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Mutual Assistance,: o o o o o o o o o o
Mutual Assistance,: o o o o o o o o o o
Contents
1Structure
2Strategy
o 2.1Notable military exercises
3History
o 3.1Beginnings
o 3.2Members
o 3.3Observers
o 3.4During Cold War
o 3.5End of the Cold War
4NATO and Warsaw Pact: Forces Comparisons
o 4.1NATO and Warsaw Pact Forces in Europe
5Central and Eastern Europe after the Warsaw Treaty
6See also
7References
o 7.1Works cited
8Further reading
o 8.1Other languages
o 8.2Memoirs
9External links
Structure[edit]
The Warsaw Treaty's organization was two-fold: the Political Consultative Committee handled
political matters, and the Combined Command of Pact Armed Forces controlled the assigned multi-
national forces, with headquarters in Warsaw, Poland. The Supreme Commander of the Unified
Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization, which commanded and controlled all the military
forces of the member countries, was also a First Deputy Minister of Defence of the USSR, and
the Chief of Combined Staff of the Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization was
also a First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces. Therefore, although
ostensibly an international collective security alliance, the USSR dominated the Warsaw Treaty
armed forces, analogous to the United States' domination of the NATO alliance.[19]
Strategy[edit]
The strategy behind the formation of the Warsaw Pact was driven by the desire of the Soviet
Union to prevent Central and Eastern Europe being used as a base for its enemies. Its policy was
also driven by ideological and geostrategic reasons. Ideologically, the Soviet Union arrogated the
right to define socialism and communism and act as the leader of the global socialist movement. A
corollary to this was the necessity of intervention if a country appeared to be violating core socialist
ideas, explicitly stated in the Brezhnev Doctrine.[20]