NATO ENLARGEMENT AND CENTRAL EUROPE A STUDY IN CML-MILITARY RELATIONS NATO ENLARGEMENT AND CENTRAL EUROPE A STUDY IN CML-MILITARY RELATIONS by Jeffrey Simon 1996 Institute For National Strategic Studies National Defense University National Defense University Press Publications To increase general knowledge and inform discussion, the Institute for National Strategic Studies, through its publication arm the NDU Press, publishes McNair Papers; proceedings of University- and Institute-sponsored symposia; books relating to U.S. national security, especially to issues of joint, combined, or coalition warfare, peacekeeping operations, and national strategy; and a variety of briefer works designed to circulate contemporary comment and offer alternatives to current poli- cy. The Press occasionally publishes out-of-print defense classics, historical works, and other especially timely or distinguished writing on national security. Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within are sole- ly those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Defense University, the Department of Defense, or any other U.S. Government agency. Cleared for public release; distribution unlimited. Portions of this book may be quoted or reprinted without permission, provided that a standard source credit line is included. NDU Press would appreciate a courtesy copy of reprints or reviews. Many NDU Press publications are sold by the U.S. Government Printing Otiice. For ordering information, call (202) 783-3238 or write to the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Oflqce, Washington, DC 20402. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Simon,Jeffrey, 1942- NATO enlargement and Central Europe: a study in civil-military relations / Jeffrey Simon. p. cm, Includes bibliographical references 1. North Atlantic Treaty Organization--Membership. 2. Civil-military relations- -Europe, Central. 3. Europe, Central--Politics and government--1989- I. Tide. UA646.3.$547 1996 355'.031091821-dc21 96-39236 CIP First Printing, October 1996 To Katherine Adam Lee, Jean Paul, and Tamara Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the assistance and support of numerous colleagues and friends in Central Europe and NATO who have shared their knowledge and advice and read and critiqued portions of the manuscript. They are too numerous to name, but they know who they are and this book could not have been written without them. Contents °°° Foreword Xlll Io Past as Prologue 1 U. NATO Enlargement: Blazing the Trail 7 UI. Germany: One People, One State, One Army 35 IV. Poland: Reform by Stages 49 V. Hungary: Constitutional Challenge and Reform 137 VI. Czechoslovakia: From Unity to Federation and Divorce 191 VII. The Czech Republic: Advancing Toward Democracy 213 VIII. Slovakia: Instability and Special Problems 253 IX. Prologue as Future: What Central Europe Needs To Do 289 Index 315 xi Illustrations Maps 1 NATO and Central Europe 6 2 Germany 34 3 Poland 48 4 Hungary 136 5 Czechoslovakia 190 6 The Czech Republic 212 7 Slovakia 252 Tables 3.1 East German Defense Reform, 1989-90 39 4.1 Polish Defense Reform, 1988-91 52 4.2 Olszewski Defense Reform, 1992 63 4.3 Suchocka Defense Reform, 1992 67 4.4 Pawlak Defense Reform, 1993 77 4.5 Olesksy Defense Reform, 1995 88 4.6 Cimoszewicz Defense Reform, 1996 101 5.1 Hungarian Defense Reform, 1989-90 141 5.2 Hungarian Defernse Reform, 1992 148 5.3 Hungarian Defense Reform, 1994 157 6.1 CSFR Defense Reform, 1989-90 196 6.2 CSFR Defense Reform, 1991-92 202 7.1 Baudy's Defense Reform, 1993-94 214 7.2 Holan Defense Reform, 1994-96 222 7.3 Vyborny Defense Reform, 1996 240 8.1 Slovak Defense Reform, 1993 254 8.2 Slovak Defense Reform, 1994 262 Figure 8.1 Slovakian Parliamentary Elections 261 xii Foreword The future of the Central European nations will in many ways be linked with the enlargement of NATO to meet the new challenges of the post- Cold War world. As a result of reunification with the Federal Republic of Germany, East Germany has, in effect, become the first of the former Warsaw Pact nations to enter NATO. The four countries discussed in this volume Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia----all have interest in joining the Alliance as well, and all have made commitments in varying degrees toward that goal. To understand why these nations are striving to meet the criteria for inclusion in a NATO enlargement program, and how well they are succeeding, one needs an appreciation of the political history of each nation since the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. In this t~)ok, Jeffrey Simon, one of the most experienced and well informed analysts of Central European matters, offers just such a history. He begins with Poland's extremely complex and difficult struggle toward democratic government since 1989, reminding us of the violence done to Polish society and the Polish people earlier this century and illuminating recent political events that otherwise might seem merely chaotic. Then he traces the somewhat easier struggles of Hungary and Czechoslovakia, explaining