History and creation of ATS

Six years after the formation of NATO, in 1955, as opposed to the alliance, the Warsaw Treaty Organization appeared . The creation of the ATS marked a new round of the Cold War. However, the socialist countries actively cooperated with each other long before that. After the end of the war, in 1945, communists came to power in the Eastern European states . This was partly due to the presence in these states of Soviet troops, as well as a general psychological background. Before the establishment of the Warsaw Treaty Organization, the relations between the socialist countries were built on the basis of treaties on cooperation and friendship. In 1949 the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance appeared. However, the creation of the ATS was completely the initiative of the USSR.

The members of the new bloc are: the USSR, Romania, Poland, the GDR, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Albania and Bulgaria. The contract was signed for twenty years with a simplified extension for another decade. In 1962 Albania ceased to participate in the bloc due to political disagreements. In 1968 she completely left it.

The creation of the ATS was a military-political act. This is evidenced even by the structure of the governing bodies of the bloc: the united command of the Armed Forces and the political advisory body that coordinated the common foreign policy. The formation of the ATS has played a huge political role. The bloc was the main mechanism that helped the USSR control the countries of the socialist camp. In military terms, the Treaty was also of great importance. The troops of the participating countries regularly conducted joint exercises, and in the territories of the Eastern European states there were military bases of the USSR.

In 1968, the OVD countries jointly introduced troops to Czechoslovakia to suppress the processes of liberalization and democratization of this country, which could eventually lead to its withdrawal from the bloc. In the conditions of the Cold War, it was unacceptable for the USSR to lose such a key state for the security system as Czechoslovakia. However, the main danger was that other states could follow suit.

The creation of the ATS provided for equality of all participants. However, the formal equality of the members of the Treaty, which were supposed to collectively take political and military decisions, was just an appearance. The Soviet Union's relations with other bloc members differed little from its relations with its own republics. All important decisions were made in Moscow. The history of the ATS has preserved many such examples.

When during the perestroika in the USSR there was a change in policy, the country abandoned the doctrine of control and interference in the internal affairs of its allies in the organization. In 1985, the members of the bloc extended their membership in it for another 20 years. However, in 1989, the active destruction of the socialist system began. There was a wave of "velvet revolutions" in the socialist countries, and within a short time the communist governments were liquidated. This, in fact, destroyed the system of ATS power. After these events, the block ceased to be a mechanism that helped the USSR control the Eastern European countries. In 1991, the Treaty finally ceased to exist together with the complete collapse of the socialist system.