The Soviet-East German Military Alliance

by Douglas A. Macgregor

Overview

Drawing on East German, Soviet, and Western sources as well as years of study, travel, and military service in Germany and Eastern Europe, Major Macgregor examines East Germany's critical political-military role in the Soviet strategy to maintain control of Eastern Europe. He offers an analysis of the trends that have shaped Soviet-East German military collaboration; traces its origins in much earlier forms of Russo-German military alliance, and observes a revival of past strategic and military convergence as Moscow attempts to preserve control of an increasingly unstable Eastern Europe. The Soviet-East German military alliance has thus emerged as the backbone of the Warsaw Pact, and in the context of political uncertainty elsewhere in the Eastern bloc an enlarged military and political role in Soviet security policy for the East German state seems inevitable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521365628
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/23/1989
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.29(h) x 0.71(d)

Table of Contents

Foreword; Preface; List of abbreviations; Introduction; 1. The legacy of success; 2. The East German rise to military prominence, 1956–1969; 3. Soviet-East German military collaboration in the post-1968 pact; 4. The Soviet-East German military alliance and Poland; 5. Conclusion; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

A Western cold warrior's analysis of the alliance, minimizing the dynamic character of contemporary Soviet and Eastern European relations, emphasizing historical tendencies, and projecting an increased (?) role for the Soviet-East German military in an increasingly unstable Eastern Europe. Acidic paper. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews