may 14, 1955 - Creation of the Warsaw Pact - Ollie

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In Warsaw, Poland, on May 14th, 1955, the Warsaw Pact was signed between the Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and East Germany. It was designed to keep peace in Europe, and contained articles that required members to “refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force” (article 3), as well as to take counsel among themselves regarding important international affairs. Part of the steps for keeping peace was a goal to reduce armaments and work for the “prohibition of atomic, hydrogen and other weapons of mass destruction” (article 2). Additionally, the pact created a platform for the Soviet Union to negotiate with NATO (and defense from NATO through its collective defense clauses) and strengthened Soviet control of its satellite states by allowing the Soviets to position military troops in the states.
As for why it was created, the Warsaw Pact was initiated directly after the inclusion of West Germany into NATO, as Russia and other nations like Czechoslovakia feared the consequences of a re-militarized Germany. The Soviets still saw Germany as a threat and did not want to relive WWI or WWII. Under this pretense, the Soviets militarized their satellite states, but as written before, this move also increased control and power over them.

-Oliver

Works Cited
Office of the Historian. “Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations.” Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations - Office of the Historian, 2010, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/warsaw-treaty. Accessed 4 February 2026.
Soviet Union. “Warsaw Pact.” The Warsaw Pact, 1955, 1955, https://loveman.sdsu.edu/docs/1955Warsaw_Pact.pdf. Accessed 4 February 2026.
Wikipidia. “Emblem of Warsaw Pact.” Wikipedia, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Pact. Accessed 4 February 2026.

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