home / Business/ The creation of the Department of Internal Affairs and NATO testified to Fr. Functions, structure and history of NATO: the purpose of creating a military-political department

The creation of the Department of Internal Affairs and NATO testified to Fr. Functions, structure and history of NATO: the purpose of creating a military-political department

Description of work

The Warsaw Pact Organization was created under the leadership of the Soviet Union in 1955. The Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance was signed on May 14, 1955 at the Warsaw Meeting of European States to ensure peace and security in Europe by the leaders of Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland , Romania, USSR and Czechoslovakia for a period of 30 years. In 1985, the Agreement was extended for another 20 years. According to the Treaty, the parties that signed it pledged to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force, and in the event of an armed attack on any of them, to provide immediate assistance to the attacked states by all means deemed necessary, including the use of armed forces .

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The creation of the Department of Internal Affairs was the military-political response of the Soviet Union to the expansion of the NATO bloc to the east. In 1954, the West ratified the Paris Agreements of 1954, which provided for the formation of the Western European Union, carried out the remilitarization of West Germany and the inclusion of Germany in NATO. As a result, with the creation of the Department of Internal Affairs in Europe, a confrontation between two military blocs arose for three decades. The internal task of the Department of Internal Affairs was to maintain power in the countries of Central Europe in the hands of pro-Soviet communist regimes.

The political leadership of the Department of Internal Affairs was carried out by the Political Consultative Committee, which united the heads of state - members of the organization. Military leadership was exercised by the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, which, according to tradition, was headed by the Marshal of the Soviet Union. The first commander was the hero of the Great Patriotic War, Marshal I.S. Konev.

The language of command was Russian. All basic ATS documentation was prepared in Russian.

Within the framework of the Department of Internal Affairs, the Military Council of the United Armed Forces was also created. The presence of the Department of Internal Affairs provided a legal basis for the participation of Soviet troops in the suppression of the anti-communist uprising in Hungary in 1965. In 1968, military contingents of the participating countries of the Department of Internal Affairs took part in the events in Czechoslovakia, suppressing the “Prague Spring”. Also in 1968, participants in the Bucharest meeting of the Department of Internal Affairs, as well as the meeting of the PKK in Sofia, strongly condemned the US armed intervention in Vietnam.

Taking into account the fact that the total military potential of the European countries participating in the Warsaw Warsaw Forces was not comparable with the military potential of the USSR, the essence of the Warsaw Warsaw Warsaw Forces was the nuclear “umbrella” of the USSR over the European socialist countries and the ability of the Soviet Armed Forces to use the territory of the allies. The creation of the Department of Internal Affairs legitimized the deployment of Soviet troops in Central European countries. In the mid-80s. A group of Soviet troops of 380 thousand people was stationed in the GDR, in Poland - 40 thousand, in Czechoslovakia - 80 thousand, in Hungary - about 70 thousand SA servicemen. At the end of the 50s. preparations were being made for the opening of a naval base on the Adriatic Sea (Albania). Within the framework of the Warsaw Warsaw Warsaw, the USSR Ministry of Defense was given the opportunity to control the armed forces of the countries participating in the Warsaw Warsaw Warsaw Forces and to rearm them. The exchange of intelligence information was established. Within the framework of the Warsaw Pact, the troops of the Warsaw Pact countries were constantly rearmed, and officers were retrained as planned. A wide exchange of military experience was launched.

The most important part of the activities of the Department of Internal Affairs was the wide cooperation of intelligence services and various special forces, which constitute the main support of the ruling regimes in the countries participating in the organization.

In line with the USSR's diplomatic efforts to prevent a global nuclear conflict, the Department of Internal Affairs was positioned as a defensive bloc, whose activities were directed against possible aggression from NATO.

Large-scale exercises of joint groupings of troops were regularly held. The last of them, the most massive, took place in 1982 - “Shield-82”.

The Department of Internal Affairs was not without internal contradictions and problems. In 1961, due to political and ideological disagreements between Moscow and Tirana, Albania ceased its participation in the activities of the Department of Internal Affairs; in 1968, Albania formalized its withdrawal from the organization. In the 70-80s, Romania periodically demonstrated its special position in the activities of the Department of Internal Affairs. From time to time, leaks of military-technical information to NATO member countries were discovered in the activities of the allies.

