Military History

Question 1

What is the Warsaw Pact? Give it a brief history and describe how it connected to the Cold War

Answer 1

Signed on May 14, 1955

Defence treaty of 8 communist states (Soviet Union, East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania)

The Warsaw Pact was primarily a military alliance, serving as a counterbalance to NATO and to exercise communist control over its member states.

Relaxation of control from Mikhail Gorbachev led to revolutions in 1989 (including the fall of the Berlin Wall) and eventual dissolution of the Pact on July 1, 1991 (and Soviet Union in Dec 1991)

Question 2

Which countries in the Warsaw Pact eventually left and joined NATO?

Answer 2

ALL of them (except Russia)

• Germany
• Poland
• Czechoslovakia (Czech & Slovakia)
• Hungary
• Romania
• Bulgaria
• Albania

Question 3

What is the CSTO?

Answer 3

Collective Security Treaty Organization

The CSTO is a military alliance in Eurasia to ensure the security of its members from external threats.

Members include Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Question 4

What is the Montreux Convention of 1936?

Answer 4

The Montreux Convention (1936) is an agreement that gives Turkey control over:

1. Bosporus Strait (“Bos-puh-rus”) in Istanbul
2. Dardanelles strait (“Dar-da-nells”)

Turkey, UK, France, USSR, Japan, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania were in attendance