1.
Perm
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Perm is a city and the administrative center of Perm Krai, Russia, located on the banks of the Kama River in the European part of Russia near the Ural Mountains. According to the 2010 Census, Perms population is 991,162, as of the 2010 Census, the city was the thirteenth most populous in Russia. From 1940 to 1957 it was named Molotov, the name Perm is of Finno-Ugric etymology, likely of Uralic origin. Komi is a member of the Permic group of Finno-Ugric languages, in Finnish and Vepsian perämaa means far-away land, similarly, in Hungarian perem means edge or verge. The geologic period of the Permian takes its name from the toponym, the city is located on the bank of the Kama River upon hilly terrain. The Kama is the tributary of the Volga River and one of the deepest and most picturesque rivers of Russia. This river is the waterway which grants the Ural Mountains access to the White Sea, Baltic Sea, Sea of Azov, Black Sea, the Kama divides the city into two parts, the central part and the right bank part. The city stretches for 70 kilometers along the Kama and 40 kilometers across it, the city street grid parallels the Kama River, traveling generally east-west, while other main streets run perpendicularly to those following the river. The grid pattern accommodates the hills of the city where it crosses them, another distinguishing feature of the citys relief is the large quantity of small rivers and brooks. The largest of them are the Mulyanka, the Yegoshikha, the Motovilikha, Perm has a continental climate with warm summers and long, cold winters. Perm is located in the old Perman area, which was inhabited by Finno-Ugric peoples. Perm was first mentioned as the village of Yagoshikha in 1647, however, vasily Tatishchev, appointed by the Tsar as a chief manager of Ural factories, founded Perm together with another major center of the Ural region, Yekaterinburg. In 1870, a theater was opened in the city. In 1916, Perm State University—a major educational institution in modern Russia—was opened, after the outbreak of the Russian Civil War, Perm became a prime target for both sides because of its military munitions factories. On December 25,1918, the Siberian White Army under Anatoly Pepelyayev, on July 1,1919, the city was retaken by the Red Army. In the 1930s, Perm grew as an industrial city with aviation, shipbuilding. During the Great Patriotic War, Perm was a center of artillery production in the Soviet Union. During the cold war, Perm became a closed city, the city is a major administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultural center
2.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
3.
Boguchar
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Town status was granted to it in 1779. Within the framework of administrative divisions, Boguchar serves as the center of Bogucharsky District. As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Bogucharsky District as Boguchar Urban Settlement, as a municipal division, this administrative unit also has urban settlement status and is a part of Bogucharsky Municipal District. The 10th Guards Uralsko-Lvovskaya Tank Division of the Russian Ground Forces is based there, Закон №87-ОЗ от27 октября2006 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Воронежской области и порядке его изменения», в ред, Закона №41-ОЗ от13 апреля2015 г. «О внесении изменений в Закон Воронежской области Об административно-территориальном устройстве Воронежской области и порядке его изменения», Вступил в силу по истечении10 дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован, Молодой коммунар, №123,3 ноября2006 г, Закон №63-ОЗ от15 октября2004 г. «Об определении границ, наделении соответствующим статусом, определении административных центров отдельных муниципальных образований Воронежской области», Закона №77-ОЗ от4 июня2015 г. «О внесении изменений в отдельные законодательные акты Воронежской области в связи с изменением границ некоторых муниципальных образований Воронежской области», Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован, Коммуна, №166,26 октября2004 г
4.
Voronezh Oblast
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Voronezh Oblast is a federal subject of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Voronezh and its population was 2,335,380 as of the 2010 Census. Voronezh Oblast is the birthplace of Pavel Cherenkov, co-recipient of the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physics, Voronezh Oblast borders internally with Belgorod Oblast, Kursk Oblast, Lipetsk Oblast, Tambov Oblast, Saratov Oblast, Volgograd Oblast and Rostov Oblast and internationally with Ukraine. Voronezh Oblast is located in the belt of the European part of Russia, in a very advantageous strategic location. Within the radius 960 kilometers around Voronezh more than 50% of the population Russia, the area of the region -52.4 thousand km2, which is about one third of the whole area of Central Black Earth Region. The length of the region north to south -277.5 km. Much of the area is steppe, among the predominant soil fertile soil black earth, the oblast has 738 lakes and ponds in 2408, in 1343 the river flows over 10 km long. The main river is the Don,530 of its 1,870 km flows through the area, forming a drainage area of 422,000 square kilometers. Don Voronezh Bityug Khopyor The climate in the region is continental, with an average January temperatures of −4.5 °C. Average annual temperature varies from +5 °C in the north to +6.5 °C in the south, precipitation varies from 600 millimeters in the northwest to 450 millimeters in the southeast. The oblast was established on June 13,1934, the structure of Voronezh Oblast the industrial-agrarian. As part of the industry is dominated by mechanical engineering, power engineering, food industry. They account for 4/5 of the volume of industrial output. Industry specialization of the region is the industry, second place is occupied by engineering and metalworking. For the first time in the history of farming region in 2011 produced record crops, tons and sunflower -1 million. 002 thousand tons 2014 Voronezh Oblast ranked first in Russia in terms of gross harvest of potatoes, in general, the profile of agriculture - with crops of sunflowers and grain crops, dairy and beef cattle, pigs. Beet, sugar industry in Voronezh Oblast in terms of gross production of sugar beets. In 2014, sugar mills were produced 495.1 ths. tons of sugar, milk production in Voronezh Oblast in 2013 increased by 1. 8% - up to 755,700
5.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
6.
Gennady Troshev
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He was awarded a Hero of Russia award. Gennady Troshev was born in 1947 in the East Berlin, in the Soviet occupation zone and he spent his childhood in the ethnic Russian community in Grozny in the Chechen-Ingush Republic. In 1969, Troshev graduated from the Kazan Tank College, and later from the Tank Academy, after graduating from the tank college in 1969, Troshev served in Soviet tank forces. Troshev served as the commander of the 10th Guards Uralsko-Lvovskaya Tank Division, and as the commander of the joint group of federal forces in Chechnya during the First Chechen War. On 1 June 1995, Troshev was appointed commander of the 58th Army, in April 2000, Troshev was appointed the commander of the joint group of federal forces in the Northern Caucasus. During his career as a commander in Chechnya he gained notoriety after advocating public executions of separatist fighters, human rights activists had accused him of tolerating rampant abuses in the war-ravaged republic. Early in the war he declared that the city of Grozny should never be rebuilt so as to serve as a warning against treason to Russias ethnic minorities. He also publicly defended Yuri Budanov, who was on trial for the rape and murder of an 18-year-old Chechen woman, in response, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree dismissing Troshev from his post in 2002. One theory connects it to a reshuffling of personnel as major elections approach in Chechnya. A second explanation ties it to the process of military-administrative reform. After his sacking, Troshev was appointed an advisor to the President of the Russian Federation for Cossacks affairs, in 2007, He return to Russia after in Ukraine for 5 years. Troshev died on 14 September 2008 and he was a passenger aboard Aeroflot Flight 821, which crashed and left no survivors. Russian officials have dismissed public suspicions that the plane might have been sabotaged, one week after Troshevs death, the President of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov renamed Krasnoznamennaya Street in Grozny after Troshev
7.
Russian Guards
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Guards or Guards units were elite military units of Imperial Russia prior to 1917-18. The designation of Guards was subsequently adopted as a distinction for various units and formations of the Soviet Union, the tradition goes back to the a chieftains druzhina of medieval Kievan Rus and the Marksman Troops, the Muscovite harquebusiers formed by Ivan the Terrible by 1550. The exact meaning of the term Guards varied over time, in the Russian Empire, Imperial Russian Guard units, derived from German Leibgarde, were intended to ensure the security of the sovereign, initially, that of Peter the Great in the 1690s. These were based on the Prussian Royal Life Guards, during the 19th century the Imperial Russian Guard regiments were not exclusively composed of Russian troops, but also included Lithuanian, Finnish and Ukrainian units. During the Brusilov Offensive the 1st and 2nd Guards numbers were supplemented with line army corp, in February–March 1917 the defection of reserve battalions of the Imperial Guard based in Petrograd was a major factor in the overthrow of the Tsarist government. The service units of the Guard at the front disintegrated along with the remainder of the Imperial Army, the Red Guards were armed groups of workers formed during the Russian Revolution of 1917, although the designation and concept dates back to Moscow during the Revolution of 1905. In 1917 the volunteers of the Red Guard and their leaders formed the main strike force of the Bolsheviks. In October 1917 the Red Guards of Petrograd played a role in the capture of the Winter Palace. When the Soviet Red Army was formed in 1918, the Red Guards became the Army Reserve, however, the Guards badge was not introduced until 21 May 1943. Zhukov states the first period of the war gave birth to the Soviet Guards, for mass heroism and success in the battles of 1941-1942 the Guards title was awarded to 789 groups, formations, separate units, and fighting ships of the Soviet Armed Forces. List of guards units of Ukraine
8.
