The Warsaw Pact is a dependable shield of socialism

Варшавский договор - надежный щит социализма

During the Cold War, military alliances were vital for ensuring cohesion within both the Western and Eastern blocs. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed by an agreement between 12 Western countries in 1949. The signatory countries stated that an attack against any one of them in Europe or North America would be considered an attack on them all. West Germany joined NATO in 1955. Five days later, the Soviet Union reacted by creating the Warsaw Pact – formally called ‘the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance’ – a collective defence alliance between eight communist states. This move allowed the Soviet Union to have more direct control over the armies of central and eastern Europe. The Warsaw Pact’s only action was against one of its own members: the invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. All member countries, with the exception of the Socialist Republic of Romania and the People’s Republic of Albania, participated in the invasion. Albania withdrew from the alliance one month after the invasion. Of the eight initial members of the Warsaw Pact, seven remained after Albania’s withdrawal in 1968. On this 1975 poster, one can see the flags of the remaining seven members: (top row) Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, (bottom row) Romania, the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia.