity became the first noncommunist party to win an in the What prompted the formation of the Warsaw Warsaw Pact. That same year, communists across the alliance fell from power in Pact? How was the Warsaw Pact similar to a wave of revolutions. Only in Romania did the events turn violent, resulting in the NATO? In what ways did it differ? execution of longtime leader Nicolae Ceausescu on Day 1989.

The members of the Warsaw Pact voted to dissolve the alliance in 1991. Since then, many of the former alliance members have joined NATO, including the three that gained independence from the Soviet Union. “Torn from the .” — 2007 documentary film about communism in Hungary.

“Czechoslovakia 1968.” — 1969 documentary film produced by the US Information Agency.

Havel, Vaclav. “The Power of the Powerless.” — Essay written in 1977.

Beissinger, and Kotkin, Stephen. Histori- cal Legacies of Communism in and Eastern Europe. Cambridge University Press, 2014. Protesters tore down the Berlin as the communist East German govern- ment began to collapse in 1989.

More resources for USEFUL LINKS educators are available CIA World Factbook: on the Henry M. Jackson School of International BBC Country Page: Studies website. National Geographic: Kyiv Post English

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