Division (military)
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A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. Infantry divisions during the World Wars ranged between 10,000 and 30,000 in nominal strength, in most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, in turn, several divisions typically make up a corps. In the West, the first general to think of organising an army into smaller units was Maurice de Saxe, Marshal General of France. He died at the age of 54, without having implemented his idea, victor-François de Broglie put the ideas into practice. He conducted successful practical experiments of the system in the Seven Years War. The first war in which the system was used systematically was the French Revolutionary War. It made the more flexible and easy to manoeuvre. Under Napoleon, the divisions were grouped together into corps, because of their increasing size, napoleons military success spread the divisional and corps system all over Europe, by the end of the Napoleonic Wars, all armies in Europe had adopted it. In modern times, most military forces have standardized their divisional structures, the peak use of the division as the primary combat unit occurred during World War II, when the belligerents deployed over a thousand divisions. With technological advances since then, the power of each division has increased. Divisions are often formed to organize units of a particular type together with support units to allow independent operations. In more recent times, divisions have mainly been organized as combined arms units with subordinate units representing various combat arms, in this case, the division often retains the name of a more specialized division, and may still be tasked with a primary role suited to that specialization. For the most part, large cavalry units did not remain after World War II, in general, two new types of cavalry were developed, air cavalry or airmobile, relying on helicopter mobility, and armored cavalry, based on an autonomous armored formation. The former was pioneered by the 11th Air Assault Division, formed on 1 February 1963 at Fort Benning, on 29 June 1965 the division was renamed as the 1st Cavalry Division, before its departure for the Vietnam War. After the end of the Vietnam War, the 1st Cavalry Division was reorganised and re-equipped with tanks, the development of the tank during World War I prompted some nations to experiment with forming them into division-size units. Many did this the way as they did cavalry divisions, by merely replacing cavalry with AFVs. This proved unwieldy in combat, as the units had many tanks, instead, a more balanced approach was taken by adjusting the number of tank, infantry, artillery, and support units. A panzer division was a division of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS of Germany during World War II
9.
Russian Ground Forces
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The Ground Forces of the Russian Federation are the land forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. The formation of these forces posed economic challenges after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the primary responsibilities of the Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, the security of occupied territories, and the defeat of enemy troops. The Ground Forces must be able to achieve goals both in nuclear war and non-nuclear war, especially without the use of weapons of mass destruction. Furthermore, they must be capable of protecting the interests of Russia within the framework of its international obligations. The Main Command of the Ground Forces is officially tasked with the objectives, The training of troops for combat. The improvement of troops structure and composition, and the optimization of their numbers, the development of military theory and practice. The development and introduction of training manuals, tactics. The improvement of operational and combat training of the Ground Forces, the newly re-emergent Russia retained most of the ranks of the Soviet Army, with some minor changes. The principal difference from the usual Western style is some variation in generals rank titles—in at least one case, Colonel General, the gallery below shows a selection of insignia, common to the Ground Forces – LF. As the Soviet Union dissolved, efforts were made to keep the Soviet Armed Forces as a military structure for the new Commonwealth of Independent States. The last Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union, Marshal Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, was appointed commander of the CIS Armed Forces in December 1991. Among the numerous treaties signed by the republics, in order to direct the transition period, was a temporary agreement on general purpose forces. Thirty-seven divisions had to be withdrawn from the four groups of forces and the Baltic States, some idea of the scale of the withdrawal can be gained from the division list. For the dissolving Soviet Ground Forces, the withdrawal from the former Warsaw Pact states and the Baltic states was a demanding, expensive. However, the facilities in those districts were inadequate to house the flood of personnel and equipment returning from abroad, the need for destruction and transfer of large amounts of weaponry under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe also necessitated great adjustments. The Ministry of Defence newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda published a plan on 21 July 1992. Later one commentator said it was put together by the General Staff to satisfy the public demand for radical changes. The General Staff, from that point, became a bastion of conservatism, the reform plan advocated a change from an Army-Division-Regiment structure to a Corps-Brigade arrangement
10.
Moscow Military District
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The Moscow Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Leningrad Military District, the Northern Fleet, in the beginning of the second half of the 19th century Russian officials realized the need for re-organization of the Imperial Russian Army to meet new circumstances. A tsarist edict of 6 August 1864, announced in a Defence Minister’s order on 10 August of the year, established ten military districts. The District’s territory then comprised 12 provinces, Vladimir, Vologda, Kaluga, Kostroma, Moscow, Nizhniy Novgorod, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tambov, Tver, Tula, and Yaroslavl. The District was intended as a reinforcement source for troops and equipment, the District dispatched five infantry and a cavalry division south to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–8, as well as sending another division to the Caucasus area. This force totaled around 30,000 men and 20,000 horses, over 80,000 men were also called into reserve units. The District also housed 21,000 Turkish prisoners of war, during the First World War over a million men were stationed in the district. By a resolution of the Moscow military revolutionary committee on 17 November 1917, muralyov was assigned as the new commander of the district. From June to the middle of September 1919 the District conducted 33 callups totalling more than 500,000 people. In Moscow the 1 Moscow Rifle Division, Warsaw revolutionary infantry regiment, and 2nd revolutionary infantry regiment were formed, in Voronezh two cavalry divisions were formed, two rifle divisions and two rifle regiments in Nizhniy Novgorod, and the 16th Rifle Division in Tambov. Artillery units too were also being raised in the capital area, autumn maneuvers began to be conducted yearly here in the district. The 2nd Rifle Corps was stationed in the district from 1922 to 1936, in the beginning of the 1930 tanks started to be introduced, including the MS or T-18, T-26, T-27, BT, T-28, and the heavy T-35. In 1930 the first mechanized infantry brigade in the Soviet Army was formed in the district, the Russian Ground Forces official site notes that the first tactical parachute landing took place in the District on 2 August 1930. In World War II the District formed three fronts,23 armies,128 divisions of all arms, and 197 brigades of all arms, in 1944–5 alone the District sent to the front 1,200,000 soldiers. From summer 1945 to summer 1946, in order to supervise the process, the District was subdivided into four, the Moscow, Voronezh, Gorki. General Kirill Moskalenko took command of the District in 1953 and would later be a Marshal of the Soviet Union after leaving his post, the Voronezh Military District was reactivated in 1949 and was active until 1960. In 1979 Scott and Scott reported the HQ address as being Moscow, A-252, the Districts dispositions at the end of the 1980s were, 13th Guards Army Corps, Gorkiy. In the early 1990s the District received the headquarters of the First Guards Tank Army from the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany and it was relocated to Smolensk, and consisted of the 4th Guards Tank Division and 144th Guards Motor Rifle Division
11.
20th Guards Army
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The 20th Guards Army is a field army. In 1991, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the became part of the Russian Ground Forces. Kryuchenkin, commander of the former 28th Army, was given command of 4th Tank Army, the new formation incorporated the 22nd Tank Corps, under Mjr. Gen. Khashins 23rd Tank Corps, plus three rifle divisions transferred from the Far Eastern Front, two regiments and two anti-aircraft regiments. 8th Separate Fighter Air Brigade provided support and it was committed to battle without being fully formed, as German forces had broken through. The Army attempted to stop the German 6th Army, but was not successful, on 1 August 1942 official Soviet records show the Army as comprising the 22nd Tank Corps, the 18th and 205th Rifle Divisions, an independent brigade, and two artillery regiments. In August 1942 it fought on the approaches to Stalingrad. 4th Tank Army later came under command of Gen. K. K, on 22 October Kryuchenkin was replaced by Gen. P. I. The much diminished army was re-designated the 65th Army on 27 October, initially the new army consisted of 11th and 30th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps and 6th Guards Mechanised Corps. Its first operation as 4th Tank Army, under Lt. General Tank Tr, vasily Badanov, was at Orel, the counterattack on the northern side of the Kursk bulge after the German defeat at the Battle of Kursk proper. John Erickson writes that. at 1100 on 26 July, two of Badanovs corps put in an attack towards Bolkhov. For the next few hours, under the gaze of Bagramyan and Badanov. It took part in the battles in the Ukraine in 1944. Its commander was Lt. Gen. D. D and it then participated in the Lower Silesia, Upper Silesia, Berlin, and Prague operations. In the last days of the war, it achieved Guards status by an order of the NKO dated March and it was initially part of the Soviet occupation forces in Czechoslovakia, but was then moved to eastern Germany. In the first days of the Soviet occupation of eastern Germany, it had its headquarters at Eberswalde and consisted of the 5th and 6th Guards Mechanised Corps, from 1946 to 1957 the Army was named 4th Guards Mechanised Army. It was renamed 20th Guards Army in 1960, and served for years as part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. It took part in the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, in 1982 the 14th Guards Motor Rifle Division became the 32nd Guards Tank Division, and two motor rifle regiments became tank regiments
12.
