The Soviet Withdrawal from Eastern Europe: A Move in Crisis

Abstract

Abstract : Following the 1989-1990 political events in Eastern Europe the Soviet Union is hastening to remove its armed forces from that region. That force of thirty-nine division, with all of its associated organizations and equipment, is currently the object of an enormous withdrawal that will be mostly complete in 1994. Throughout 1990 the Soviet withdrawal was chronicled in the Communist Bloc with unprecedented candor, and those reports reveal alarming details about the difficulties being experienced by the Soviet military. Within the Soviet union and the Soviet military a variety of problem adversely impact on the returning troops. A lack of adequate housing, catastrophic economic conditions, unfavorable attitudes about military service, and political struggles within the government are all studied in order to place the Soviet military withdrawal into proper perspective. There are both similarities and unique aspects in how the Soviet Union is ending its military involvements with Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, and Poland. The cascading accounts of the Soviet military withdrawal need to be studied in order to access how United States foreign policy should be shaped to react in the post-Cold War environment.