Editing Warsaw Pact (section)

===During the Cold War===
{{Main|Cold War}}

[[File:Praga 11.jpg|thumb|left|Soviet tanks, marked with white crosses to distinguish them from Czechoslovak tanks,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.austria1989.org/1968|title=1968 – The Prague Spring|website=Austria 1989 – Year of Miracles|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708140736/https://www.austria1989.org/1968|archive-date=8 July 2019|url-status=live|access-date=8 July 2019|quote=In the morning hours of August 21, 1968, Soviet and Warsaw Pact tanks roll in the streets of Prague; to distinguish them from Czechoslovak tanks, they are marked with white crosses.}}</ref> on the streets of [[Prague]] during the [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]], 1968]]

For 36 years, [[NATO]] and the Warsaw Pact never directly waged war against each other in Europe; the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies implemented strategic policies aimed at the containment of each other in Europe, while working and fighting for influence within the wider [[Cold War]] on the international stage. These included the [[Korean War]], [[Vietnam War]], [[Bay of Pigs Invasion|Bay of Pigs invasion]], [[Dirty War]], [[Cambodian–Vietnamese War]], and others.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://militaryhistorynow.com/2013/10/02/the-international-vietnam-war-the-other-world-powers-that-fought-in-south-east-asia/|title=America Wasn't the Only Foreign Power in the Vietnam War|date=2 October 2013|access-date=23 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612165646/https://militaryhistorynow.com/2013/10/02/the-international-vietnam-war-the-other-world-powers-that-fought-in-south-east-asia/|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/crisis-points-of-the-cold-war/|title=Crisis Points of the Cold War |publisher= Boundless World History|website=courses.lumenlearning.com|access-date=23 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823174414/https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/crisis-points-of-the-cold-war/|archive-date=23 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Overzicht op Museumplein met spandoek The Dutch disease is better for peace o, Bestanddeelnr 253-8627.jpg|thumb|Protest in Amsterdam against the [[nuclear arms race]] between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, 1981]]

In 1956, following the declaration of the [[Imre Nagy]] government of the withdrawal of Hungary from the Warsaw Pact, [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Soviet troops entered the country and removed the government]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/the-cold-war/the-hungarian-uprising-of-1956/|title=The Hungarian Uprising of 1956 |publisher= History Learning Site|access-date=23 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823174101/https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/the-cold-war/the-hungarian-uprising-of-1956/|archive-date=23 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Soviet forces crushed the nationwide revolt, leading to the death of an estimated 2,500 Hungarian citizens.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/23/europe/hungarian-revolution-escape/index.html|title=Recalling the Hungarian revolution, 60 years on|first=Matthew |last=Percival|date=23 October 2016 |publisher=CNN|access-date=23 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823181544/https://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/23/europe/hungarian-revolution-escape/index.html|archive-date=23 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

The multi-national Communist armed forces' sole joint action was their [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia|invasion of Czechoslovakia]], a fellow Warsaw Pact member state, in August 1968.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/soviets-invade-czechoslovakia|title=Soviets Invade Czechoslovakia – Aug 20, 1968 |website= History.com|access-date=23 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823174329/https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/soviets-invade-czechoslovakia|archive-date=23 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> All member countries, with the exception of the [[Socialist Republic of Romania]] and the [[People's Republic of Albania]], participated in the invasion.<ref name="auto1" /> The [[German Democratic Republic]] provided only minimal support.<ref name="auto1" /> Albania withdrew from the pact one month after the intervention.

In April 1985, the leaders of Warsaw Pact members met in Warsaw where they renewed the alliance for thirty years.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kramer |first=Mark |date=2025 |title=The Fate of the Soviet Bloc's Military Alliance: Reform, Adaptation, and Collapse of the Warsaw Pact, 1985–1991 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/abs/fate-of-the-soviet-blocs-military-alliance/D0F4A423FA82139E6A366F84CEEE8140 |journal=Cambridge University Press |language=en |doi=10.1017/9781009557160}}</ref>