National People's Army

The National People's Army, in German Nationale Volksarmee or NVA, was the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic from 1956 until 1990. It was organized into four branches, the Landstreitkraefte or ground forces, the Volksmarine or navy, the Luftstreitkraefte or air force and the Grenztruppen or border troops, and it answered to the Ministry of National Defence with the National Defence Council in command, both headquartered at Strausberg east of East Berlin. The NVA was formed on 1 March 1956 to succeed the Barracked People's Police and became one of the Warsaw Pact militaries facing NATO. Conscription was compulsory from 1962 and it was the only Warsaw Pact military to offer non-combat roles to conscientious objectors, the construction soldiers. It peaked at 175,300 personnel in 1987, saw no significant combat apart from the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, and manned the Berlin Wall. It was dissolved on 2 October 1990 and its equipment passed to the Bundeswehr.