Editing Warsaw Pact (section)

===Romania and Albania===
[[File:Eastern bloc.png|thumb|The Warsaw Pact before its 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, showing the Soviet Union and its satellites (red) and the two independent non-Soviet members: Romania and Albania (pink)]]

Romania and (until 1968) Albania were exceptions. Together with Yugoslavia, which [[Tito–Stalin split|broke with the Soviet Union]] before the Warsaw Pact was created, these three countries completely rejected the Soviet doctrine formulated for the Pact. Albania officially left the organization in 1968, in protest of its invasion of Czechoslovakia. Romania had its own reasons for remaining a formal member of the Warsaw Pact, such as [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]]'s interest of preserving the threat of a Pact invasion so he could sell himself as a nationalist, as well as privileged access to NATO counterparts and a seat at various European forums which otherwise he would not have had (for instance, Romania and the Soviet-led remainder of the Warsaw Pact formed two distinct groups in the elaboration of the [[Helsinki Accords|Helsinki Final Act]]).<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HFdtAAAAMAAJ&q=%22(with+other+Warsaw+Pact+members+except+Romania)%22 |publisher=Lexington Books |title=Conflict Management in the Middle East| page=242| isbn = 978-0669141733| last1 = Ben-Dor |first1 = Gabriel| last2 = Dewitt| first2 = David Brian| year = 1987}}</ref> When [[Andrei Grechko]] assumed command of the Warsaw Pact, both Romania and Albania had for all practical purposes defected from the Pact. In the early 1960s, Grechko initiated programs meant to preempt Romanian doctrinal heresies from spreading to other Pact members. Romania's doctrine of territorial defense threatened the Pact's unity and cohesion. No other country succeeded in escaping from the Warsaw Pact like Romania and Albania did. For example, the mainstays of Romania's tank forces were locally developed models. Soviet troops were deployed to Romania for the last time in 1963, as part of a Warsaw Pact exercise. After 1964, the Soviet Army was barred from returning to Romania, as the country refused to take part in joint Pact exercises.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kH6TAWUst5EC&pg=140|publisher=Stanford University Press|title=The Diffusion of Military Technology and Ideas|pages= 140–143| isbn = 978-0804745352| last1 = Goldman| first1 = Emily O.| last2 = Eliason| first2 = Leslie C.| year = 2003}}</ref>

[[File:TR-85tankRomanianRevolution1989.jpg|thumb|left|A Romanian [[TR-85]] tank in December 1989 (Romania's TR-85 and TR-580 tanks were the only non-Soviet tanks in the Warsaw Pact on which restrictions were placed under the 1990 [[Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe|CFE Treaty]]<ref>{{cite web| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BWqbAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA13| title = Office of Public Communication, Bureau of Public Affairs, 1991, ''US Department of State Dispatch, Volume 2'', p. 13| year = 1991}}</ref>)]]

Even before the advent of [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]], Romania was in fact an independent country, as opposed to the rest of the Warsaw Pact. To some extent, it was even more independent than [[Cuba]] (a communist Soviet-aligned state that was not a member of the Warsaw Pact).<ref name=":0" /> The Romanian regime was largely impervious to Soviet political influence, and Ceaușescu was the only declared opponent of ''[[glasnost]]'' and ''[[perestroika]]''. On account of the contentious relationship between Bucharest and Moscow, the West did not hold the Soviet Union responsible for the policies pursued by Bucharest. This was not the case for the other countries in the region, such as [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Czechoslovakia]] and Poland.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=btzuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA192| title = Jacques Lévesque, University of California Press, May 28, 2021, ''The Enigma of 1989: The USSR and the Liberation of Eastern Europe'', pp. 192–193| isbn = 978-0520364981| last1 = Lévesque| first1 = Jacques| date = 28 May 2021| publisher = Univ of California Press}}</ref> At the start of 1990, the Soviet foreign minister, [[Eduard Shevardnadze]], implicitly confirmed the lack of Soviet influence over Ceaușescu's Romania. When asked whether it made sense for him to visit Romania less than two weeks after [[Romanian Revolution|its revolution]], Shevardnadze insisted that only by going in person to Romania could he figure out how to "restore Soviet influence".<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VrxtCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA429| publisher= [[Pan Macmillan]] |title=The End of the Cold War: 1985–1991|page= 429| isbn = 978-1447287285| last1 = Service| first1 = Robert |author1-link=Robert Service (historian) |date = 2015}}</ref>