Within the Department of Internal Affairs, decisions were not made by consensus. The organization was under the complete control of the Soviet leadership, in military terms - the General Staff of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Within the framework of the Warsaw Warfare, a policy of bilateral multi-level complex military-political integration of the socialist countries of Central Europe with the USSR was pursued, establishing strict control over the armies of the countries allied to the Soviet Union. The effectiveness of this policy was demonstrated in 1981, when the armed forces of the Polish People's Republic actually performed police functions, relieving the ML from the need to intervene in the internal affairs of Poland, following the example of 1968 in Czechoslovakia

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the wave of “velvet” revolutions in Central European countries, the Warsaw Pact lost its ideological basis. The leadership of the USSR in the late 80s and early 90s. considered the Department of Internal Affairs a relic of the Cold War and an unnecessary burden. The rapid withdrawal of Soviet troops from Germany began, and then from other ATS countries. The liquidation of the organization turned out to be a formal fact. On July 1, 1991, the parties included in the OVD signed a Protocol on the termination of the Treaty. Countries that were former members of the Internal Affairs Organization took upon themselves the obligation not to declassify the archives of the Internal Affairs Internal Affairs, but did not fulfill all of this obligation.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, North Atlantic Alliance (English: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO; French: Organization du traité de l "Atlantique Nord, OTAN) is the world's largest military-political bloc, uniting most European countries, the USA and Canada Founded on April 4, 1949 in the USA, “to protect Europe from Soviet influence.” Then 12 countries became NATO member states - the USA, Canada, Iceland, Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark, Italy and Portugal. It is a "transatlantic forum" for allied countries to consult on any matter affecting the vital interests of its members, including events that could threaten their security. One of NATO's declared goals is to ensure the deterrence of any form of aggression against the territory of any NATO member state or protection from it.

North Atlantic NATO alliance arose in the spring of 1949. After the end of World War II, the defense forces of the countries of the world were exhausted, and the threat of new territorial conflicts arose.

Therefore, five countries of Western Europe - Great Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and the Netherlands - united into a single defense alliance. Soon Canada and the USA also joined the young organization, and on April 4, 1949, the new military-political bloc already included twelve participating countries.

History of NATO.

In the 1950s, the North Atlantic Alliance actively developed and expanded. NATO armed forces were created, a charter was written, and internal management structures were formed. In 1952, Greece and Türkiye joined the alliance.

In 1954, the USSR applied to join NATO, but the application was rejected - the North Atlantic Alliance was initially created precisely as a counterweight to the powerful Soviet Union. Considering the rejection of its application as a security threat, in 1955 the USSR created its own association in Eastern Europe - the Warsaw Pact Organization.

Along with the collapse of the USSR, the Department of Internal Affairs also collapsed, however NATO history continued. In 1982, Spain joined the alliance, in 1999 - Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. In 2004 and 2009, NATO was again replenished with new states. Currently, the union consists of 26 European states and 2 North American countries.

NATO goals and objectives.

Declared NATO goals concern exclusively security, freedom and democracy. This organization, created for defense purposes, aims to maintain stability throughout the world, resolve geopolitical unrest, protect democracy, human rights and borders established after the Second World War.

However, it should be noted that in recent decades NATO has been using very dubious methods to achieve its goals. Thus, in 1995 and 1999, the armed forces of the alliance were used on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and at the moment the phrase “peacekeeping bombing” has become simply a catchphrase.

The North Atlantic Alliance is showing interest, including in the countries of Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. NATO's traditional political opponents are Russia and China.

The Warsaw Pact Organization was created six years after the emergence of NATO, in nineteen fifty-five. It is worth saying that close cooperation existed long before this date. At the same time, relations between states were based on agreements of cooperation and friendship.

Due to the emergence of friction in relations between the USSR and the allied states, since March nineteen fifty-three, mass discontent among citizens began to arise in some countries of Eastern Europe belonging to the socialist camp. They found expression in numerous demonstrations and strikes. The greatest protest was expressed by residents of Hungary and Czechoslovakia. The situation in the GDR, where the standard of living of the population had deteriorated, brought the country to the brink of a mass strike. To suppress discontent, the USSR government introduced tanks into the country.

The organization of the Warsaw Pact was the result of negotiations between Soviet leaders and the leadership of socialist states. It included almost all countries located in Eastern Europe, except Yugoslavia. The formation of the Warsaw Pact organization served as a prerequisite for the creation of a unified command of the Armed Forces, as well as a Political Advisory Committee coordinating the foreign policy activities of the allied states. All key positions in these structures were occupied by representatives of the USSR Army.

