A cardboard castle? : an inside history of the Warsaw Pact, 1955-1991

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A cardboard castle? : an inside history of the Warsaw Pact, 1955-1991

edited by Vojtech Mastny and Malcolm Byrne ; editorial assistant Magdalena Klotzbach

（National Security Archive Cold War readers / series editor, Malcolm Byrne）

Central European University Press, 2005

  • : pbk

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Includes bibliographical references (p. 693-706) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: pbk ISBN 9789637326073

Description

This is the first book to document, analyze, and interpret the history of the Warsaw Pact based on the archives of the alliance itself. As suggested by the title, the Soviet bloc military machine that held the West in awe for most of the Cold War does not appear from the inside as formidable as outsiders often believed, nor were its strengths and weaknesses the same at different times in its surprisingly long history, extending for almost half a century. The introductory study by Mastny assesses the controversial origins of the "superfluous" alliance, its subsequent search for a purpose, its crisis and consolidation despite congenital weaknesses, as well as its unexpected demise. Most of the 193 documents included in the book were top secret and have only recently been obtained from Eastern European archives by the PHP project. The majority of the documents were translated specifically for this volume and have never appeared in English before. The introductory remarks to individual documents by co-editor Byrne explain the particular significance of each item. A chronology of the main events in the history of the Warsaw Pact, a list of its leading officials, a selective multilingual bibliography, and an analytical index add to the importance of a publication that sets the new standard as a reference work on the subject and facilitate its use by both students and general readers.