Romania requested and obtained the complete withdrawal of the Soviet Army from its territory in 1958. The Romanian campaign for independence culminated on 22 April 1964 when the Romanian Communist Party issued a declaration proclaiming that: "Every Marxist–Leninist Party has a sovereign right...to elaborate, choose or change the forms and methods of socialist construction." and "There exists no "parent" party and "offspring" party, no "superior" and "subordinated" parties, but only the large family of communist and workers' parties having equal rights." and also "there are not and there can be no unique patterns and recipes". This amounted to a declaration of political and ideological independence from Moscow.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SdldDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA195|publisher= Springer |title=Eastern Europe in 1968: Responses to the Prague Spring and Warsaw Pact Invasion| page= 195| isbn = 978-3319770697| last1 = McDermott| first1 = Kevin| last2 = Stibbe| first2 = Matthew| date = 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BlWwCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68| title =Warsaw Pact and the Balkans: Moscow's Southern Flank |page=68| isbn = 978-1349099412| last1 = Eyal| first1 = Jonathan| date = 1989| publisher = Springer}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vXS9iL543D8C&pg=PA51| publisher= Cambridge University Press|title=Internationalism and the Ideology of Soviet Influence in Eastern Europe|page= 51| isbn = 978-0521414388| last1 = Valdez| first1 = Jonathan C.| date = 1993}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HyzWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PR16| publisher=Princeton University Press|title=Dynamics of Communism in Eastern Europe|page= XVI| isbn = 978-1400877225| last1 = Burks| first1 = Richard Voyles| date = 2015}}</ref>
[[File:IAR-93SC aircraft.jpg|thumb|The Romanian [[IAR-93 Vultur]] was not the only combat jet designed and built by a non-Soviet member of the Warsaw Pact.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hxokAQAAIAAJ&q=IAR+93+%22non-soviet%22| title = Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Incorporated, 1994, RFE/RL Research Report: Weekly Analyses from the RFE/RL Research Institute, Volume 3, p. 3| year = 1994}}</ref> See also Czechoslovak jet [[Aero L-39 Albatros]].]]
Following Albania's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, Romania remained the only Pact member with an independent military doctrine which denied the Soviet Union use of its armed forces and avoided absolute dependence on Soviet sources of military equipment.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GCNrSJew0wEC&pg=PA102| publisher=Cambridge University Press|title=Soviet Strategy and the New Military Thinking|pages= 102, 110 and 113–114| isbn = 978-0521407694| last1 = Leebaert| first1 = Derek |author1-link=Derek Leebaert| last2 = Dickinson| first2 = Timothy| year = 1992}}</ref> Romania was the only non-Soviet Warsaw Pact member which was not obliged to militarily defend the Soviet Union in case of an armed attack.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BlWwCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA74| publisher= Springer|title=Warsaw Pact and the Balkans: Moscow's Southern Flank|page= 74| isbn = 978-1349099412| last1 = Eyal| first1 = Jonathan| date = 1989}}</ref> Bulgaria and Romania were the only Warsaw Pact members that did not have Soviet troops stationed on their soil.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NwviIpm0JxsC&q=%22except+Romania%27s%22| publisher=[[Nelson Canada]]|title=An Introduction to Government and Politics: A Conceptual Approach|page= 75| isbn = 978-0176034856| last1 = Dickerson| first1 = M. O.| last2 = Flanagan| first2 = Thomas |author2-link=Thomas Flanagan (political scientist) |year = 1990}}</ref> In December 1964, Romania became the only Warsaw Pact member (save Albania, which would leave the Pact altogether within 4 years) from which all Soviet advisors were withdrawn, including those in the intelligence and security services.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0tEFBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA189| title = R. J. Crampton, Routledge, 2014, ''The Balkans Since the Second World War'', p. 189| isbn = 978-1317891178| last1 = Crampton| first1 = R. J.|author1-link=R. J. Crampton| date = 2014| publisher = Routledge}}</ref> Not only did Romania not participate in joint operations with the KGB, but it also set up "departments specialized in anti-KGB counterespionage".<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QjqxzR0xTvoC&pg=PA536| publisher=[[Lexington Books]]|title=Romania Since 1989: Politics, Economics, and Society|page= 536| isbn = 978-0739105924| last1 = Carey| first1 = Henry F.| year = 2004}}</ref>