The Warsaw Friendship and Mutual Assistance Organization was created to ensure the security of its member countries. The need for this agreement was caused by the expanding activities of NATO.

The concluded agreement contained provisions that provided for the provision of mutual assistance to any participating country in the event that it was attacked, as well as mutual consultations in the event of crisis situations with the creation of a unified command over the armed forces.

The Warsaw Pact Organization was created in opposition to However, already in nineteen fifty-six, the Hungarian government declared its neutrality and desire to withdraw from the countries participating in the agreement. The response to this was the entry into Budapest. Popular unrest also occurred in Poland. They were stopped peacefully.

The split in the socialist camp began in nineteen fifty-eight. It was during this period that the Romanian government achieved the withdrawal of USSR troops from the territory of its state and refused to support its leaders. A year after this, the Berlin Crisis arose. The construction of a wall around with the installation of checkpoints on the border caused even greater tension.

In the mid-sixties of the last century, the Warsaw Pact countries were literally overwhelmed by demonstrations against the use of military force. The collapse of Soviet ideology in the eyes of the world community occurred in nineteen sixty-eight with the introduction of tanks to Prague.

The Warsaw Pact organization ceased to exist in nineteen ninety-one, simultaneously with the collapse of the socialist system. The agreement lasted for more than thirty years, during the entire period of its validity it posed a real threat to the free world.

The North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) was formed in 1949 by representatives of 12 countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Great Britain and the United States of America. Greece and Türkiye joined in 1952; Federal Republic of Germany in 1955; Spain in 1982.

The Treaty of the North Atlantic Alliance, signed in Washington on April 4, 1949, provided for mutual defense and collective security, initially against the threat of aggression from the Soviet Union. It was the first post-war union created by the United States of America and represented an alliance of capitalist countries. The reason for creating the treaty was the increasing scope of the Cold War. Because Western European countries felt too weak to provide individual defense against the Soviet Union, they began to create a structure for defense cooperation in 1947. In March 1948, 5 countries - Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Great Britain - signed the Brussels Treaty, which became the basis for NATO a year later. The basic principle of NATO, like all military alliances, has become Article 5: “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them, in Europe or North America, will be considered an attack against all of them.” NATO was developed in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which provided for the right of collective self-defense by regional organizations. This committed NATO nations to the defense of Western Europe and the North Atlantic; The treaty was also developed with the aim of deepening the political, economic and social ties between its members.

NATO was created in 1950 in response to the Korean War, which began in June 1950, and was perceived by Western countries as part of a worldwide communist offensive. The war ended with a truce in 1953, and in the same positions where it began. The main body determining NATO policy is the North Atlantic Council, which meets in Brussels (until 1967, when meetings took place in Paris). Each participating country provides an ambassadorial-level representative, and these representatives meet at least once a week. The council also meets twice a year at the ministerial level and occasionally at the level of heads of state. NATO military matters are considered by the Defense Planning Committee.

The USSR's response to the creation of NATO was the Warsaw Pact Organization, which was founded in 1955 - 6 years after the formation of NATO. However, cooperation between the countries of the socialist camp existed long before this: after the Second World War, governments led by communists came to power in the countries of Eastern Europe, partly due to the fact that after the Second World War, Soviet troops remained in Eastern Europe, creating a psychological background. Before the formation of the Department of Internal Affairs, relations between the states of the socialist system were built on the basis of treaties of friendship and cooperation. In 1949, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance was created, which initially included the USSR, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia, and then a number of other countries.

Due to some imbalances in relations between the USSR and its allies after March 1953 in Eastern Europe, signs of mass discontent appeared in some countries of the socialist camp. There were strikes and demonstrations in some cities of Czechoslovakia, and the situation in Hungary worsened. The most serious unrest occurred in June 1953 in the GDR, where strikes and demonstrations caused by deteriorating living standards brought the country to the brink of a general strike. The Soviet government was forced to introduce tanks into the GDR, which, with the help of the police, suppressed the protests of the workers. After the death of I.V. Stalin, the new Soviet leadership undertook a number of trips abroad for the purpose of negotiations and personal acquaintance with the leaders of the socialist countries. As a result of these trips, the Warsaw Pact organization was formed in 1955, which included almost all the countries of Eastern Europe, except Yugoslavia, which traditionally adhered to a policy of non-alignment. Within the framework of the Department of Internal Affairs, a joint command of the Armed Forces and a Political Advisory Committee were created, a body coordinating the foreign policy activities of the countries of Eastern Europe. Representatives of the Soviet army played a decisive role in all military-political structures of the Department of Internal Affairs.

