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Kessler, Heinz (Heinz Keßler) 1920- 2017

Heinz Kessler (Heinz Keßler) served as the Minister of Defense of the German Democratic Republic from 1985-1989.

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Popular Documents

November 27, 1987

Letter, Heinz Kessler to Comrade Erich Honecker [about the 20th Meeting of the Committee of the Ministers of Defense of the Member States of the Warsaw Treaty]

Defense Minister Keßler highlights the necessity to defend the Warsaw Pact's territory at the borderline between East and West Germany. Soviet Defense Minister Jasov looks into the military consequences of the Warsaw Pact's new defense military doctrine. 

March 1988

Appendix [on GDR Military Aid to Ethiopia]

An East German document outlining planned military aid for Ethiopia.

April 20, 1987

Report on the Most Important Results of the 35th Meeting of the Military Council of the Joint Forces of the Member States of the Warsaw Treaty

The report analyses NATO's latest military readiness exercises. Moreover, the report emphasizes the need for a modernization of the Warsaw Pact's tank force in reaction to the development of NATO's Abrams and Leopard tanks.

February 1987

First Assessment of the Military Content of the 24th International Wehrkunde Conference from 31 January to 1 February 1987 in Munich

The report looks into the 24th Internationale Wehrkundetagung in Munich focusing on "Perspectives of NATO" and emphasizing a continued NATO's reliance on nuclear weapons and the strategy of flexible response. NATO policymakers did not endorse Egon Bahr's scheme for the creation of a nuclear- and chemical-weapons free zone in Europe.
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