The Warsaw Pact refers to a military and political alliance established in 1955 among the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries. It was created as a response to the formation of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) by Western powers. The Warsaw Pact aimed to strengthen the collective defense of its member states and promote cooperation among communist nations in the face of perceived threats from the West. This Pact included the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern European countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania (Albania withdrew in 1968).