Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-wxvwp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-13T23:44:19.244Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Fate of the Soviet Bloc's Military Alliance

Reform, Adaptation, and Collapse of the Warsaw Pact, 1985–1991

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2025

Mark Kramer
Affiliation:
Harvard University

Summary

When Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985, the Warsaw Pact was a robust military alliance. It was capable of waging a large-scale war in Europe and was an instrument of Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe, keeping orthodox Communist regimes in power. The alliance over the years had also become an effective mechanism of political coordination and consultation. In April 1985, the Warsaw Pact leaders met in Warsaw and renewed the Pact for another thirty years. Yet only six years later, the alliance was disbanded, having been rendered obsolete by the political transformation of Eastern Europe in 1989–1990. This monograph recounts what happened to the Warsaw Pact during its final years and explains why the organization ceased to exist in 1991.
Get access

Information

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Element purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Save element to Kindle

To save this element to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

The Fate of the Soviet Bloc's Military Alliance
  • Mark Kramer, Harvard University
  • Online ISBN: 9781009557160
Available formats
×

Save element to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

The Fate of the Soviet Bloc's Military Alliance
  • Mark Kramer, Harvard University
  • Online ISBN: 9781009557160
Available formats
×

Save element to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

The Fate of the Soviet Bloc's Military Alliance
  • Mark Kramer, Harvard University
  • Online ISBN: 9781009557160
Available formats
×