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A Cardboard Castle?

A Cardboard Castle?

An Inside History of the Warsaw Pact, 1955-1991

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.
  • Cover
  • Series title page
  • Title page
  • Copyright page
  • Table of Contents
  • Editors’ Preface and Acknowledgements
  • Acronyms and Abbreviations
  • Chronology of Events
  • THE WARSAW PACT AS HISTORY by VOJTECH MASTNY
  • PART ONE – THE FORMATIVE YEARS
    • 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’s 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’s Interview regarding Memorandum on Reformof 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’s Analysis of a Czechoslovak ArmyOperational 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–June 3, 1961
    • Document No. 14: Political Consultative Committee Resolution on the Restructuringand Modernization of Warsaw Pact Forces, March 29, 1961
    • Document No. 15: Czechoslovakia’s Strategic Position 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 Commissionon the Introduction of Emergency Measures, September 14, 1961
    • Document No. 20: The “Buria” Exercise Preparing for an Advance into WesternEurope, 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 withGen. 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 regardingPossible Mongolian Accession to the Warsaw Treaty, July 20, 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
  • PART TWO – THE CRISIS
    • Document No. 29: Albanian Note to the Political Consultative Committee, January 15, 1965
    • Document No. 30: Minutes 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 Ceaușescu–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: 220Memorandum 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 the Czechoslovak Chief of Staff on the Theory of Local War, March 13, 1968
    • Document No. 48: Record of Gomułka–Iakubovskii Conversation in Warsaw, April 19, 1968
    • Document No. 49: Report to Nicolae Ceaușescu 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 “Šumava” Exercise, July 1968
    • Document No. 54: Transcript of the Meeting of Five Warsaw Pact States in Warsaw, July 14–15, 1968
    • Document No. 55: Czechoslovak and East German Views on the Warsaw Pact, 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 Ludvík 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
  • PART THREE – THE ALLIANCE AT ITS PEAK
    • Document No. 62: New Secret Statutes of the Warsaw Pact, March 17, 1969
    • Document No. 63: Appeal for a European Security Conference, March 17, 1969
    • Document No. 64: Report by Ceaușescu 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 Ceaușescu–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 Ceaușescu’sTrip to Asia and Moscow, June 25, 1971
    • Document No. 75: Comparison of Warsaw Treaty and NATO Positions concerningthe 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
  • PART FOUR – THE INCIPIENT DECLINE
    • Document No. 86: Statute of the Unified Command in War Time, March 18, 1980
    • Document No. 87: Ceaușescu’s 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 a 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 Planof 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: Scenario of the “Soiuz-83” Exercise, June 9–August 2, 1983
    • Document No. 100: East German Summary of Warsaw Pact Summit in Moscow, June 28, 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: 507Speech by Gorbachev at the Warsaw Treaty Summit inMoscow, 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 Ministersof 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, April 28 and May 27, 1986
    • 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, 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
  • PART FIVE – DISINTEGRATION
    • 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, November 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 War Time, 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 4–8, 1988
    • Document No. 134: Summary of Gorbachev’s Speech at the Committeeof 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 Erich 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 Niederschönhausen 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 ConsultativeCommittee 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 Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Aboimov and the Romanian Ambassador to the USSR, December 21, 1989
    • Document No. 150: Czechoslovak Report on a Meeting at the SovietGeneral 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 Šedivý, 1990–1991
    • Document No. 155: Agreement on the Cessation of the Military Provisions of the Warsaw Pact, February 25, 1991
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