Voronezh
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Voronezh is a city and the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast, Russia, straddling the Voronezh River and located 12 kilometers from where it flows into the Don. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects European Russia with the Urals and Siberia, the Caucasus and Ukraine, and its population in 2016 was estimated to be 1,032,895, up from 889,680 recorded in the 2010 Census. Voronezh originates as a settlement of the Kievan Rus in about the 12th century, the Voronezh River is likely named for the settlement, then in the Principality of Chernigov. In the 17th century, Voronezh gradually evolved into a sizable town, weronecz is shown on the Worona river in Resania in Joan Blaeus map of 1645. Peter the Great built a dockyard in Voronezh where the Azov Flotilla was constructed for the Azov campaigns in 1695 and 1696 and this fleet, the first ever built in Russia, included the first Russian ship of the line, Goto Predestinatsia. The Orthodox diocese of Voronezh was instituted in 1682 and its first bishop, owing to the Voronezh Admiralty Wharf, for a short time, Voronezh became the largest city of South Russia and the economic center of a large and fertile region. In 1711, it was made the seat of the Azov Governorate, in the 19th century, Voronezh was a center of the Central Black Earth Region. Manufacturing industry as well as bread, cattle, suet, a railway connected Voronezh with Moscow in 1868 and Rostov-on-Don in 1871. During World War II, Voronezh was the scene of fighting between Russian and combined Axis troops. The Germans used it as an area for their attack on Stalingrad. In June 1941, two BM-13 artillery installations were built at the Voronezh excavator factory, in July, the construction of Katyushas was rationalized so that their manufacture became easier and the time of volley repetition was shortened from five minutes to fifteen seconds. More than 300 BM-13 units manufactured in Voronezh were used in a counterattack near Moscow in December 1941, in October 22,1941, the advance of the German troops prompted the establishment of a defense committee in the city. On November 7,1941, there was a troop parade, only three such parades were organized that year, in Moscow, Kuybyshev, and Voronezh. In late June 1942, the city was attacked by German and Hungarian forces, in response, Soviet forces formed the Voronezh Front. By July 6, the German army occupied the western suburbs before being subjected to a fierce Soviet counter-attack. The city wasnt completely under Axis control, in July 24 frontline was stabilised along Voronezh river and this was the opening move of Case Blue. Until January 25,1943, parts of the Second German Army, during Operation Little Saturn, the Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh Offensive, and the Voronezhsko-Kastornenskoy Offensive, the Voronezh Front exacted heavy casualties on Axis forces. On January 25,1943, Voronezh was liberated after ten days of combat, during the war the city was almost completely ruined, with 92% of all buildings destroyed
13.
Lviv
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Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine and the seventh largest city in the country overall, is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine. Named in honor of the Leo, the eldest son of Rus King Daniel of Galicia. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia from 1272 to 1349, from 1434, it was the regional capital of the Ruthenian Voivodeship in the Kingdom of Poland and was known as Lwów. In 1772, after the First partition of Poland, the city became the capital of the Habsburg Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria and was renamed to Lemberg, in 1918 in a short time was the capital of the West Ukrainian Peoples Republic. Between the wars, the city was again as Lwów and was the centre of the Lwów Voivodeship in the Second Polish Republic. After World War II, it part of the Soviet Union. Administratively, Lviv serves as the center of Lviv Oblast and has the status of city of oblast significance. Lviv was the centre of the region of Galicia. The historical heart of the city, with its old buildings and cobblestone streets, survived Soviet, the city has many industries and institutions of higher education such as Lviv University and Lviv Polytechnic. Lviv is also the home of many cultural institutions, including a philharmonic orchestra. The historic city centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Lviv celebrated its 750th anniversary with a son et lumière in the center of the city in September 2006. Lviv is located on the edge of the Roztochia Upland, approximately 70 kilometers from the Polish border and 160 kilometers from the eastern Carpathian Mountains, the average altitude of Lviv is 296 meters above sea level. Its highest point is the Vysokyi Zamok,409 meters above sea level and this castle has a commanding view of the historic city centre with its distinctive green-domed churches and intricate architecture. The old walled city was at the foothills of the High Castle on the banks of the River Poltva, in the 13th century, the river was used to transport goods. Lvivs climate is continental with cold winters and mild summers. The average temperatures are −3.1 °C in January and 18.3 °C in July, the average annual rainfall is 745 mm with the maximum being in summer. Lviv approximately receives 1,804 hours of sunshine annually, archaeologists have demonstrated that the Lviv area was settled by the 5th century. The area between the Castle Hill and the river Poltva was continuously settled since the 9th century, in 1977 it was discovered that the Orthodox church of St. Nicholas had been built on a previously functioning cemetery
14.
Order of October Revolution
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The Order of the October Revolution was instituted on October 31,1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferred upon individuals or groups for services furthering communism or the state, or in enhancing the defenses of the Soviet Union, military and it is second highest Soviet order, after the Order of Lenin. Above it was a red flag bearing the words October Revolution in Russian, a Hammer and Sickle emblem was placed at the bottom. The badge was worn on the left chest with a red ribbon bearing five blue stripes at the centre, the Russian cruiser Aurora was itself awarded with the Order of the October Revolution, the only ship ever to have received the award. Military units and institutions receiving the award applied the name to their title upon its reception. Order of the October Revolution at the Directory of the orders, medals, Order of the October Revolution Reference Page
15.
Red Banner
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Red Banner was a symbol of the USSR associated with the Soviet state flag. Military units, institutions and organizations awarded with the Order of the Red Banner are referred to with the title of the Red Banner. Civilian establishments awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour are also sometimes addressed with the Red-Banner honorific, the Transferable Red Banner was an award for collectives, winners in socialist emulation contests at various Soviet work places. There were several levels of the award, depending on the level of the socialist competition, all-Union, republican, oblast-wide, industry-wide, enterprise/institution-wide, a similar award existed in a number of other communist states. A new article,190, was included in the Soviet criminal code in 1960s and it provided imprisonment for anti-Soviet agitation, for participation in unauthorized meetings and for defamation of the Soviet coat of arms and the Red Banner. Red flag Order of the red banner
16.
Order of Suvorov
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The Order of Suvorov is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named in honor of Russian Field Marshal Count Alexander Suvorov. The Order of Suvorov was originally a Soviet award established on July 29,1942 by decision of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of the USSR and it was created to reward senior army personnel for exceptional leadership in combat operations. The Order of Suvorov was divided three different classes, 1st class, 2nd class, and 3rd class. Georgi Zhukov became the first recipient of the Order of Suvorov 1st class on January 28,1943, the Order 1st class was awarded to army commanders for exceptional leadership of combat operations. The Order 2nd class was awarded to corps, division, the Order 3rd class was awarded to regimental commanders, their chiefs of staff, and battalion and company commanders for outstanding leadership leading to a combat victory. In November 2015 all recipient formations of the Ukrainian army were stripped of their Red Banner Order of Suvorov as part of an Armed Forces-wide removal of Soviet awards, the Order may be awarded posthumously. The Order of Suvorov is a 40mm wide gold plated cross pattée with silver rays protruding from the center outwards between the arms of the cross to form a square, the distance from the tip of the silver rays to the tip of the opposite rays is 35mm. The obverse center has a circular medallion bearing the gilded bust of Alexander Suvorov, in profile. Just below the bust of Suvorov, on the lower edge, crossed branches of oak. At the upper part of the medallion, following its circumference, the reverse is bare except for the award serial number. The Order is suspended by a ring through the suspension loop to a standard Russian pentagonal mount covered by a 24mm wide green silk moiré ribbon with a 5mm wide orange central stripe
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Order of Kutuzov
