Unified Military Industries of the Soviet Bloc: Hungary and the Division of Labor in Military Production

(Hardback)

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This book draws a subtle picture of Warsaw Pact economic and military cooperation by presenting a complete branchthe military industryfrom the perspective of a smaller member-state, Hungary. It demonstrates that the military industrys cooperation played a crucial role in the development of economic integration within the Soviet Bloc, and it was in this sector that the strongest, most efficient integration was established. The book builds on recently declassified documentation from Soviet-led international economic organizations to give insight into the backstage debates of partner states, to shed light on the intensive conflicts and clashes of interests between the nations, and to highlight the bureaucratic decision making of the Eastern blocs supranational organ. The transnational analysis is supplemented by the presentation of the national viewpoint: how Hungary intended to vindicate its interests, what measures Budapest took to optimize international cooperation, and what kind of new markets were discovered outside the Warsaw Pact.

Reviews

A skillful study of the relationship between economic and military developments, and a study that is of significance for the history not only of Hungary but also of the Warsaw Pact as a whole. . . .This is a skillful book that links specifics to a general thesis. Deserves wider attention. * European Review Of History *
Germuskas well-written monograph documents the ways in which the Soviets incorporated Hungarian input specifically into military cooperation, in the process revealing the many tensions and contradictions that characterized the Kremlins relationship with Budapest. . . .Germuska has provided a valuable work that elucidates the ways in which COMECON became the main structure for integrating the military industries of the communist bloc. Readers interested in military integration, Cold War history, Soviet-Hungarian relations, and Moscows power globally will benefit from the immense treasures in the book. * Journal of Military History *
[T]he book by Pal Germuska fills an important gap in the literature on socialist cooperation. His is a detailed history of an entire industrial field, but it can also be read as a case study on how the blocs military and economic organisations, the CMEA and the Warsaw Pact interacted, and consequently fought over jurisdiction. Their failures to define their respective authority, as depicted by Germuska in his book, testify to the reasons why the socialist bloc was not able to stand up to its vision to challenge the Western bloc. * Journal des conomistes et des tudes Humaines *
This in-depth study on the Hungarian case illuminates the synergies and tensions inherent to the international military-industry cooperation within the Socialist bloc. By looking at the complex institutional dynamics of the COMECON, and relating them to a small economys goals and constrains, it unveils the mechanisms of a hegemonic type of cooperation. -- Federico Romero, European University Institute
Pl Germuska provides a rich, in-depth and long overdue history of the military industrial cooperation in the postwar Soviet Bloc using a wide array of fresh archival sources. This leads to a nuanced and picture of the process of Sovietization which shows that countries in East-Central Europe such as Hungary had agency yet in a context clearly dominated by the Soviet Union up until 1990. -- Johan Schot, University of Sussex

Author Bio

Pl Germuska is researcher of contemporary military history at the Military History Institute and Museum, Hungarian Ministry of National Defense, and teaches economic history at Etvs Lornd University Faculty of Social Sciences.