Warsaw Pact Ground Forces

Osprey Elite #10

by Gordon L. Rottman, Ronald Volstad (Illustrator)

Osprey's study of the ground forces of the Cold War (1946-1991). While much has been published on the armed forces of the USSR during the 1980s, surprisingly little is available on the forces supplied by the other member nations of the Warsaw Pact. Rivalling the size of the United States Army, the combined ground forces of the six non-Soviet Warsaw Pact countries totalled over 775,000 active troops, with almost two million ground forces reserves. This book examines the history, organization and uniforms of the often overlooked DDR, Czechoslovak, Polish, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Romanian forces at the end of the Cold War.

Genres: History, Military History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, 20th Century, Soviet Union

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 22, 1987

About the author

Gordon L. Rottman served for 26 years in the US Army in Special Forces, airborne infantry, long-range reconnaissance patrol, and military intelligence assignments in the Regular Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve. He has worked as a Special Operations Forces scenario writer for 14 years at the Army's Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, Louisiana where he developed training exercises for Special Forces.
Gordon began writing military history books in 1984 and is currently a full-time author. He has written 50 books for Osprey. He is married with four children and lives in Cypress, Texas.

Reviews

[Filipe Amaral · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warsaw Pact Ground Forces is, to my knowledge, the only reference for the non-Soviet members of the Warsaw Pact: East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. The first surprise already in the introduction is the sheer landpower those nations had in comparison to NATO. They alone accounted for more men in uniform than the United States land forces. Couple that with the massive Soviet Army and it is understandible to read about the fear towards the "Red Menace". This book should be read in tandem with "NATO Armies", also from the Elite series.

The second surprise was the fact every Warsaw Pact member was invaded by the Soviets after 1945, with most of those armed suppressions completely forgotten today; with only the Prague Spring being somewhat remembered. Romania remained under the direct military occupation and economic control of the USSR until the late 1950s, with anti-Communist resistence going up to the 60's. As Viktor Suvorov explains in his book "Inside the Soviet Army", the Warsaw Pact armies had the same tables of organization and tactics as the Soviets, but without being able to form higher levels of command. As Roman Auxiliaries, they would just be attached to Soviet formations and fight under Soviet general command. They were not independent nations like the NATO members and the Pact was created more to maintain those members inside the Iron Curtain than as a protection against NATO.

This vassalage to Moscow showed itself in equipment and appearence, with only timid deviations from the norm, like the German helmet or the especific elite garments, like berets and mountain headgear. The Warsaw Pact had a plethora of camouflaged uniforms, which makes for good looking plates. The AK was the main weapon of the Communist alliance, being produced locally with the Czechs having an AK variant and the Romanians an AK with a wooden front pistol grip; but that's pretty much it. Bulgaria was the poor cousing and depended directly from the Soviet Union for pretty much anything and was armed with second-rate equipment discarded by the Soviet Army. Romania was the problematic ally, trying a more independent approach. The Germans were regarded as the more competent but it was Poland that fielded the second largest Warsaw Pact Army, while also pursuing a timid production of vehicles with the Czechs. Rottman comments on the popular view of those populations towards their own armies and the fact that many of them (like Hungary and Bulgaria) were always ending at the losing side of wars, thus giving the army a not so great rapport with its fellow citizens.

Warsaw Pact Ground Forces is a great addition to the series and a reminder of how great the Elite series always had been.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first part of this book reads like a succinct intelligence briefing on the strength, organization and positioning of the military forces of the Warsaw Pact countries other than the Soviet Union. There are a few times where questions are raised as to the reliability of those forces if a global war were to break out. Color plates of various soldiers in full military dress are included and the last section is a detailed description of those uniforms down to the headgear and patches worn.
The author is clearly an expert in this area and the descriptions of the uniforms are strictly based on facts. If you have an interest in this historical niche, then you are interested in this book.

[Samuel Steffen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly nostalgic for Cold War and military history enthusiasts, Rottman provides a counter to the army elite. Although the Warsaw no longer exists, this book offers readers insight into the forces that confronted NATO for over years.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't really a fan of this book. There was a lot of information about strategic differences between the military units but very little on the equipment and tactics that differentiated the units.