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The Order of Kutuzov is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov. The Order was established during the German-Soviet War to reward senior Red Army officers, the Order of Kutuzov has three classes and was retained by the Russian Federation after the Dissolution of the Soviet Union. The Order of Kutuzov was established in three classes, 1st class, 2nd class, and 3rd class, general Ivan Galanin who distinguished himself during the Battle of Stalingrad became the first recipient of the Order 1st class. During World War II,669 Orders of Kutuzov 1st class were awarded, the Order of Kutuzov 1st class was also awarded to Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant in 1945, to recognize the enormous contribution of its workers towards the defeat of Nazi Germany. The Order 2nd class was awarded to 3,325 corps, division, the Order 3rd class was awarded to regimental commanders, their chiefs of staff, battalion and company commanders and was only established on February 8,1943. 3,328 3rd class orders were awarded, the present Order was modified to its current design and award criteria by Presidential Decree 1099 of September 7,2010. The Order of Kutuzov is worn on the side of the chest. The badge of the Order of Kutuzov is a 40mm wide silver cross pattée with gold rays protruding between its arms at an obtuse angle, in the center of the obverse, a silver medallion bordered by a wide white enamelled band surrounded by a gilt laurel and oak wreath. In the medallion, the gold plated left profile bust of M. I, Kutuzov with the image of the Kremlin wall in the background. On the sides of the white enamelled band, the gilt inscription Mikhail Kutuzov. The reverse is plain, the serial number is inscribed on the reverse of the cross lower arm. The Order of Kutuzov is suspended from a standard Russian pentagonal mount by a ring through the suspension loop, the mount is covered by an overlapping dark blue silk moiré ribbon with a central 5mm wide orange stripe. Awards and decorations of the Russian Federation Awards and decorations of the Soviet Union The Commission on State Awards under the President of the Russian Federation Legal Library of the USSR
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Military volunteer
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A military volunteer is a person who enlists in military service by free will, and is not a mercenary or a foreign legionnaire. Volunteers often enlist to fight in the forces of a foreign country. Military volunteers are essential for the operation of volunteer militaries, many armies, including the U. S. Army, formerly distinguished between United States Volunteers enlisted during a war, and regulars who served on long-term basis. Troops raised as state militia were always volunteers, while U. S. troops could be volunteers or regulars, the rank of an officer in a volunteer unit was separate from his rank as a regular, and usually higher. When the volunteer forces were disbanded at the end of the war, for instance, George Armstrong Custer became a brigadier general of volunteers during the American Civil War, but when the war ended, he reverted to captain. Volunteer rank should not be confused with brevet rank, the move to a volunteer over conscription force for a national military appears to improve, at least for the United States, the professionalism of its standing armed forces. Military volunteer Foreign volunteers Sar-El, national project for volunteers for Israel SAF Volunteer Corps, volunteer scheme for the Singapore Armed Forces
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Marshal of the Soviet Union
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Marshal of the Soviet Union was the highest military rank of the Soviet Union. The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935, forty-one people held the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. The equivalent naval rank was until 1955 Admiral of the Fleet, both ranks were comparable to NATO rank codes OF10, and to the five-star rank in anglophone armed forces. The military rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was established by a decree of the Soviet Cabinet, of these, Blyukher, Tukhachevsky and Yegorov were executed during Stalins Great Purge of 1937–38. On 7 May 1940, three new Marshals were appointed, the new Peoples Commissar of Defence, Semyon Timoshenko, Boris Shaposhnikov, and Grigory Kulik. During World War II, Kulik was demoted for incompetence, and these included Georgy Zhukov, Ivan Konev and Konstantin Rokossovsky to name a few. In 1943, Stalin himself was made a Marshal of the Soviet Union and these non-military Marshals were joined in 1947 by politician Nikolai Bulganin. Two Marshals were executed in postwar purges, Kulik in 1950 and Beria in 1953, the last Marshal of the Soviet Union was Dmitry Yazov, appointed in 1990, who was imprisoned after the failed coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991. Marshal Sergei Akhromeev committed suicide in 1991 on the fall of the Soviet Union, the Marshals fell into three generational groups. Those who had gained their reputations during the Russian Civil War and these included both those who were purged in 1937–38, and those who held high commands in the early years of World War II. All of the latter except Shaposhnikov and Timoshenko proved out-of-step with modern warfare and were removed from commanding positions and those who made their reputations in World War II and assumed high commands in the latter part of the war. These included Zhukov, Vasilievsky, Konev, Rokossovsky, Malinovsky, Tolbukhin and those who assumed high command in the Cold War era. All of these were officers in World War II, but their higher commands were held in the Warsaw Pact or as Soviet Defence Ministers and these included Grechko, Yakubovsky, Kulikov, Ogarkov, Akhromeev, and Yazov. All Marshals in the category had been officers in World War II, except Brezhnev, who had been a military commissar, and Ustinov. Even Yazov, who was 20 when the war ended, had been a platoon commander, the rank was abolished with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. It was succeeded in the new Russia by the rank of Marshal of the Russian Federation, which has held by only one person, Marshal Igor Sergeyev. Note, All Marshals of the Soviet Union, with the exception of Non-Military Marshals had at least started their careers in the Army. The Service Arms listed are the services they served in during their tenures as Marshals of the Soviet Union
20.
Rodion Malinovsky
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Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky was a Soviet military commander in World War II, Marshal of the Soviet Union, and Defense Minister of the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and 1960s. He contributed to the defeat of Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad. During the post-war era, he made a contribution to the strengthening of the Soviet Union as a military superpower. Born in Odessa, some believe that Malinovskys father was of Karaite descent. After the death of his father, Malinovskys mother left the city for the areas of Ukraine. Her husband, a poverty-stricken Ukrainian peasant, refused to adopt her son, the homeless boy survived by working as a farmhand, and eventually received shelter from his aunts family in Odessa, where he worked as an errand boy in a general store. After the start of World War I in July 1914, Malinovsky, who was only 15 years old at the time, hid on the train heading for the German front. He nevertheless convinced the officers to enlist him as a volunteer. In October 1915, as a reward for repelling a German attack, he received his first military award, the Cross of St. George of the 4th class, soon afterwards, he was badly wounded and spent several months in the hospital. After his recovery, he was sent to France in 1916 as a member of the Western Front Russian Expeditionary Corps, Malinovsky fought in a hotly contested sector of the front near Fort Brion and was promoted to sergeant. He suffered a wound in his left arm, and received a decoration from the French government. Malinovsky fought against the Germans until the end of the war, during this time, he was awarded the French Croix de guerre and promoted to senior NCO. He returned to Odessa in 1919, where he joined the Red Army in the Civil War against the White Army and fought with distinction in Siberia. He remained in the army after the end of the conflict, studying in the school for the junior commanders. In 1926, he became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in 1927, Malinovsky was sent to study at the elite Frunze Military Academy. He graduated in 1930, and during the seven years he rose to the Chief of Staff of the 3rd Cavalry Corps. He participated in planning and directing several main operations, in order to strengthen the Red Army field command, he dispatched some of the top officers from the military academies to the field units. Malinovsky was promoted to General-Major, and took command over the freshly raised 48th Rifle Corps, a week prior to the start of the war, Malinovsky deployed his corps close to the Romanian border
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Ural (region)
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The Urals are a geographical region located around the Ural Mountains, between the East European and West Siberian plains. It extends approximately from north to south, from the Arctic Ocean to the bend of Ural River near Orsk city, the boundary between Europe and Asia runs along the eastern side of the Ural Mountains. Ural mostly lies within Russia but also includes a part of northwestern Kazakhstan and this is a historical, not an official entity, with the boundaries overlapping its western Volga and eastern Siberia neighbor regions. At points in time, parts of the Urals were considered a gateway to Siberia, if not Siberia itself, at present time, there are two official namesake entities, the Ural Federal District and the Ural economic region. While the latter follows the boundaries, the former is a political product. The historical center of the Urals is Cherdyn, nowadays it is the town in Perm Krai. Perm was a center of the gubernia with the same name by 1797. The most territory of historical and modern Ural was included in Perm gubernia, the administrative center of Urals was moved to Sverdlovsk after Revolution and Civil war. Nowadays Ural economic region does not have an administrative and informal capital, from the 11th century, the region of the Ural Mountains was called stone by Russians. In the mid-16th – early 17th century, the parts became known as Ural. The name probably originated from Turkic aral and this word literally means island and was used for any territory different from the surrounding terrain. In Bashkortostan there is a 13th-century legend about a hero named Ural and he sacrificed his life for the sake of his people, and they poured a stone pile over his grave, which later turned into the Ural Mountains. By topography and other features, Ural is divided, from north to south, into the Polar, Near-Polar, Northern, Central. The Polar Ural has an area of about 25,000 km2, the Near-Polar Ural is wider and higher than the Polar Ural. The Northern Ural consists of a series of ridges with the height up to 1, 000–1,300 m and longitudinal depressions. The Central Ural is the lowest part of Urals, with the highest mountain of 994 m, the relief of Southern Ural is more complex, with numerous valleys and ridges directed south-west and meridionally. Urals contains 48 species of valuable ores and minerals. Eastern regions are rich in chalcopyrite, nickel oxide, chromite and magnetite ores, as well as in coal, bauxite, gold, Western Ural contains deposits of coal, oil, gas and potassium salts
22.
