At the end of World War II, the Red Army, which would soon (in 1946) be renamed the Soviet Army, had approx. 9.8 million people formed in approx. 500 divisions of various types. This number was reduced relatively quickly, but during the Cold War (1945-1991) the total number of Soviet armed forces ranged from about 2.8 to about 5.3 million people. In the mid-1980s, i.e. during the war in Afghanistan, the Soviet land forces numbered about 210 divisions, of which as many as 160 divisions were motorized infantry divisions made up of conscripts. The motorized rifle division consisted of three infantry regiments, one armored regiment, a self-propelled artillery regiment and numerous support units, primarily characterized by a relatively strong anti-aircraft defense consisting of artillery and missile sets. The basic weapon of the Soviet infantryman at that time was the very successful AK-47 machine gun, later modernized to the AK-74 standard. The support weapons were light and heavy machine guns. Wheeled armored personnel carriers (APCs) were an important means of transport, initially they were BTR-152, but later BTR-60, BTR-70 and BTR-80. It is assumed that around 1990 there were approximately 70,000 different types of armored personnel carriers in various technical conditions in the Soviet Army. It is worth adding that the Soviet units during the Cold War were trained primarily for full-scale conflict with NATO, and Western Europe was considered the most likely area of operations. In such a conflict, it was assumed that the progress of the motorized infantry division would be from 80 to 100 kilometers in the first 3-4 days of the operation.
The Nationale Volksarmee, or the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR for short), were formally established in 1952, but were actually established in 1956. From 1962, they were based on the conscription of men aged 18 to 60 who were serving 18 months of compulsory military service. At its peak (1987), it numbered approximately 175,000 people. The main type of the East German armed forces were the land forces, which numbered up to 108,000 men and were divided into 6 divisions: two armored and four mechanized infantry. As you can easily guess, the East German army used equipment primarily of Soviet origin, such as the T-54, T-55 or T-72 tanks, BMP-1 and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, but also BTR-60 or BTR-70. The personal equipment of the soldiers, especially small arms, was of Soviet construction. Interestingly, the Nationale Volksarmee uniforms were modeled on the Wehrmacht uniforms from World War II. Going further, it can be added that at the time of the establishment of these armed forces, a large number of senior officers also served in the Wehrmacht. The main military action in which the GDR army took part was the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968 as part of Operation Danube. The Nationale Volksarmee was dissolved in 1990 after the reunification of the two German states.