LEADER 03432nam 22005534a 450 001 9910793590003321 005 20230617025953.0 010 $a1-4237-2446-1 010 $a615-5053-69-3 024 7 $a10.1515/9786155053696 035 $a(CKB)4100000007803116 035 $a(OCoLC)84145526 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse25936 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3137182 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3137182 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10118482 035 $a(DE-B1597)633569 035 $a(DE-B1597)9786155053696 035 $a(EXLCZ)994100000007803116 100 $a20050127d2005 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur|||||||nn|n 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 02$aA cardboard castle?$b[electronic resource] $ean inside history of the Warsaw Pact, 1955-1991 /$fedited by Vojtech Mastny and Malcolm Byrne ; editorial assistant Magdalena Klotzbach 210 $aNew York $cCentral European University Press$d2005 215 $a1 online resource (xlix, 726 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates) $cillustrations, map 225 1 $aNational Security Archive Cold War readers 311 $a963-7326-08-1 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 693-704) and index. 327 $aThe formative years -- The crisis -- The alliance at its peak -- The incipient decline -- Disintegration. 330 $aThis is the first book to document, analyze, and interpret the history of the Warsaw Pact based on the archives of the alliance itself. As suggested by the title, the Soviet bloc military machine that held the West in awe for most of the Cold War does not appear from the inside as formidable as outsiders often believed, nor were its strengths and weaknesses the same at different times in its surprisingly long history, extending for almost half a century. The introductory study by Mastny assesses the controversial origins of the "superfluous" alliance, its subsequent search for a purpose, its crisis and consolidation despite congenital weaknesses, as well as its unexpected demise. Most of the 193 documents included in the book were top secret and have only recently been obtained from Eastern European archives by the PHP project. The majority of the documents were translated specifically for this volume and have never appeared in English before. The introductory remarks to individual documents by co-editor Byrne explain the particular significance of each item. A chronology of the main events in the history of the Warsaw Pact, a list of its leading officials, a selective multilingual bibliography, and an analytical index add to the importance of a publication that sets the new standard as a reference work on the subject and facilitate its use by both students and general readers. 410 0$aNational Security Archive Cold War readers. 606 $aCold War 607 $aEurope, Eastern$xHistory, Military$y20th century 607 $aEurope, Eastern$xHistory, Military$y20th century$vSources 610 $aCold War, Communism, Eastern Europe, Military History, NATO, Sources, Warsaw Pact. 615 0$aCold War. 676 $a355/.031/0947 701 $aMastny$b Vojtech$f1936-$0141717 701 $aByrne$b Malcolm$0297831 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910793590003321 996 $aA cardboard castle$93745042 997 $aUNINA