Warsaw Pact

Distinguish from the Warsaw Convention, which is an agreement about financial liability in air travel, and the Treaty of Warsaw (1970) between West Germany and the People's Republic of Poland.
The Warsaw Pact, officially the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was an organization of Central and Eastern European states. The communist states were to be allies and to fight together if one of them was attacked. In theory, all of the countries in the organisation were equals, the smaller countries were controlled by the Soviet Union. The countries in the Warsaw Pact were East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania. However, Albania withdrew in 1968 after the invasion of Czechoslovakia, and Romania followed. 

It was established in 1955 in Warsaw, Poland, in response to West Germany joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The treaty was signed in Warsaw, on 14 May 1955 and official copies were made in the languages of Russian, Polish, Czech and German. The Pact lasted until the end of the Cold War, when some members quit in 1991, following the collapse of the Eastern bloc and political changes in the Soviet Union.

All of the Warsaw Pact countries and three that were part of the Soviet Union have joined NATO.

 Members 
Most member states were considered puppet states of the Soviet Union. Additionally, Mongolia, North Korea, Vietnam and (until 1961) China were observer states.

 Country Status  (until 1968) Satellite state (until 1961)Independent (1961-1968)  Satellite state  Satellite state  Satellite state  Satellite state  Satellite state  Satellite state (Until 1965)Independent (After 1965)  Main contributor

References

Notes

Category:1955 establishments in Europe
Category:1991 disestablishments in Europe
Category:Political organizations based in Europe
Category:Military alliances
Category:1950s treaties
Category:Communism
Category:Cold War
Category:History of the Soviet Union
Category:Warsaw
Category:European organizations