T-34
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The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank that had a profound and lasting effect on the field of tank design. Although its armour and armament were surpassed later in the war, it has often credited as the most effective, efficient. At its introduction, the T-34 possessed a combination of firepower, mobility, protection. The T-34 was the mainstay of Soviet armoured forces throughout the Second World War and its design allowed it to be continuously refined to meet the constantly evolving needs of the Eastern Front, as the war went on it became more capable, but also quicker and cheaper to produce. Replacing many light and medium tanks in Red Army service, it was the tank of the war. Its development led directly to the T-54 and T-55 series of tanks, which in turn evolved into the later T-62, T-72, T-34 variants were widely exported after World War II and as late as 1996 were still in service in at least 27 countries. In 1939, the most numerous Soviet tank models were the T-26 infantry tank, the T-26 was slow-moving, designed to keep pace with infantry on the ground. The BT tanks were tanks, fast-moving and light, designed for manoeuvre warfare. In 1937, the Red Army had assigned engineer Mikhail Koshkin to lead a new team to design a replacement for the BT tanks at the Kharkiv Komintern Locomotive Plant. It also had an 8×6-wheel convertible drive similar to the BT tanks 8×2, by 1937-38, track design had improved and the designers considered it a waste of space, weight, and maintenance resources, despite the road speed advantage. The A-20 also incorporated previous research into sloped armour, its all-round sloped armour plates were likely to deflect rounds than perpendicular armour. The Soviet tanks were easily destroyed by the Japanese Type 95 tanks 37 mm gunfire, despite the low velocity of that gun. Koshkin named the second prototype A-32, after its 32 mm of frontal armour and it had an L-1076.2 mm gun, and the same Model V-2-34 diesel. Both were tested in trials at Kubinka in 1939, with the heavier A-32 proving to be as mobile as the A-20. A still heavier version of the A-32, with 45 mm of front armour, wider tracks, koshkins team completed two prototype T-34s in January 1940. Some drivetrain shortcomings were identified and corrected and this pressure was brought to bear by the developer of the KV-1 tank which was in competition with the T-34. The first production T-34s were completed in September 1940, completely replacing the production of the T-26, the BT series, Koshkin died of pneumonia at the end of that month, and the T-34s drivetrain developer, Alexander Morozov, was appointed Chief Designer. The T-34 posed new challenges for Soviet industry and it had heavier armour than any medium tank produced to date, and there were problems with defective armour plates
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Operation Kutuzov
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Operation Kutuzov was a major offensive launched by the Red Army on 12 July 1943, in the Central Russian Upland, against Army Group Center of the German Wehrmacht. The operation was named after General Mikhail Kutuzov, the Russian general credited with saving Russia from Napoleon during the French invasion of Russia in 1812, Operation Kutuzov was one of two large-scale Soviet operations launched as counteroffensives against Operation Citadel. The Operation began on 12 July and ended on 18 August 1943 with the capture of Orel, as the end of the rasputitsa or rainy season approached, the Soviet command considered their next steps. After this the Soviet forces would go over onto the offensive, Operation Kutusov was the offensive plan for the Soviet forces before Moscow facing the German forces of Army Group Center. It was carried out by three Soviet Fronts or army groups, the Western Front, the Bryansk Front and the Central Front, the Germans had spread their forces thin all across the front in an effort to provide as much men and material as possible for Operation Citadel. Holding the front before the Soviet offensive were the 2nd Panzer Army, the region had been held by German forces for nearly two years and despite Hitlers admonition not to build defensive works behind the front, some preparations had been made. A defensive line had started that was 5–7 kilometres in depth, consisting of minefields, interconnected trench works. Wherever possible, the Germans took advantage of features such as streams, ravines and gullies. The Soviet high command planned two offensives as part of a general offensive throughout the eastern front. Operation Kutuzov was the offensive, with its objective being to collapse the Orel salient, cut behind the 9th Army engaged in offensive operations at Kursk, encircle. In doing so they hoped to cause a collapse of the German forces in the Soviet Union. The attack was to once the German panzer units engaged in Operation Citadel were locked into combat. German intelligence had revealed the Soviet forces massing opposite the 2nd Panzer Army, the Soviet armies earmarked for the operation had amassed a force of 1,286,000 men and 2,400 tanks. These were supported by 26,400 guns and 3,000 aircraft, the Soviet offensive was aided by partisan attacks behind the German lines. Approximately 100,000 Soviet partisans were working to disrupt German efforts to supply, German movements of ammunition and reinforcements were hampered throughout the operation by attacks on German communications and supply routes, especially railway lines. The partisans operated under the guidance of the Red Army, on 12 July, a heavy artillery barrage marked the launching of the offensive. The armies of the Bryansk Front and the Western Front attacked along the north, the Western Front assault was led by the 11th Guards Army under Lieutenant General Hovhannes Bagramyan, supported by the 1st and 5th Tank Corps. The Russians attacked with overwhelming numbers, along one 16-kilometre attack sector near Ulianovo, six Soviet rifle divisions attacked two German infantry regiments
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Kursk
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Kursk is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym Rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a point in the Soviet–German struggle during World War II. Archaeology indicates that the site of Kursk was settled in the 5th or 4th century BCE, the settlement was fortified and included Slavs at least as early as the 8th century CE. The first written record of Kursk is dated 1032 and it was mentioned as one of Severian towns by Prince Igor in The Tale of Igors Campaign, Saddle, brother, your swift steeds. The seat of a principality, Kursk was raided by the Polovtsians in the 12th and 13th centuries. The city was no later than 1283. It was ruled by Grand Duchy of Lithuania between 1360 and 1508, Kursk joined the centralized Russian state in 1508, becoming its southern border province. It was an important center of the trade with Ukraine and hosted an important fair. However, a century later the city re-emerged in a new place, in 1596 a new fortress was built, in 1616 it was garrisoned by over 1,300 soldiers. At the beginning of the 17th century Kursk was repeatedly attacked by Polish-Lithuania, the Crimean Tatars, and the Nogai horde, residents of Oryol and other southern Russian cities were resettled in Kursk. The city developed due to its advantageous position on the shortest route from Moscow to the Crimea. It was raided frequently by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Crimean Khanate until the late 17th century and was ruled by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1611 and 1618 and it was successively part of the Kiev Governorate, Belgorod Governorate, and Kursk Viceroyalty. Town status was granted to Kursk in 1779 and it became the administrative center of Kursk Governorate in 1797. After a fire in 1781 devastated Kursk, a new plan for the city was developed in which a market center would be at the heart of the city, in 1768 the Voskirsensko Ilinskaya Church was built. In 1778 both the Sergiev Cathedral Kazan Cathedral Baroque and Trinity Sergius Cathedral were completed, the city opened its first school for the nobility in 1783. A mens gymnasium was opened in 1808 and a seminary in 1817, a womens gymnasium was opened in 1870. At the beginning of the 20th century Kursk played a dominant role in the industry and in other industries as well, so, in the 1900s. Working conditions in the factories of Kursk were harsh and often resulted in strikes, Kursk workers participated in the general political strike during the 1905 Russian Revolution
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Battle of Kursk
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The Battle of Kursk was a Second World War engagement between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front near Kursk in the Soviet Union during July and August 1943. The German offensive was code-named Operation Citadel and led to one of the largest armoured clashes in history, the German offensive was countered by two Soviet counter-offensives, Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev and Operation Kutuzov. For the Germans, the battle was the strategic offensive that they were able to launch on the Eastern Front. Their extensive loss of men and tanks ensured that the victorious Soviet Red Army enjoyed the strategic initiative for the remainder of the war. The Germans hoped to weaken the Soviet offensive potential for the summer of 1943 by cutting off a number of forces that they anticipated would be in the Kursk salient. The Kursk salient or bulge was 250 kilometres long north to south and 160 kilometres from east to west. The plan envisioned an envelopment by a pair of breaking through the northern and southern flanks of the salient. Adolf Hitler believed that a victory here would reassert German strength and improve his prestige with his allies and it was also hoped that large numbers of Soviet prisoners would be captured to be used as slave labour in the German armaments industry. The Soviet government had foreknowledge of the German intentions, provided in part by the British intelligence service, aware months in advance that the attack would fall on the neck of the Kursk salient, the Soviets built a defence in depth designed to wear down the German armoured spearhead. The Germans delayed the offensive while they tried to build up their forces and waited for new weapons, mainly the new Panther tank and this gave the Red Army time to construct a series of deep defensive belts. The defensive preparations included minefields, fortifications, artillery fire zones and anti-tank strong points, Soviet mobile formations were moved out of the salient and a large reserve force was formed for strategic counter-offensives. The Battle of Kursk was the first time in the Second World War that a German strategic offensive was halted before it could break through enemy defences, the maximum depth of the German advance was 8–12 kilometres in the north and 35 kilometres in the south. Though the Red Army had succeeded in winter offensives previously, their counter-offensives following the German attack at Kursk were their first successful strategic summer offensives of the war. As the Battle of Stalingrad slowly ground to its conclusion the Red Army moved to an offensive in the south. Army Group Center came under significant pressure as well, Kursk fell to the Soviets on 8 February 1943, and Rostov on 14 February. The Soviet Bryansk, Western, and newly created Central Fronts prepared for an offensive which envisioned the encirclement of Army Group Center between Bryansk and Smolensk, by February 1943 the southern sector of the German front was in strategic crisis. Since December 1942 Field Marshal Erich von Manstein had been strongly requesting unrestricted operational freedom to him to use his forces in a fluid manner. On 6 February 1943, Manstein met with Hitler at the headquarters in Rasternburg to discuss the proposals he had previously sent and he received an approval from Hitler for a counteroffensive against the Soviet forces advancing in the Donbass region
26.
