The Eastern pact was a military alliance established in 1980 and dissolved five years later. A Military alliance is an agreement between two, or more, countries; related to wartime planning, commitments, and/or contingencies; such agreements can be both defensive and offensive. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

History

Creation of the Eastern Pact

The need for the alliance was a result of the Cold War. The People's Republic of China, a powerful communist state, had experienced a worsening of relations with the Soviet Union. The difference arose from the USSR's desire for a unified communist bloc under its control, while China held its own ambitions. By the 1970s through the 1980s Sino-Soviet relations had reached their worst point. Wanting to secure its place as leader of the Asian communist nations (which it had kept by supporting North Korea and North Vietnam during the Korean war and Vietnam war), China initiated the establishment of third alliance, the Eastern Pact, which would be set against both Soviet and American interests in Asia, and probably would have sought influence over other Asian countries as well, in a similar fashion to NATO and the Warsaw Pact. The alliance was founded on July 4, 1980 by the People's Republic of China, North Korea, Vietnam and Cambodia (nominally under Vietnamese control at the time). The laws of the fledgling alliance stated that the number of votes allotted to each member was apportioned according to their respective GNP, which firmly secured Chinese control. Both the Vietnamese and North Korean government, however, saw the alliance as a possible safety against the United States, or other western powers who might stage an invasion. A cold war is a state of conflict between nations that does not involve direct military action but is pursued primarily through economic and political actions, acts of espionage or conflict through surrogates. ... This article is about one-party states ruled by Communist Parties. ... Events and trends Although in the United States and in many other Western societies the 1970s are often seen as a period of transition between the turbulent 1960s and the more conservative 1980s and 1990s, many of the trends that are associated widely with the Sixties, from the Sexual Revolution... Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Dân Chủ Cộng Hòa), also known as North Vietnam, was founded by Ho Chi Minh and was recognized by China and the USSR in 1950. ... The Korean War (Korean: 한국전쟁), from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953, was a conflict between North Korea and South Korea. ... The Vietnam War was a war fought roughly from 1957 to 1975 after the North Vietnamese government secretly agreed to begin involvement in South Vietnam. ... World map showing location of Asia A satellite composite image of Asia Asia is the central and eastern part of the continent of Eurasia, defined by subtracting the European peninsula from Eurasia. ... The flag of NATO NATO 2002 Summit The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), sometimes called North Atlantic Alliance, Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for defence collaboration established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, D.C., on April 4, 1949. ... Map of Warsaw Pact member countries. ... July 4 is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 180 days remaining. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Measures of national income and output are used in economics to estimate the value of goods and services produced in an economy. ...

Expansion and collapse (1981-1985)

On January 13th 1981, Mongolia was accepted as the fifth member of alliance when the foreign ministers of all five countries signed an agreement of expansion in Beijing. This led to Soviet protests however, because Mongolia shared a long border with the Soviet Union, and had the effect of further damaging Sino-Soviet relations. In February of 1981, the alliance was reformed, its permanent headquarters was opened in Shanghai, where each of the member countries sent a delegation. China continued to work to attract more countries to join the alliance. In April of 1981, Laos joined the Eastern Pact, unofficially in exchange for major Chinese aid. China also aggressively pursued the expansion of the Eastern Pact outside of Asia, becoming a major partner for various socialist "third world" governments and attempting to create a third respectable player in the cold war. The only success of this policy was admission of Angola to alliance in 1982; other attempts proved to be failures (primarily because the unwillingness of third world countries to depend exclusively Chinese aid, as they perceived the Soviet Union to be more reliable), although some countries received associated status. The alliance's expansion stopped after early 1982, when negotiations with Yugoslavia met with no results. With the relaxation of tensions with the Soviet Union, the need for the alliance was lost. The Eastern Pact was officially dissolved in September of 1985. It was replaced by the short-lived Vientiane treaty, which included the Southeast Asian nations of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, but this treaty quickly proved unworkable and was dissolved. January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Beijing  listen (Chinese: 北京; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Pei-ching; ; Postal System Pinyin: Peking), is the capital city of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... February is the second month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Shanghai (Chinese: 上海; pinyin: ; Shanghainese IPA: ) is Chinas largest city and is situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1982 is a number and represents a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar Events January January 6 - William Bonin is convicted of being the freeway killer. January 8 - AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 - Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime... 1982 is a number and represents a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar Events January January 6 - William Bonin is convicted of being the freeway killer. January 8 - AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 - Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime... Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in all south Slavic languages) is a term used for three separate but successive political entities that existed during most of the 20th century on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe. ... September is the ninth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with the length of 30 days. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Vientiane treaty was a treaty signed in Vientiane, capital of Laos, which estabilished the similarly-called organisation of Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ...

Structure

Each country's votes were apportioned by its GNP (not GNP per capita), therefore China's vote was grossly overwhelming. Each country had to defend any other country of the Eastern Pact in case of war. The headquarters were established in Shanghai in 1981, and each member state sent an ambassador to the Eastern Pact there (the Vietnamese ambassador also supposedly represented Cambodian interests, due to the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia at the time after the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge). Sessions of the Eastern Pact were held four times a year, and could also be called at any time if countries constituting 25% of Eastern pact GNP called for a session. An emergency session would also be called in the case of a declaration of war by or against any of the member states, however the alliance was only defensive. This was agreed on as a means for China and other countries to prevent North Korean aggression against South Korea. Measures of national income and output are used in economics to estimate the value of goods and services produced in an economy. ... Shanghai (Chinese: 上海; pinyin: ; Shanghainese IPA: ) is Chinas largest city and is situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Ambassador (disambiguation). ... The flag of the Khmer Rouge Party The Khmer Rouge (Khmer: Khmaey Krahom; French: Khmers Rouges) was a Communist organization which ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. ... North Korea, officially the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK; Korean: Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk; Hangul: 조선민주주의인민공화국; Hanja: 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國), is a country in eastern Asia, covering the northern half of the peninsula of Korea. ...

Members

• People's Republic of China - founding member
• North Korea - founding member
• Vietnam - founding member
• Cambodia - founding member
• Mongolia - joined January 1, 1981
• Laos - joined April 23, 1981
• Angola - joined March 12, 1982