Romania was neutral in the [[Sino-Soviet split]].<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NWwRzLr-Y7MC&q=%22they+remained+neutral%22| publisher= Prentice-Hall|title=Civilization in the West|page= 683| isbn = 978-0131350120| last1 = Brinton| first1 = Crane |author1-link=Crane Brinton |last2 = Christopher| first2 = John B.| last3 = Wolff| first3 = Robert Lee |author3-link=Robert Lee Wolff| year = 1973}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lnBnN7tqFSoC&q=%22Soviet-led+efforts+at+condemning+China%22| publisher=[[Prentice-Hall]]|title=Today's Isms: Communism, Fascism, Capitalism, Socialism| page= 68| isbn = 978-0139243998| last1 = Ebenstein| first1 = William| last2 = Fogelman| first2 = Edwin| year = 1980}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8ExpAAAAMAAJ&q=%22strict+neutrality%22| publisher= [[Pinter Publishers|Pinter]] |title=Romania: Politics, Economics and Society : Political Stagnation and Simulated Change|page= 177| isbn = 978-0861874385| last1 = Shafir| first1 = Michael |author-link=Michael Shafir| year = 1985}}</ref> Its neutrality in the Sino-Soviet dispute along with being the small Communist country with the most influence in global affairs enabled Romania to be recognized by the world as the "third force" of the Communist world. Romania's independence – achieved in the early 1960s through its [[De-satellization of the Socialist Republic of Romania|freeing from its Soviet satellite status]] – was tolerated by Moscow because Romania was not bordering the [[Iron Curtain]] – being surrounded by socialist states – and because its ruling party was not going to abandon communism.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite magazine |url = https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Reporter/j2KzAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22Romania%20as%20a%20kind%20of%22| title =Title |magazine=[[The Reporter (magazine)|The Reporter]] |volume=33 |page=32 |issn=1049-1600| last1 = Ascoli| first1 = Max |author1-link=Max Ascoli | year = 1965}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-first=Yong |author-last=Liu |publisher=National Institute for the Study of Totalitarianism |date=2006 |title=Sino-Romanian Relations: 1950s–1960s  |oclc=164809102|page=199}}</ref>

Although certain historians such as [[Robert R. King]]<ref>{{cite book |author-first=Robert R. |author-last=King |author-link=Robert R. King |title=A History of the Romanian Communist Party |isbn=9780817973322 |date=1980 |pages=135-136 |publisher=[[Hoover Institution Press]]}}</ref> and [[Dennis Deletant]]<ref>{{cite journal |author-first=Dennis |author-last=Deletant |author-link=Dennis Deletant |title=Taunting the Bear: Romania and the Warsaw Pact, 1963–89 |journal=[[Cold War History (journal)|Cold War History]] |volume=7 |issue=4 |page=496 |doi=10.1080/14682740701621796}}</ref> argue against the usage of the term "independent" to describe Romania's relations with the Soviet Union, favoring "autonomy" instead on account of the country's continued membership within both the Comecon and the Warsaw Pact along with its commitment to socialism, this approach fails to explain why in July 1963 Romania blocked [[Mongolian People's Republic|Mongolia]]'s accession to the Warsaw Pact, why in November 1963 Romania voted in favor of a UN resolution to establish a nuclear-free zone in Latin America when the other Soviet-aligned countries abstained, or why in 1964 Romania opposed the Soviet-proposed "strong collective riposte" against China (and these are examples solely from the 1963–1964 period).<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FfGmBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA14| publisher=[[Cambridge Scholars Publishing]]|title=Cold War Perceptions: Romania's Policy Change towards the Soviet Union, 1960–1964|page=14| isbn = 978-1443873031| last1 = Dragomir| first1 = Elena| year= 2015}}</ref> [[Propaganda in the Soviet Union|Soviet disinformation]] tried to convince the West that Ceaușescu's empowerment was a dissimulation in connivance with Moscow.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BZ9sDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA61| publisher= [[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |title=Romania since the Second World War: A Political, Social and Economic History|page= 61| isbn = 978-1472529923| last1 = Abraham| first1 = Florin| year= 2016}}</ref> To an extent this worked, as some historians came to see the hand of Moscow behind every Romanian initiative. For instance, when Romania became the only Eastern European country to maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, some historians have speculated that this was at Moscow's whim. However, this theory fails upon closer inspection.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kOT8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA307|publisher= [[University of Nebraska Press]]|title=The Star and the Scepter: A Diplomatic History of Israel|page= 307| isbn = 978-0827618602| last1 = Navon| first1 = Emmanuel |author1-link=Emmanuel Navon |date = 2020}}</ref> Even during the Cold War, some thought that Romanian actions were done at the behest of the Soviets, but Soviet anger at said actions was "persuasively genuine". In truth, the Soviets were not beyond publicly aligning themselves with the West against the Romanians at times.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=w7Hst5Swj_4C&pg=PA85|publisher=[[Royal United Services Institute]]|title=Managing the Cold War: A View from the Front Line|pages= 85–86| isbn = 978-0855161910| last1 = Alexander| first1 = Michael |author1-link=Michael Alexander (diplomat)| year = 2005}}</ref>