http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/507777

East European military establishments the Warsaw Pact Northern Tier

Commonly accepted scenarios of Warsaw Pact warfare against NATO assume that over half of initial Pact offensive forces would consist of Czechoslovak, East German, and Polish units. These Northern Tier military institutions and their roles domestically and within the Warsaw Pact are examined in this study. The officer corps of all three military establishments are outwardly committed to a Soviet-defined 'lightning war' strategy. This strategy may constitute the principal Soviet lever for ensuring Northern Tier participation in a Warsaw Pact offensive, but how reliably the conscript armies would in fact fulfill that intended roll is another question. In any case, Pact preparations for 'coalition warfare' imply weaknesses and vulnerabilities that deserve careful attention in light of the distinctive individual characteristics of the respective Northern Tier military establishments. (Author).

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