Table of Contents

  • Editors' Preface Introductory Essay by Vojtech Mastny Acronyms and Abbreviations Chronology of Events The Documents Document No. 1: The Warsaw Treaty, May 14, 1955 Document No. 2: Statute of the Warsaw Treaty Unified Command, September 7, 1955 Document No. 3: Imre Nagy Telegram to Diplomatic Missions in Budapest Declaring Hungary's Neutrality, November 1, 1956 Document No. 4: Gen. Jan Drzewiecki's Critique of the Statute of the Unified Command, November 3, 1956 Document No. 5: Polish Memorandum on Reform of the Warsaw Pact, January 10, 1957 Document No. 6: Gen. Drzewiecki Interview regarding Memorandum on Reform of the Warsaw Pact, May 8, 1997 Document No. 7: Soviet Directives to the Czechoslovak Army on Operational and Combat Preparations, September 25, 1957 Document No. 8: Draft of a Warsaw Pact-NATO Non-aggression Treaty, May 24, 1958 Document No. 9: Marshal Ivan Konev Analysis of a Czechoslovak Army Operational Exercise, March 31-April 7, 1959 Document No. 10: Conclusions from the Operational Exercise of the Czechoslovak Army, March 31-April 7, 1959 Document No. 11: East German Description of a West German Plan for the Occupation of the GDR, July 29, 1959 Document No. 12: Warsaw Pact Views of NATO's Plans and Capabilities, April 28, 1960 Document No. 13: The Soviet-Albanian Dispute, March 22-28, 1961 Document No. 14: Political Consultative Committee Resolution on the Restructuring and Modernization of Warsaw Pact Forces, March 29, 1961 Document No. 15: The Soviet Conception of Czechoslovakia's Role in a European War, April 1961 Document No. 16: Speech by Marshal Malinovskii Describing the Need for Warsaw Pact Offensive Operations, May 1961 Document No. 17: Czechoslovak Politburo Resolution on Mobilization Readiness with Respect to the Berlin Question, July 25, 1961 Document No. 18: Joint Declaration of the Warsaw Treaty States on the Berlin Wall, August 13, 1961 Document No. 19: Resolution by the Czechoslovak Party Military Defense Commission on the Introduction of Emergency Measures, September 14, 1961 Document No. 20: The "Buria" Exercise Preparing for an Advance into Western Europe, September 28-October 10, 1963 Document No. 21: Organizational Principles of the Czechoslovak Army, November 22, 1962 Document No. 22: The "Mazowsze" Exercise for Nuclear War and Interview with Gen. Tuczapski on Soviet Bloc Planning of Exercises, 1963-1964 Document No. 23: Polish Command Post Exercise Rehearsing an Advance to Northern Germany, Low Countries, and Denmark, June 14, 1963 Document No. 24: Mongolian Request for Admission to the Warsaw Pact, July 15, 1963 Document No. 25: Polish Foreign Ministry Memorandum regarding Possible Mongolian Accession to the Warsaw Treaty, July 20, 1963 Document No. 26: Czechoslovak Drafts of Orders and Appeals to be Issued in Occupied Western European Territories, June 29, 1964 Document No. 27: Warsaw Pact War Plan for the Czechoslovak Front, October 14, 1964 Document No. 28: Warsaw Pact Intelligence on NATO's Strategy and Combat Readiness, 1965 Document No. 29: Albanian Note to the Political Consultative Committee, January 15, 1965 Document No. 30: Memorandum of Discussion at Political Consultative Committee Meeting in Warsaw, January 20, 1965 Document No. 31: Plan for Hungarian Command-Staff War Game, May 1965 Document No. 32: Transcript of Ceausescu--Deng Conversation, July 25, 1965 Document No. 33: Hungarian Proposals for Reform of the Warsaw Pact, January 18-19, 1966 Document No. 34: Polish Proposals for Reform of the Warsaw Pact, January 21 & 26, 1966 Document No 35: Czechoslovak Proposal for Reform of the Warsaw Pact, February 1966 Document No. 36: Statement by the Romanian Chief of Staff on Reform of the Warsaw Pact, February 4-9, 1966 Document No. 37: Summary of Discussion at Conference of Warsaw Treaty Deputy Foreign Ministers, February 17, 1966 Document No. 38: Study of Special Features of a Surprise Outbreak of War Prepared for the Hungarian Military, February 22-23, 1966 Document No. 39: Memorandum of the Conference of Defense Ministers, May 27-28, 1966 Document No. 40: Memorandum of the Conference of Foreign Ministers, June 14-15, 1966 Document No. 41: Minutes of Summit of Warsaw Pact Leaders in Bucharest, July 5-7, 1966 Document No. 42: Transcript of Gathering of Warsaw Pact Leaders in Karlovy Vary, April 25, 1967 Document No. 43: East German Analysis of the NATO "Fallex 66" Exercise, 1967 Document No. 44: Report on the State of the Bulgarian Army in the Wake of the Middle East War, October 7, 1967 Document No. 45: Memorandum of Results of the Chiefs of General Staff Meeting regarding Reorganization of the Warsaw Treaty, March 1, 1968 Document No. 46: Czechoslovak Report on the Meeting of the Political Consultative Committee of March 6-7, 1968, March 26, 1968 Document No. 47: Remarks by Czechoslovak Chief of Staff on the Theory of Local War, March 13, 1968 Document No. 48: Record of Gomulka--Iakubovskii Conversation in Warsaw, April 19, 1968 Document No. 49: Report to Nicolae Ceausescu on the Meeting of the Political Consultative Committee in Sofia, June 3, 1968 Document No. 50: Memorandum of the Academic Staff of the Czechoslovak Military Academies on Czechoslovakia's Defense Doctrine, June 4, 1968 Document No. 51: Action Program of the Czechoslovak Army, June 11, 1968 Document No. 52: Czechoslovak Central Committee Study of Security Policy, June 24, 1968 Document No. 53: Reports on the "Sumava" Exercise