Bryansk
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Bryansk is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, located 379 kilometers southwest of Moscow. The first written mention of Bryansk was in 1146, in the Hypatian Codex and its name is derived from дъбръ, a Slavic word for ditch, lowland, or dense woodland, the area was known for its dense woods, of which very little remains today. Local authorities and archaeologists, however, believe that the town had existed as early as 985 as a settlement on the right bank of the Desna River. Bryansk remained poorly attested until the Mongol invasion of Rus and it was the northernmost of the Severian cities in the possession of the Chernigov Rurikids. After Mikhail of Chernigov was murdered by the Mongols and his capital was destroyed, in 1310, when the Mongols sacked the town again, it belonged to the Principality of Smolensk. Algirdas of Lithuania acquired Bryansk through inheritance in 1356 and gave it to his son, until the end of the century, the town was contested between Jogaila, Vytautas, Švitrigaila, and Yury of Smolensk. The Grand Duchy of Moscow conquered Bryansk following the Battle of Vedrosha in 1503, the town was turned into a fortress which played a major role during the Time of Troubles. During the Time of Troubles, it was occupied by Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1610, peter the Great incorporated Bryansk into Kiev Governorate, but Catherine the Great deemed it wise to transfer the town to Oryol Governorate in 1779. She also promulgated the towns coat of arms, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the economy of Bryansk, which had become a regional trading center, was based on the Svenskaya fair, the largest in European Russia. The fair was held annually under the auspices of the Svensky Monastery, the citys population exceeded 30,000 by 1917. In 1918, the Belarusian Peoples Republic claimed Bryansk, but the town was taken by Bolshevik forces in 1919, during World War II, Bryansk was occupied by the Germans and the city was heavily damaged by fighting. About 60,000 Soviet partisans were active in and around Bryansk, in 1944, soon after its liberation, Bryansk became the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast. Bryansk is the center of the oblast. As a municipal division, Bryansky Urban Administrative Okrug is incorporated as Bryansk Urban Okrug, todays Bryansk is an important center for steel and machinery manufacturing, and is home to many large factories. Since 1868, there is a connection between Bryansk and Moscow. The city has railway stations, Bryansk Orlovsky and Bryansk-Lgovskiy, Ordzhonikidzegrad, Street Bus Station, fourteen kilometres west of the city lies the Bryansk International Airport. Passenger traffic carried by bus, trolley on 10 regular routes, uses, as well as commuter trains, the cost of public transport is 14 rubles, and buses,18 rubles. Russian cosmonaut Viktor Afanasyev, shot put athlete Svetlana Krivelyova, sculptor and architect Naum Gabo, bulgarian communist leader Stanke Dimitrov died in an aviation accident near the city
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Silesian Offensives
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The Silesian Offensives were two 1945 offensives conducted by the Soviet Red Army against the Nazi German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front in World War II. The Lower Silesian Offensive ran from 8–24 February 1945, and the Upper Silesian Offensive from 15–31 March, designed to flank the Soviet main advance on Berlin, the two operations pushed the Wehrmacht out of Silesia. According to Soviet information, the Germans lost in the Upper Silesian Offensive 40,000 dead soldiers and 14,000 captured, similarly, the East Pomeranian Offensive of the 2nd Belorussian Front in the north was tasked with protecting the 1st Belorussian Fronts right flank. The need to secure the flanks delayed till April the Soviets final push toward Berlin, by mid-April, the East Pomeranian Offensive—carried out by the 2nd, and elements of the 1st, Belorussian Fronts—had succeeded in its objectives, reaching the important German port city of Stettin. Stalins aim in delaying the advance on Berlin had likely been political, sandomierz–Silesian Offensive, Andrzej Wanderer, Piekło na Śląsku, Tygodnik Prudnicki nr 24, 2006-06-14 Beevor, Antony. Berlin, The Downfall 1945, Penguin Books,2002, ISBN 0-670-88695-5 Duffy, Red Storm on the Reich, The Soviet March on Germany,1945, Routledge,1991, ISBN 0-415-22829-8 Dubiel, P. Wyzwolenie Śląska w 1945 r. The Soviet‐German War 1941–45, Myths and Realities, A Survey Essay
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Podolsk
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Podolsk is an industrial city, center of Podolsk Urban Okrug, Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Pakhra River. Population,187,961,180,963,209,178,183,000,129,000,72,000, before the Revolution of 1917, Podolsk was among one of the most industrialized cities in Russia. A Singer factory producing sewing machines was established here, in 1971, Podolsk was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. In the Soviet times, Podolsk was one of the giants in Moscow Oblast. At that time, there were more than seventy factories operating in the city, most of the citizens were working at these plants. Podolsk is the site of the Central Archive of the Russian Ministry of Defense, within the framework of administrative divisions, Podolsk serves as the administrative center of Podolsky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as Podolsk City Under Oblast Jurisdiction—an administrative unit with the equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, Podolsk City Under Oblast Jurisdiction is incorporated as Podolsk Urban Okrug, Podolsk is twinned with, There are also plans to sign sister city agreements with, Beni Mellal, Morocco Koper, Slovenia Petrozavodsk, Russia Nikolai Potapov, professional boxer
29.
Battle of Berlin
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The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European theatre of World War II. Following the Vistula–Oder Offensive of January–February 1945, the Red Army had temporarily halted on a line 60 km east of Berlin, on 9 March, Germany established its defence plan for the city with Operation Clausewitz. The first defensive preparations at the outskirts of Berlin were made on 20 March, under the newly appointed commander of Army Group Vistula, General Gotthard Heinrici. When the Soviet offensive resumed on 16 April, two Soviet fronts attacked Berlin from the east and south, while a third overran German forces positioned north of Berlin. Before the main battle in Berlin commenced, the Red Army encircled the city after successful battles of the Seelow Heights, on 23 April General Helmuth Weidling assumed command of the forces within Berlin. The garrison consisted of several depleted and disorganized Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS divisions, along with poorly trained Volkssturm, over the course of the next week, the Red Army gradually took the entire city. Before the battle was over, Hitler and a number of his followers committed suicide. Starting on 12 January 1945, the Red Army began the Vistula–Oder Offensive across the Narew River, and, from Warsaw, an operation on a broad front. On the fourth day, the Red Army broke out and started moving west, up to 30 to 40 km per day, taking East Prussia, Danzig, and Poznań, drawing up on a line 60 km east of Berlin along the Oder River. The newly created Army Group Vistula, under the command of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, attempted a counter-attack, the Red Army then drove on to Pomerania, clearing the right bank of the Oder River, thereby reaching into Silesia. In the south the Siege of Budapest raged, three German attempts to relieve the encircled Hungarian capital city failed, and Budapest fell to the Soviets on 13 February. Adolf Hitler insisted on a counter-attack to recapture the Drau-Danube triangle, the goal was to secure the oil region of Nagykanizsa and regain the Danube River for future operations, but the depleted German forces had been given an impossible task. By 16 March, the German Lake Balaton Offensive had failed, on 30 March, the Soviets entered Austria, and in the Vienna Offensive they captured Vienna on 13 April. Between June and September 1944, the Wehrmacht had lost more than a million men, and it lacked the fuel and armaments needed to operate effectively. On 12 April 1945, Hitler, who had decided to remain in the city against the wishes of his advisers. No plans were made by the Western Allies to seize the city by a ground operation, the major Western Allied contribution to the battle was the bombing of Berlin during 1945. The Soviet offensive into central Germany, what later became East Germany, had two objectives, but the overriding objective was to capture Berlin. The two goals were complementary because possession of the zone could not be won quickly unless Berlin were taken, another consideration was that Berlin itself held useful post-war strategic assets, including Adolf Hitler and the German atomic bomb programme
30.
Prague Offensive
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The Prague Offensive was the last major Soviet operation of World War II in Europe. The offensive, and the battle for Prague, was fought on the Eastern Front from 6 May to 11 May 1945 and this battle for the city is particularly noteworthy in that it ended after the Third Reich capitulated on 8 May 1945. This battle is notable in that it was fought concurrently with the Prague Uprising. The city of Prague was ultimately liberated by the USSR during the Prague Offensive, all of the German troops of Army Group Centre and many of Army Group Ostmark were killed or captured, or fell into the hands of the Allies after the capitulation. The capitulation of Army Group Centre was nine days after the fall of Berlin, by the beginning of May 1945, Germany had been decisively defeated by the coalition of the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. Germanys capital, Berlin, was on the verge of capitulation in the face of a massive Soviet attack and the great bulk of Germany had been conquered. However, in southeastern Germany, parts of Austria and Czechoslovakia, there were large bodies of active German troops of Army Group Centre. On 2 May 1945, general Alfred Jodl ordered the German forces to avoid being captured by Russia, the German remnant forces continued to resist the USSR 4th and 1st Ukrainian Fronts while only accepted armistice in the Western Front. And while the German command body gradually lost its control over its armed forces, SS and Gestapo forces were still working at its highest intensity. SS officers and comannders were increasingly affiliated in command and control of German armed forces, and in contrast to the declining quality of Nazi units in the last day of the war, SS corps still maintained their remarkably high fighting capability. The Nazi regime considered Czechoslovakia and neighboring areas as their last bastion in the case Berlin fell. Therefore, in 1945 they concentrated many powerful military units in the region, including elements of 6th SS Panzer Army, 1st and 4th Panzer Armies, and 7th, 8th and 17th Combined Armies. Alfred Jodl has ordered the local Nazi regime to prepare numerous fortified buildings which could serve as offices for the new Nazi government and German High Command. From 30 April to 1 May 1945, SS Senior Group Leader, Frank was also a general of the Waffen SS. The situation in Prague was unstable, Frank knew that several Soviet Army fronts were advancing towards Prague. More immediately, he was faced with a city population ready to be liberated, at the same time, two divisions of the Russian Liberation Army arrived in the vicinity of Prague. The KONR 1st Division encamped north of the city while the KONR 2nd Division took up positions south of the city, ostensibly allied with the Germans, the allegiance of the KONR forces would prove to vary depending on the situation they faced. On the Allied side, both Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin saw Prague as a significant prize, the seizure of which could influence the political makeup of postwar Czechoslovakia
31.
