Europe [1955–1991]
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External Websites
- San Diego State University - Department of Political Science - The Warsaw Pact, 1955
- Yale Law School - Lillian Goldman Law Library - Avalon Project - The Warsaw Security Pact: May 14, 1955
- Wilson Center Digital Archive - Warsaw Pact Treaty
- Internet Archive - "The Warsaw Pact, 1955-1968"
- Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine - Treaty of Warsaw
- Academia - Warsaw Pact : Origins, Political decisions and consequences in Eastern Europe
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
- Warsaw Pact - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
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While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
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Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
External Websites
- San Diego State University - Department of Political Science - The Warsaw Pact, 1955
- Yale Law School - Lillian Goldman Law Library - Avalon Project - The Warsaw Security Pact: May 14, 1955
- Wilson Center Digital Archive - Warsaw Pact Treaty
- Internet Archive - "The Warsaw Pact, 1955-1968"
- Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine - Treaty of Warsaw
- Academia - Warsaw Pact : Origins, Political decisions and consequences in Eastern Europe
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
- Warsaw Pact - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
Also known as: Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: •Article History
NATO and the Warsaw Pact
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- Formally:
- Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance
- Date:
- May 14, 1955 - July 1, 1991
- Participants:
- Albania
- Bulgaria
- Czechoslovakia
- East Germany
- Hungary
- Poland
- Romania
- Soviet Union
- Context:
- Cold War
- international relations
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- Prague Spring
- Warsaw Treaty Organization
See all related content →
Top Questions
What was Warsaw Pact formally called?
What was Warsaw Pact formally called?
The Warsaw Pact formally was called the Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance. It was established on May 14, 1955.
What event prompted the creation of the Warsaw Pact?
What event prompted the creation of the Warsaw Pact?
In May 1955 West Germany joined NATO, which prompted the Soviet Union to form the Warsaw Pact alliance in central and eastern Europe the same year.
Which countries were part of the Warsaw Pact?
Which countries were part of the Warsaw Pact?
Warsaw Pact was a treaty that established a mutual-defense organization. It was composed originally of the Soviet Union and Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. Later Albania withdrew from the pact in 1968 and East Germany withdrew in 1990.
What did the Warsaw Pact do?
What did the Warsaw Pact do?
The Warsaw Pact provided for a unified military command and the systematic ability to strengthen the Soviet hold over the other participating countries.
When did the Warsaw Pact end?
When did the Warsaw Pact end?
After the democratic revolutions of 1989 in eastern Europe, the Warsaw Pact became moribund and was formally declared “nonexistent” on July 1, 1991, at a final summit meeting of Warsaw Pact leaders in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
Warsaw Pact, (May 14, 1955–July 1, 1991) treaty establishing a mutual-defense organization (Warsaw Treaty Organization) composed originally of the Soviet Union and Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. (Albania withdrew in 1968, and East Germany did so in 1990.) The treaty (which was renewed on April 26, 1985) provided for a unified military command and for the maintenance of Soviet military units on the territories of the other participating states.
The immediate occasion for the Warsaw Pact was the Paris agreement among the Western powers admitting West Germany to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Warsaw Pact was, however, the first step in a more systematic plan to strengthen the Soviet hold over its satellites, a program undertaken by the Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolay Bulganin after their assumption of power early in 1955. The treaty also served as a lever to enhance the bargaining position of the Soviet Union in international diplomacy, an inference that may be drawn by the concluding article of the treaty, which stipulated that the Warsaw agreement would lapse when a general East-West collective-security pact should come into force.
Cold War Events
The Warsaw Pact, particularly its provision for the garrisoning of Soviet troops in satellite territory, became a target of nationalist hostility in Poland and Hungary during the uprisings in those two countries in 1956. The Soviet Union invoked the treaty when it decided to move Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia in August 1968 to bring the Czechoslovak regime back into the fold after it had begun lifting restraints on freedom of expression and had sought closer relations with the West. (Only Albania and Romania refused to join in the Czechoslovak repression.)
After the democratic revolutions of 1989 in eastern Europe, the Warsaw Pact became moribund and was formally declared “nonexistent” on July 1, 1991, at a final summit meeting of Warsaw Pact leaders in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Deployed Soviet troops were gradually withdrawn from the former satellites, now politically independent countries. The decades-long confrontation between eastern and western Europe was formally rejected by members of the Warsaw Pact, all of which, with the exception of the Soviet successor state of Russia, subsequently joined NATO.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.