  • Memorandum by Gen. Tadeusz Tuczapski, July 4, 1968 Document No. 54: Transcript of the Meeting of Five Warsaw Pact States in Warsaw, July 14-15, 1968 Document No. 55: Czechoslovak Reformist and East German Views on the Czechoslovak Crisis, July 1968 Document No. 56: Report by East German Defense Minister on the Invasion of Czechoslovakia, August 22, 1968 Document No. 57: Record of Meeting between President Ludvik Svoboda and Czechoslovak Army Officers, August 28, 1968 Document No. 58: Letter from the East German Deputy Defense Minister to Erich Honecker about His Conversation with Marshal Iakubovskii, August 31, 1968 Document No. 59: Report by the East German Defense Minister on NATO's "Fallex 68/Golden Rod" Exercise, November 21, 1968 Document No. 60: Czechoslovak-Soviet Agreement on the Stationing of Soviet Nuclear Forces, November 13-14, 1968 Document No. 61: Czechoslovak General Staff Study on the Warsaw Treaty, December 21, 1968 Document No. 62: Secret Resolutions on Reorganization of the Warsaw Pact, March 17, 1969 Document No. 63: Appeal for a European Security Conference, March 17, 1969 Document No. 64: Report by Ceausescu to the Romanian Politburo on the Political Consultative Committee Meeting in Budapest, March 18, 1969 Document No. 65: Polish Army Report on East German Misbehavior during the "Oder-Neisse-69" Exercise, October 22, 1969 Document No. 66: Speech by Marshal Grechko at the "Zapad" Exercise, October 16, 1969 Document No. 67: Hungarian Foreign Ministry Memorandum of Soviet-Hungarian Consultations on the European Security Conference, October 18, 1969 Document No. 68: Polish Proposals for the Conference on Security and Disarmament, October 24, 1969 Document No. 69: East German Evaluation of Polish Proposal for a European Security Treaty, November 13, 1969 Document No. 70: Speech by Grechko at the First Meeting of the Warsaw Pact Committee of Ministers of Defense, December 22, 1969 Document No. 71: Hungarian Report of Warsaw Pact Summit on Policy toward West Germany, January 7, 1970 Document No. 72: Minutes of Romanian Politburo Meeting Concerning the Ceausescu-Brezhnev Conversation, May 20, 1970 Document No. 73: The Surrender of Hannover according to the Polish Army's "Bison" Exercise, April 21-28, 1971 Document No. 74: Transcript of Romanian Politburo Meeting on Ceausescu's Trip to Asia and Moscow, June 25, 1971 Document No. 75: Comparison of Warsaw Treaty and NATO Positions concerning the European Security Conference, December 1, 1971 Document No. 76: Hungarian Memorandum on the Deputy Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Moscow, February 3, 1975 Document No. 77: Iakubovskii Report on the State of the Unified Armed Forces, December 31, 1975 Document No. 78: Evaluation of the Helsinki Final Act by the Czechoslovak Party Presidium, April 28, 1976 Document No. 79: Czechoslovak Analysis of the "Soiuz 77" Exercise, March 21-29, 1977 Document No. 80: Description of Activities of an East German Spy inside NATO, April-May 1977 Document No. 81: Marshal Ogarkov Analysis of the "Zapad" Exercise, May 30-June 9, 1977 Document No. 82: Report by Marshal Kulikov on the State of the Unified Armed Forces, January 30, 1978 Document No. 83: Soviet Statement at the Chiefs of General Staff Meeting in Sofia, June 12-14, 1978 Document No. 84: Speech by Brezhnev at the Political Consultative Committee Meeting in Moscow, November 22, 1978 Document No. 85: Minutes of the Romanian Politburo Meeting, November 24, 1978 Document No. 86: Statute of the Unified Command in Wartime, March 18, 1980 Document No. 87: Ceausescu Speech at the Political Consultative Committee Meeting in Warsaw, May 14-15, 1980 Document No. 88: Summary of the Deputy Foreign Ministers' Preparatory Meeting for the CSCE Madrid Conference, July 8-9, 1980 Document No. 89: Bulgarian Report on the Defense Ministers' Meeting in Bucharest, December 8, 1980 Document No. 90: The Soviet Military's Attempts to Gain Polish Leadership Cooperation to End the Polish Crisis, January-April 1981 Document No. 91: Report on Conversation between Marshal Kulikov and Senior East German Military Officials, June 13, 1981 Document No. 92: Information by Marshal Ustinov on Soviet Strategic Offensive Forces, September 1981 Document No. 93: Report on the Committee of Ministers of Defense Meeting in Moscow, December 1-4, 1981 Document No. 94: Transcript of the Soviet Politburo Meeting on the Crisis in Poland, December 10, 1981 Document No. 95: Memorandum of Conversation with Marshals Ustinov and Kulikov concerning Soviet War Game, June 14, 1982 Document No. 96: Report on Speech by Marshal Ogarkov at a Warsaw Pact Chiefs of Staff Meeting in Minsk, September 8-10, 1982 Document No. 97: East German Intelligence Report on the Operational Plan of the U.S. 5th Army Corps in War Time, December 16, 1982 Document No. 98: Speech by Andropov at the Political Consultative Committee Meeting in Prague, January 4-5, 1983 Document No. 99: East German Summary of Warsaw Pact Summit in Moscow, June 28, 1983 Document No. 100: Letter from Marshal Kulikov to the Czechoslovak Defense Minister on Results of the "Soiuz-83" Exercise, August 2, 1983 Document No. 101: Summary of the Committee of Ministers of Foreign Affairs Meeting in Sofia, October 20, 1983 Document No. 102: Statement by Marshal Ustinov at the Committee of Ministers of Defense Meeting in Sofia, December 5-7, 1983 Document No. 103: Report on the Committee of Ministers of Foreign Affairs Meeting in Budapest, April 26, 1984 Document No. 104: Transcript of Honecker--Chernenko Meeting in Moscow, August 17, 1984 Document No. 105: Report by the Head of Soviet