Studia Humanitatis (Oct 2020)
The maritime offensive strategy in the Baltic Sea area during the Cold War (1960-1990): the Warsaw Pact, NATO, the USSR, Poland, the GDR and Denmark
Abstract
From the beginning of 1960s, an occupation of Denmark was a theme in the Warsaw Pact military exercises and manoeuvres in the so-called Cold War. This is connected to a struggle for a maritime offensive strategy, as well inside the USSR as internal among Soviet allies with the aim of securing the fleets of the Warsaw Pact access to the North Sea and the Atlantic in case of war with NATO members. In the GDR and Poland these plans were very important in the national military strategies. However, the Soviet navy also played an important role in abovementioned maritime strategy. But was it really so great in different occupation plans of Denmark? Or was it first and foremost a local strategy of the Warsaw Pact countries in the western part of the Baltic Sea area? The article provides answers to these questions. There is also given a description of the strategic importance of Denmark in the Baltic Sea, and its influence on the Danish foreign politics in decades.