The creation of NATO was a consequence of the Cold War, and therefore all its activities were aimed at confronting the Soviet Union and other socialist countries (later united in the Warsaw Pact). The entire Cold War is simply riddled with various conflicts, disputes and crises around the world, in which, one way or another, rival powers took part.

In 1949, the US atomic monopoly was eliminated, which led to a sharp increase in the tendency of competition and an increase in the production of weapons of mass destruction. After creating thermonuclear weapons in the 50s, and subsequently delivering them to their target, the USSR directed its efforts to establish military-strategic parity with the United States, which occurred at the turn of the 60s-70s. The first crisis began a year after the formation of NATO in 1950 - it was the crisis in Korea. The US military command intended to use atomic weapons; it was held back only by the fear of similar retaliatory measures from the USSR. In the current situation, the USSR considered it necessary to provide military-technical assistance to Korea. In addition to the USSR, the PRC and other socialist countries provided assistance to the DPRK. By mid-1951, the situation in Korea had stabilized, peace negotiations began, as a result of which an armistice agreement was signed on July 27, 1953.

Thanks to the change in the top leadership of the USSR and the so-called “Khrushchev Thaw,” a meeting of the foreign ministers of the USA, Great Britain, France and the USSR was held in 1954. On a number of issues about collective security in Europe and a number of crises. Since Western representatives advertised the defensive nature of NATO at the meeting, after the meeting the Soviet government came up with a proposal for the USSR to join NATO and conclude a treaty on collective security in Europe with the participation of the United States. All these proposals were rejected by the West. NATO refused all further initiatives of the Soviet Union to begin negotiations on concluding a non-aggression pact between NATO and the Warsaw Pact countries and declared these initiatives as propaganda. The most dangerous international crisis arose in the fall of 1962 in connection with the situation around Cuba. After the revolution in Cuba and the establishment of socialism there, the Soviet Union, due to the territorial proximity of Cuba to the United States, deployed atomic missiles there. In response to this, the United States pulled its fleet to the island and issued an ultimatum. At the beginning of the negotiations, a compromise was reached and nuclear missiles were removed from Cuba, which ended the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The leaders of the USA and the USSR during the Caribbean and Korean crises, despite mutual hostility, managed to avoid a direct military clash, which would likely have led to a nuclear war with all its consequences. Western politicians used a bloc strategy to encircle the territory of the USSR and its friendly states in Europe and Asia from the west, south and east with a chain of military-political alliances and bases that housed American air and naval forces.

On May 14, 1955, the Warsaw Pact was signed by Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. This powerful structure provided a counterweight to NATO for 36 years, and was dissolved almost routinely. Mikhail Gorbachev did not even take part in the final meeting of the leadership of the Department of Internal Affairs.

Peacefulness involuntarily

The Warsaw Pact was created 6 years after the emergence of NATO. After the end of World War II, the USSR was not at all as eager to export the revolution as our “Western partners” tried to imagine. It is a known fact that in the post-war years, the communists of France (then the most popular party in the country) were preparing to raise a general uprising and turned to Stalin with a request to support them in the event of intervention by the United States and Great Britain. To which Stalin, the supreme commander of the most powerful army in the world at that time, responded with a categorical refusal. The reason for such peacefulness of the victors of Nazi Germany was mainly due to the enormous losses suffered by the Soviet and, above all, the Russian people. Stalin understood that the USSR most likely could not withstand another large-scale war (including nuclear weapons) with the West. It is no coincidence that the thesis became so widespread among our people for half a century: if only there was no war.

Forced alliance

However, it was impossible not to react at all to the growing US military presence in Europe. The last straw that forced the USSR to create a military interstate socialist organization in Europe was the entry of Germany into NATO, contrary to the initial post-war plans to transform divided Germany into a demilitarized zone.

On May 14, 1955, the Warsaw Pact (WTP) on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance was signed. Its participants were Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania, USSR and Czechoslovakia. All of these were countries where, after liberation from fascist occupation, socialist regimes were established with the tacit support of the Soviet Union.