Military Intelligence to the Committee of Ministers of Defense, December 3-5, 1984 Document No. 106: Speech by Gorbachev at the Warsaw Treaty Summit in Moscow, April 26, 1985 Document No. 107: Warsaw Pact Information concerning Improvements in NATO Military Technology, November 11, 1985 Document No. 108: Speech by Marshal Kulikov at the Committee of Ministers of Defense Meeting in Strausberg, December 2-5, 1985 Document No. 109: East German Intelligence Assessment of NATO's Intelligence on the Warsaw Pact, December 16, 1985 Document No. 110: Scenario for the "Granit-86" Exercise, December 23, 1985 Document No. 111: Summary of the Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw, March 19-20, 1986 Document No. 112: East German Intelligence Assessments of an FRG Appraisal of the National People's Army Document No. 113: Bulgarian Memorandum on the Bulgarian-Romanian Proposal for a Chemical Weapons-Free Zone in the Balkans, March 21, 1986 Document No. 114: East German Ideas concerning a Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone in Central Europe, May 21-23, 1986 Document No. 115: Minutes of the Political Consultative Committee Party Secretaries' Meeting in Budapest, June 11, 1986 Document No. 116: Report to the Bulgarian Politburo on Romanian Arms Reduction Proposals, September 22, 1986 Document No. 117: Czechoslovak Summary of the Committee of Ministers of Foreign Affairs Meeting in Bucharest, October 18, 1986 Document No. 118: Summary of Statements at the Military Council Meeting in Bucharest, November 10-11, 1986 Document No. 119: Summary of Soviet Statement at the Committee of Ministers of Defense Meeting in Warsaw, December 1-3, 1986 Document No. 120: Outline of a Czechoslovak Command Post Exercise, January 27-28, 1987 Document No. 121: Report on the Committee of Ministers of Foreign Affairs Meeting in Moscow, March 24-25, 1987 Document No. 122: Soviet Explanation of the Warsaw Pact's New Military Doctrine at the Chiefs of Staff Meeting in Moscow, May 18-25, 1987 Document No. 123: Records of the Political Consultative Committee Meeting in Berlin, May 27-29, 1987 Document No. 124: Summary of a Consultation of Chiefs of Staff in Moscow, October 14, 1987 Document No. 125: Speech by General Iazov at the Ministers of Defense Meeting in Bucharest, September 26, 1987 Document No. 126: Proposal to Establish a Warsaw Pact Information and Propaganda Department, March 11, 1988 Document No. 127: Memorandum of Akhromeev-Kessler Conversation, March 19, 1988 Document No. 128: Speeches at the Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Sofia, March 29-30, 1988 Document No. 129: Draft of a Revised Statute of the Unified Command in Wartime, March 30-31, 1988 Document No. 130: Summary of Statement by Marshal Akhromeev on Exchange of Data between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, May 17, 1988 Document No. 131: Transcript of Romanian Party Politburo Meeting, June 17, 1988 Document No. 132: Memorandum of Kulikov-Honecker Conversation, June 27, 1988 Document No. 133: Romanian Proposal for Reform of the Warsaw Pact, July 1988 Document No. 134: Summary of Gorbachev Speech at the Committee of Ministers of Defense Meeting in Moscow, July 7, 1988 Document No. 135: Speech by Gorbachev at the Political Consultative Committee Meeting in Warsaw, July 15, 1988 Document No. 136: Summary of Discussion among Defense Ministers at the Political Consultative Committee Meeting in Warsaw, July 15, 1988 Document No. 137: Summary of Discussion at the Committee of Ministers of Defense Meeting in Prague, October 17-18, 1988 Document No. 138: East German Evaluation of NATO's 1988 Exercises, November 15, 1988 Document No. 139: Record of Conversation between Honecker and the East German Defense Minister, December 4, 1988 Document No. 140: Minutes of the Sofia Meeting of the Committee of Ministers of Defense, December 17, 1988 Document No. 141: Report by the Bulgarian Foreign Minister at the Unofficial Meeting of Foreign Ministers at "Niederschoenhausen" near Berlin, April 10, 1989 Document No. 142: Summary of Statement by the Soviet Defense Minister to Warsaw Pact Chiefs of Staff, April 28, 1989 Document No. 143: Czechoslovak Description of "Vltava-89" Exercise, May 23, 1989 Document No. 144: Bulgarian Proposal for Reform of the Warsaw Treaty, June 14, 1989 Document No. 145: Letter from the Bulgarian CC to the Romanian CC, June 21, 1989 Document No. 146: Records of the Political Consultative Committee Meeting in Bucharest, July 7-8, 1989 Document No. 147: Records of the Foreign Ministers's Meeting in Warsaw, October 26-27, 1989 Document No. 148: East German Statement at the Committee of Ministers of Defense Meeting in Budapest, November 27-29, 1989 Document No. 149: Memorandum of Conversation between the Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister and the Romanian Ambassador to the USSR, December 21, 1989 Document No. 150: Czechoslovak Report on a Meeting at the Soviet General Staff, January 29, 1990 Document No. 151: East German Summary of the Ottawa Meeting of NATO and Warsaw Pact Foreign Ministers, February 12-13, 1990 Document No. 152: Memorandum of Eppelmann-Iazov Conversation, April 29, 1990 Document No. 153: Records of the Political Consultative Committee Meeting in Moscow, June 7, 1990 Document No. 154: Recollections of Czechoslovak Foreign Ministry Adviser Jaroslav Sedivy, 1990-1991 Document No. 155: Agreement on the Cessation of the Military Provisions of the Warsaw Pact, February 25, 1991 Main Actors Bibliography Index
Volume

