The Warsaw Pact

The Warsaw Pact was a military alliance formed in 1955 among the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite states, mainly to counter NATO's influence during the Cold War. It aimed to provide collective security, meaning if one member was attacked, others would defend it. The pact ensured Soviet control over its allies' military policies and systems. It dissolved in 1991 after the end of the Cold War and the decline of communist governments in Eastern Europe. The Warsaw Pact was a key element of the geopolitical division between the communist East and the capitalist West during that period.