What was the dominant Soviet strategy for invading Germany in the 1980's?

Question

The last war in the Balkans finished around 2000. Until today, land mines are a big problem, especially in Bosnia. There are huge regions where you shouldn't leave paved terrain. Since I love hiking, this posed a serious threats during my stay in Bosnia. At the same time, I asked myself whether this is no problem in the Alps. Granted, the war in Central Europe ended ~50 years earlier than the Balkan war, so maybe, the mines in the alps are already removed. So I asked my parents and grandparents, whether mines were a problem in Central Europe shortly after the second world war. All of them couldn't remember that it was a particular problem. So why is this the case? Weren't mines just not used that often during the second world war? Or are there other reasons?

Answer 1

Regarding the issue of land mines, before and during World War II it was the usual practice for armies to plant mines by hand and to record the specific location of the individual mines in a minefield. Because the planting of mines - digging a small, shallow hole, placing the mine in the hole, arming the mine, and carefully covering the mine with dirt - is laborious and time consuming, minefields were limited in size and number.

Moreover, once the front lines shifted, leaving a minefield behind, so that it now became more of a danger to one's own troops than to the enemy, the documentary record of where the mines in a minefield were located made it easier and safer to 'clear'. This was particularly true at the conclusion of World War II, when the victors gained access to the enemy's records.

After World War II, a new means of deploying landmines was developed, known as 'Scatterable Mines'. These are landmines that are not buried by hand, but, instead, are scattered over the ground by various means, such as from aircraft or from artillery shells. Scatterable landmines are relatively small in size and camouflaged. In this respect, while they are not as well hidden as mines buried by hand, their presence is not as obvious as one would suppose.

Of course, creating minefields with scatterable landmines is far easier and less time consuming than the traditional method of burying them by hand. In addition, the location of individual landmines are not recorded when using scatterable mines, merely the general location where the mines have been scattered.

The ease of producing minefields with scatterable mines resulted in their overuse, producing whole landscapes randomly sown with landmines in which the location of each mine is unknown. This, of course, made the job of clearing mines far more difficult and dangerous.

The increased danger to civilians, particularly children, presented by landmines has resulted in the International Ottawa Treaty banning the use of landmines. Over 160 countries have signed the Ottawa Treaty. Among those that have not signed the Ottawa Treaty are the People's Republic of China, Russia, and the United States.