ISBN 9789637326080

Description

This is the first book to document, analyze, and interpret the history of the Warsaw Pact based on the archives of the alliance itself. As suggested by the title, the Soviet bloc military machine that held the West in awe for most of the Cold War does not appear from the inside as formidable as outsiders often believed, nor were its strengths and weaknesses the same at different times in its surprisingly long history, extending for almost half a century. The introductory study by Mastny assesses the controversial origins of the "superfluous" alliance, its subsequent search for a purpose, its crisis and consolidation despite congenital weaknesses, as well as its unexpected demise. Most of the 193 documents included in the book were top secret and have only recently been obtained from Eastern European archives by the PHP project. The majority of the documents were translated specifically for this volume and have never appeared in English before. The introductory remarks to individual documents by co-editor Byrne explain the particular significance of each item. A chronology of the main events in the history of the Warsaw Pact, a list of its leading officials, a selective multilingual bibliography, and an analytical index add to the importance of a publication that sets the new standard as a reference work on the subject and facilitate its use by both students and general readers.

Table of Contents

  • Contents
  • Editors' Preface
  • Introductory Essay by Vojtech Mastny
  • Acronyms and Abbreviations
  • Chronology of Events
  • Documents I. The Formative Years (Docs. 1-28) II. The Crisis (Docs. 29-61) III. The Alliance at Its Peak (Docs. 62-85) IV. The Incipient Decline (Docs. 86-121) V. Disintegration (Docs. 122-155) Main Actors
  • Bibliography
  • Index.

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