OVD participants emphasized that the organization is strictly defensive in nature. And, as history has shown, by and large, this was the case. A Political Advisory Committee (PAC) was created to lead the bloc.

Well forgotten old

Conversations about collective security in Europe began more than half a century ago. Already at the first (Prague) meeting of the PKK (January 27-28, 1956), the states participating in the Warsaw Warfare Division made proposals that provided for the replacement of existing military groupings in Europe with a system of collective security, the establishment of zones of limitation and arms control, etc.

That is, the ideological-military confrontation in Europe was not at all in the interests of the leadership of the USSR, who well understood that the country, weakened by the war, should devote all its efforts to restoring its own industry and agriculture, to preserving human potential.

On the shoulders of the USSR

Just as during the Second World War, the USSR took the main blow from Nazi Germany and bore the brunt of the war in 1941-1945, so the Soviet Union had to play a “leading role” in the Department of Internal Affairs. This meant virtually full financing of the organization’s activities and the supply of weapons to participating countries.

The role of the USSR in the Department of Internal Affairs is shown by the fact that throughout the entire history of the organization, the commanders-in-chief of the United Armed Forces were exclusively Soviet marshals and generals.

Parity at a high price

NATO, which opposed the Warsaw Warsaw, initially included 12 countries, including such powers as the USA, Great Britain, and France. Before the collapse of the Warsaw Division, four more states joined the North Atlantic Alliance.

The Warsaw bloc, despite the fact that according to the charter it was open to the entry of new members, during its entire existence it did not increase, but, on the contrary, lost one of the participating countries - Albania. Thus, from the beginning of the 60s of the last century until 1991, a socialist bloc of 7 countries was opposed by a bloc of 15 “capital countries”. Even a rough comparison of the potential of these states, say, by total population, shows how much more advantageous NATO was in the position. Its member countries, relying on the support of the United States, which had become rich during the Second World War, felt quite comfortable in the bloc. Military expenditures did not burden state budgets. The USSR, on the contrary, was forced to devote “the best brains” and huge funds to defense. As a result, at the cost of great effort, parity between the Warsaw Department and NATO was created and maintained for several decades.

According to the data given in Valentin Varennikov’s book “Unique,” by the beginning of the 80s, NATO in Europe had a slight advantage in conventional weapons. The alliance had 94 combat-ready divisions at its disposal (including about 60 separate combat-ready brigades), while the Warsaw Pact had 78 divisions. At the same time, the size of the deployed American division was 16-19 thousand, and the German division was more than 23 thousand people, while the division of the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries numbered a maximum of 11-12 thousand people. The ATS had a significant advantage in tanks. But NATO had a significantly larger number of anti-tank weapons. In addition, the United States and its allies outnumbered the socialist bloc in combat aircraft by 1.2 times, and in helicopters by 1.8 times.

However, a comparison of all types of weapons, including nuclear ones, indicated an approximate equality of combat capabilities of the parties.

Parallels

Members of the ATS organization, by signing the agreement, “undertook to act in a spirit of friendship and cooperation in order to further develop and strengthen economic and cultural ties among themselves, following the principles of mutual respect for independence, sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of each other and other states.”

However, in practice, the sovereignty of one of the participating countries was violated by ATS troops. We are talking about the famous entry of troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968. This episode is often cited to this day as proof of the aggressiveness of the USSR's policy. However, several months before Soviet tanks appeared on the streets of Prague, the leadership of the USSR already had information that activists of the so-called “Prague Spring” were ready to ask NATO to send alliance troops to Czechoslovakia. Several divisions of the US Air Force were in full combat readiness. As during the recent Ukrainian events, the leadership of the USSR was faced with a choice: to let events take their course with unpredictable consequences, or to intervene, preventing Czechoslovakia from leaving the Warsaw Division, which would have been tantamount to a serious defeat in the Cold War.

Quiet liquidation

A little more than two decades passed and the new leadership of the USSR calmly, almost indifferently “surrendered” not only Czechoslovakia, but also all other countries participating in the Warsaw Pact, which, after the “quiet dissolution” of the Warsaw Pact in 1991, fell into the sphere of influence of NATO, and later 8 years 3 of them joined the bloc. After another 5 years, all former members of the Warsaw Pact, except for the legal successor of the USSR - Russia, became members of the North Atlantic Alliance.