with admirable clarity how those nations advanced along parallel but different paths, and why the Czech Republic and SIovakia have advanced at different paces since the "Velvet Divorce"----the amicable separation of those two nations. This invaluable work--which has been completed with the cooperation and encouragement of the nations involved---stands as an authoritative, meticulously documented, and very timely history of the swift transition from socialist to democratic political principles in Central Europe in less than a decade. ERVIN J. ROKKE Lieutenant General, U.S. Air Force President, National Defense University NATO ENLARGEMENT AND CENTRAL EUROPE A STUDY IN CML-MILITARY RELATIONS I. PAST AS PROLOGUE istory has forced Central Europe to adjust to politics of the H .extreme because it has been a region where states have rarely conformed with the nations living within their territorial bound- aries. States in the region have merged, disintegrated, disap- peared, and even been moved to different locations. Perhaps because of these experiences, Central European nations have demonstrated remarkable resilience and capacity to reassert national will. During the eighteenth century, Germany comprised more than 350 independent duchies and principalities. By the end of the Napoleonic era, it comprised roughly the 40 states that were final- ly unified by Otto yon Bismarck after the Franco-Prussian war in 1871. Following defeat in World War I, the Treaty of Versailles mandated Germany's loss of the Alsace-Lorraine to France, Poznan West Prussia to Poland, the Hultchin district to Czecho- slovakia, and Memel to Lithuania. Danzig became a free city. Hitler's attempt to establish the Third Reich led to World War II and Germany's second catastropic defeat, resulting in the four- power occupation of Berlin, the loss of much of its eastern territo- ry, and the division of the remainder of Germany into two states; the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Demo- cratic Republic (GDR). The German Democratic Republic's brief history was one of dramatic changes. After the German border was moved 125 miles westward to make room for the "new" Poland, the GDR emerged 2 NATO ENLARGEMENT under communist rule. Because of the communistic Socialist Unity Party's (SED) complete loss of control and legitimacy in the Fall of 1989, the GDR was "unified" (in reality absorbed) on 3 October 1990 to become five "eastern" laender (states) in a reunited Germa- ny- and NATO. The GDR thus simply disappeared. In Orwellian fashion, the former cornerstone of the Warsaw Pact found itself in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an organization that had been for 40 years its "'enemy" object--and even its raison d'etre. Germany's reunification exemplifies Central Europe's return to historical patterns and NATO's ability to enlarge eastward. Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia have also experienced historic transformations. Each has thrown off the yoke of 45 years of communist party domination and regained national sovereign- ty. Each is attempting to erect liberal democratic political institu- tions, establish market economies, guarantee civil and human rights, acquire civil control of its military, and join the European Union and NATO. All three have successfully negotiated the with- drawal of Soviet (eventually Russian) forces from their soil, con- tributed to the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CEMA)--structures that provided some semblance of economic and political-military order to the region--and observed Germany's reunification and the Soviet Union's disintegration. Poland's history has also been a study in politics of the extreme. After experiencing three partitions during the eighteenth century, culminating in Poland's total absorption by Prussia, Russia, and the Hapsburg Empire, the Polish state disappeared from the European stage in 1795. Statehood was not resurrected until after World War I, when the Treaty of Versailles established the independent Polish Republic from areas controlled by Russia, Germany, and Austria. Poland's experience with democratic rule was brief; in May 1926 it ended with Marshall Pilsudski's coup and military dic- tatorship, which itself ended following the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and the German and Soviet attacks on Poland starting PAST AS PROLOGUE 3 September 1, 1939. With Germany's impending collapse in 1944, Soviet military forces "temporarily" occupied Poland with its Northern Group of Forces. Communist rule followed. Despite popular challenges to communist rule in 1956, 1970, 1976, and 1980-81, Polish democratization did not begin until 1988-89. Hungary, for many years an isolated linguistic and cultural island within the Hapsburg empire, managed to gain a semblance of autonomy from Hapsburg rule after the 1867 ausgleich, which created the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy. As a successor to the Danubian Monarchy after World War I, Hungary was consid- ered one of the powers responsible for the war.