Soldiers and politics in Eastern Europe, 1945-90

About This Book

This book is the first examination of the relationship between East European soldiers and politics during the Communist takeover, the decades of Communist domination, and in the transition period to democracy. Through a detailed case-study of Hungary, the author analyzes the methods used by the Communist Party to gain and maintain control over the armed forces, such as political institutions, affairs relating to personnel, and the education system. In crisis situations, however, these heavily politicized armies were, more often than not, reluctant to come to the aid of their masters. The reasons for this phenomenon may be found in the remarkable decline of the military occupation's prestige, the stress on ideological rather than professional competence, and the stifling effects of Soviet/Warsaw Pact control on these military establishments. The author contrasts the actual civil-military relations with the existing body of theoretical literature and concludes that none of the approaches are able to explain the diversities in the experiences of the six non-Soviet Warsaw Pact countries, and proposes sets of generalizations and similarities that may inform further research in this area.