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The two central vectors of the military confrontation of the Cold War were the strategic nuclear stand-off and the military confrontation in Europe. Both at a political and the military-technical level, the military balance in Europe was a central factor in the perception of the threat and the deliberations about strategy. This article examines the perception that the Warsaw Pact had of its opponent, the NATO alliance, in the military confrontation in Europe. It does so by looking at the evolution of the military balance in Europe and analyzes how military doctrine and strategy evolved in response to the military situation and the perceptions of NATO capabilities in doctrine, using documentation, from East German archives, that sheds new light on the controversies surrounding Warsaw Pact military strategy in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]