Order of the Red Banner
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The Order of the Red Banner was the first Soviet military decoration. The order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and it was the highest award of Soviet Russia, subsequently the Soviet Union, until the Order of Lenin was established in 1930. Recipients were recognised for extraordinary heroism, dedication, and courage demonstrated on the battlefield, the order was awarded to individuals as well as to military units, cities, ships, political and social organizations, and state enterprises. In later years it was awarded on the twentieth and again on the thirtieth anniversary of military service without requiring participation in combat. The Russian Order of the Red Banner was established during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of September 16,1918, the first recipient was Vasily Blyukher on September 28,1918. The second recipient was Iona Yakir, during the Civil War there existed similarly named orders and decorations established by the Soviet communist governments of several other constituent and nonconstituent republics. The August 1,1924 decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee established the all-Soviet Order of the Red Banner for deserving personnel of the Red Army, from 1918 till the late 1930s there was also a collective variant - the Revolutionary Red Banner of Honor. This was in the form of a military color awarded to distinguished Red Army, Soviet Air Force and it was more older than the order, having been established on August 3, a month and several weeks before. As a military decoration, The Order of the Red Banner recognised heroism in combat or otherwise extraordinary accomplishments of military valour during combat operations. Before the establishment of the Order of Lenin on April 5,1930, during World War II, under various titles, it was presented both to individuals and to units for acts of extreme military heroism. Nearly all well-known Soviet commanders became recipients of the Order of the Red Banner, the order was awarded to individuals as well as whole formations, which then added the prefix Red Banner to their official designations. Naval vessels also flew a special ensign, the Order of the Red Banner was also used as a long service award between 1944 and 1958 to mark twenty and thirty years of service in the military, state security, or police. This was surrounded by two golden panicles of wheat, at the bottom were the letters SSSR, additional awards of the Order bore a white enamelled shield with a silver sequence number at the bottom of the obverse. A recipient of three Orders of the Red Banner would wear a badge of the order followed by his second award bearing a number 2. The early variants of the Order were screw back badges to wear on clothing. Later variants hung from a standard Soviet pentagonal mount with a ring through the suspension loop, the mount was covered with an overlapping 24mm wide red silk moiré ribbon with 1. 5mm wide white edge stripes and a 7mm wide white central stripe. The Order of the Red Banner was worn on the side of the chest. If worn in the presence of Orders or medals of the Russian Federation, pavel Dybenko won 3 Orders of the Red Banner, his first in the 1921 bloody suppression of the naval rebellion in Kronstadt, his 2 others in 1922 in the suppression of peasants uprisings
32.
Suvorov
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Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov was a Russian military leader and considered a national hero. He was the Count of Rymnik, Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince of Italy, Suvorov was born in Moscow in 1729. He studied military history as a boy and joined the Imperial Russian Army at the age of 17. During the Seven Years War he was promoted to colonel in 1762 for his success on the battlefield, when war broke out with the Bar Confederation in 1768, Suvorov captured Krakow and defeated the Poles at Lanckorona and Stołowicze, bringing about the start of the Partitions of Poland. He was promoted to general and next fought in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, becoming the General of the Infantry in 1786, he commanded in the Russo–Turkish War of 1787–1792 and won crushing victories at the Battle of Rymnik and Siege of Izmail. For his accomplishments, he was made a Count of both the Russian Empire and Holy Roman Empire, Suvorov put down a Polish uprising in 1794, defeating them at the Battle of Maciejowice and storming Warsaw. While a close associate of Empress Catherine the Great, Suvorov often quarreled with her son, after Catherine died of a stroke in 1796, Paul I was crowned Emperor and dismissed Suvorov for disregarding his orders. However, he was forced to reinstate Suvorov and make him a marshal at the insistence of the coalition allies for the French Revolutionary Wars. Suvorov was given command of the Austro-Russian army, captured Milan, and drove the French out of Italy at the Battles of Cassano dAdda, Trebbia, Suvorov was made a Prince of Italy for his deeds. Afterwards he became surrounded in the Swiss Alps by the French after a Russian army he was supposed to unite with was routed before he could arrive and he died in 1800 of illness in Saint Petersburg. Suvorov is considered one of the greatest Russian commanders and he was awarded numerous medals, titles, and honors by Russia, as well as by other countries. Suvorov secured Russia expanded borders, renewed military prestige, and a legacy of theories on warfare and he was famed for his military manual The Science of Victory and noted for several of his sayings. Several military academies, monuments, villages, museums, and orders are dedicated to him, Suvorov was born into a noble family originating from Novgorod at the Moscow mansion of his maternal grandfather Fedosey Manukov. His father, Vasiliy Suvorov, was a general-in-chief and a senator in the Governing Senate and his paternal ancestors had emigrated from Sweden in 1622. His mother, Avdotya Fyodorovna née Manukova, was the daughter of Fedosey Manukov, the name Manukov might be a russified version of the Armenian name Manukian. Still Armenian heritage of Suvorov is considered an unproven legend, there is no academic research or source in Russia that can confirm or deny the origin of Suvorovs paternal or maternal ancestors. There are some claims that he told the Swedish ambassador to Russia in 1791 that his family came from Sweden. Those statements are not reliable due the unknown context of discussion, as a boy, Suvorov was a sickly child and his father assumed he would work in civil service as an adult
33.
Mikhail Kutuzov
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Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov was a Field Marshal of the Russian Empire. He served as one of the finest military officers and diplomats of Russia under the reign of three Romanov Tsars, Catherine II, Paul I and Alexander I. His military career was associated with the rising period of Russia from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century. Kutuzov is considered to have one of the best Russian generals. He was born in Saint Petersburg in 1745 to a family of Novgorod nobility and his father was a Russian general and senator. Kutuzov began military schooling at age 12 and joined the Imperial Russian Army in 1759, Three years later Kutuzov became a company commander in the Astrakhan Infantry Regiment under Alexander Suvorov. He took part in crushing the Polish Bar Confederation rebellion, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 he served in the staff of Pyotr Rumyantsev at Moldova for the battles of Larga and Kagul. In July 1774 at Crimea, Kutuzov was severely wounded by a bullet went through his temple and out near his right eye. He returned to Crimea in 1776 to assist Suvorov and conducted negotiations with the last Crimean khan Girey, convincing him to abdicate, after Kutuzov became Governor-General of Crimea in 1787, the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 began. He was again wounded in 1788 during the Siege of Ochakov when a bullet was shot through both of his temples. Kutuzov came back a year later, taking part in the Battle of Rymnik, near the end of the war, he led a decisive charge at the Battle of Măcin. Kutuzov was on terms with Tsar Paul, but had disputes with his successor Tsar Alexander. In 1805, he led Russian forces alongside Austria during the Napoleonic Wars, the allied Russo-Austrian army was defeated by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz. Alexander blamed Kutuzov and demoted him to Moldova for the Russo-Turkish War of 1806–1812, Kutuzov vanquished a four-times larger Turkish army at Rousse and brought an end to the war with a decisive victory at the Battle of the Danube. For his achievements, he was awarded the titles of count, Kutuzov returned at the request of Alexander for the French invasion of Russia. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief, succeeding Barclay de Tolly and continuing his scorched earth policy up to Moscow, under Kutuzovs command, the Russian army faced the Grande Armée at the Battle of Borodino. He allowed Napoleon to take an abandoned Moscow, which was set on fire. Kutuzov counter-attacked once Napoleon retreated from Moscow, pushing the French out of the Russian homeland, in recognition of this, Kutuzov was awarded the victory title of Prince Smolensky
34.
Kielce
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Kielce is a city in south central Poland with 199,475 inhabitants. It is also the city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999. The city is located in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, at the banks of the Silnica River, the history of Kielce dates back over 900 years and the exact date when the town was founded remains unknown. The name of the city derives from the migrating Celts, who stopped here during their journey across the European continent. The area was inhabited at the beginning of the 11th century by hunters and beekeepers. It was then that a marketplace was established, where forest products were exchanged for agricultural produce, at the turn of the 12th century, the bishops of Kraków became the owners of the settlement and began constructing a castle on a nearby hill. Under the influence of Vincent Kadłubek, a school was established in the town. Kielce was mentioned in documents for the first time in 1212. In the 13th century, Tatar raids on Poland destroyed the city completely, at the end of 15th century, Frederick Jagiellon granted the town its official symbols, a golden crown on a red shield with the letters CK - Civitas Kielcensis, Latin for the City of Kielce. Between 1637 and 1642, due to the initiative of bishop Jakub Zadzik, a Renaissance palace was erected, the city was burned to the ground during the Swedish Deluge in the 17th century. After the Partitions of Poland, Kielce became part of the Austrian Empire, in 1809, the city was incorporated into the Duchy of Warsaw and after 1815 into the Congress Kingdom of Poland. During World War II, Kielce was the sight of German Nazi atrocities, after the war the city saw an outbreak of violence against the Jewish community, which later became known as the Kielce pogrom. Kielce was once an important centre of mining and the vicinity is famous for its natural resources like copper, lead and iron. The area of Kielce has been inhabited since at least the 5th century BC, until the 6th or 7th century the banks of the Silnica were inhabited by Celts. The lands of Wiślanie were at first subdued by Bohemia, however they came under the control of the Piast dynasty. According to a legend, Mieszko, son of Boleslaus II of Poland dreamt he was attacked by a band of brigands in a forest. In the dream he saw a vision of Saint Adalbert who drew a line which turned into a stream. When Mieszko woke up, he found the Silnica River whose waters helped him regain strength and he also discovered huge white tusks of an unknown animal
35.
Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Soviet Union)
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The order was discontinued after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky was broken down into three different classes, 1st class, 2nd class and 3rd class, general Alexey Danilov became the first recipient of the 1st class Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky. Altogether 323 people were awarded Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 1st class, distinguished people who received this order were several future Marshals of the Soviet Union including Sergey Biryuzov, Kirill Moskalenko, Matvei Zakharov and Petr Koshevoi amongst others. The 2nd class medal is awarded to corps, divisions, brigade or battalion commanders for a breach of an enemy line or a raid into the enemys rear. 2400 people were awarded Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, 2nd class,5700 people were awarded Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 3rd class. Most of them were either Red Army soldiers who fought on the Ukrainian Front or Ukrainian partisans, the Order was discontinued after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In 1995 Ukraine established the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, although it is the same name it is a different medal. Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky president. gov. ua - Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi
36.
Poland
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Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
37.
Northern Group of Forces
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Although officially considered Polish allies under the Warsaw Pact treaty, they were seen by most Poles as a Soviet occupation force. Soviet forces entered Poland as they were advancing towards Nazi Germany in the course of the Red Armys Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944, following the Vistula-Oder Offensive in early 1945, all of Poland was cleared from Nazi occupation by Soviet forces. As the war ended, the structure of the Soviet military was reorganized from a war-time to a peace-time mode, one of those new formations, at that time 300, 000-400,000 strong, was to be stationed in Poland. It was mostly based on the 2nd Belorussian Front of General Konstantin Rokossovsky, with the exception of Szczecin, which fell under the operational territory of the Western Group of Forces, the Northern Group of Forces was located entirely within the territory of Poland. The Polish communist government, which owed its existence to the Soviets, signed several agreements with the Soviet Union regulating the status. Another major task of the Northern Group was to organize and transport war reparations from the eastern territories of Germany attached to Poland after World War II to the Soviet Union. These actions, often involving the complete stripping down of industrial facilities, sometimes took place in traditionally Polish territories. This caused tensions between the Soviets and the Polish government, which intended to use the resources of those territories to rebuild Poland, the Polish government, however, had no operational control over the Soviet forces. The treaty also limited the number of Soviet bases in Poland to 39, the Soviets also installed nuclear weapons in Poland, without informing the Polish government of that fact. The treatys name declared the Soviet military presence to be temporary, while in fact the treaty did not contain any limitations to the duration of their stay, nor any provisions on their withdrawal. The issue of Polish-Soviet military cooperation was further regulated the next year, the Northern Group of Forces had several objectives. With the beginning of the Cold War, it was to act, together with other Groups of Forces, later, in that regard it represented part of the Warsaw Pact forces, countering the NATO troops. The presence of Soviet forces on Polish territory caused several problems, although not supported by the Soviet High Command, excesses by individual soldiers of the Red Army led to mounting tensions between Soviet forces and the Polish population. In the early years, the Red Army appropriated any resources it needed from the Polish government with no thought of compensation and this incident was perceived by contemporaries as a particularly brutal action, and rumors circulated exaggerating its severity. Approximately 600 Polish citizens died over the years 1945-1993 in crimes or accidents for which the Soviet soldiers were responsible, the Soviet army, which was subject to many financial privileges, often refused to pay for municipal resources it consumed, particularly water, gas or electricity. On the other hand, Soviet units did also aid the locals with infrastructure projects, harvests, after the fall of communism in Poland in 1989, and with the signs of the fall of the Soviet Union, the new Polish government wanted the Soviet troops to leave Poland. By that time the Northern Group had already shrunk to 58,000 troops, after a new treaty in late 1991 and May 1992, and Polands withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet agreed to withdraw military units by 1992 and support units by 1993. Soviet troops had begun leaving Poland, with the first group exiting in 1991
38.
Chrudim
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Chrudim is a city in eastern Bohemia, in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. The oldest archaeological findings which provide first signs of the settlement in this date back to the 5th millennium BC. Various cultures succeeded one on another in the territory of today’s town of Chrudim, Chrudim town was established before 1276 and soon after came to be a dowry town of Bohemian Queens. Until 1918, the town was part of the Austrian monarchy, head of the Chrudim District, during the reign of Maria Theresa, Chrudim became the centre of the region and, in 1751, the seat of regional offices. The 18th and especially the 19th centuries brought vigorous development, the medieval ground plan of the historical heart of the town and its suburbs were no longer able to meet the growing requirements. The population reached 13,000 inhabitants at the end of the 19th century, the first industrial factory, with its foundry and forge, and a shoe factory launched industrial development. Social life also greatly expanded in the half of the 19th century. The number of schools, cultural and social events led Chrudim to be known as “Athens of Eastern Bohemia”
39.
East Germany
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East Germany, formally the German Democratic Republic, was an Eastern Bloc state during the Cold War period. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin, but did not include it, as a result, the German Democratic Republic was established in the Soviet Zone, while the Federal Republic was established in the three western zones. East Germany, which lies culturally in Central Germany, was a state of the Soviet Union. Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to German communist leaders in 1948, Soviet forces, however, remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Until 1989, the GDR was governed by the Socialist Unity Party, though other parties participated in its alliance organisation. The economy was centrally planned, and increasingly state-owned, prices of basic goods and services were set by central government planners, rather than rising and falling through supply and demand. Although the GDR had to pay war reparations to the USSR. Nonetheless it did not match the growth of West Germany. Emigration to the West was a significant problem—as many of the emigrants were well-educated young people, the government fortified its western borders and, in 1961, built the Berlin Wall. Many people attempting to flee were killed by guards or booby traps. In 1989, numerous social and political forces in the GDR and abroad led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the following year open elections were held, and international negotiations led to the signing of the Final Settlement treaty on the status and borders of Germany. The GDR was dissolved and Germany was unified on 3 October 1990, internally, the GDR also bordered the Soviet sector of Allied-occupied Berlin known as East Berlin which was also administered as the states de facto capital. It also bordered the three sectors occupied by the United States, United Kingdom and France known collectively as West Berlin. The three sectors occupied by the Western nations were sealed off from the rest of the GDR by the Berlin Wall from its construction in 1961 until it was brought down in 1989, the official name was Deutsche Demokratische Republik, usually abbreviated to DDR. West Germans, the media and statesmen purposely avoided the official name and its abbreviation, instead using terms like Ostzone, Sowjetische Besatzungszone. The centre of power in East Berlin was referred to as Pankow. Over time, however, the abbreviation DDR was also used colloquially by West Germans. However, this use was not always consistent, for example, before World War II, Ostdeutschland was used to describe all the territories east of the Elbe, as reflected in the works of sociologist Max Weber and political theorist Carl Schmitt
40.
Uprising of 1953 in East Germany
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The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany started with a strike by East Berlin construction workers on 16 June 1953. It turned into an uprising against the German Democratic Republic government the next day. In Germany, the revolt is often called Peoples Uprising in East Germany, in remembrance of it,17 June became a national holiday of West Germany, prevailing until reunification. The uprising in East Berlin was violently suppressed by tanks of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, in spite of the intervention of Soviet troops, the wave of strikes and protests was not easily brought under control. Even after 17 June there were demonstrations in more than 500 towns, in July 1952 the second party conference of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany took place in East Berlin. The party was acting on demands made by Soviet premier Joseph Stalin and this meant for example the division of the five Länder into 14 regions plus East Berlin. This decision was made amid the background of the economic situation in the country. In the course of the militarisation pushed by Soviet authorities, direct and indirect military expenditures rose, together with reparation payments, this totalled over 20% of the budget. Electricity was turned off in factories and public buildings at the onset of every evening. The dramatic increase of emigration in the first half of 1953, already high since the establishment of the GDR, constituted a serious economic, another factor that contributed to an already complicated political situation was the high number of political prisoners in the GDR. Suppression of the illegal organisation Junge Gemeinde, wrongly perceived as the youth organisation of the Evangelical Church. Ecclesiastic recreation centres were closed and taken over by the FDJ, high school students who belonged to a church were often expelled by the school authorities, sometimes even shortly before school graduation. Within this complicated background, the decision to raise the work norms was perceived as a provocation and these changes were coming into force by 30 June 1953, Ulbrichts 60th birthday. The decision was taken on 13–14 May 1953, and the Council of Ministers approved it on 28 May, following Stalins death in March 1953 and the massive increase in emigration the new Soviet government decided to ease the policies Stalin had demanded. On 4 June 1953, the Soviet government, alarmed at reports of unrest, georgy Malenkov warned them that if policy direction were not corrected immediately, there would be a catastrophe. After intense discussion the East German party eased policies and publicly admitted that mistakes had been made, however, according to the historian of East Germany, Manfred Wilke, that admission may have had the unintended effect of inflaming public opinion rather than easing tensions. Their numbers quickly swelled and a strike and protests were called for the next day. Early on 17 June 40,000 protesters had gathered in East Berlin, many protests were held throughout East Germany with at least some work stoppages and protests in virtually all industrial centers and large cities in the country
41.
Order of the October Revolution
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The Order of the October Revolution was instituted on October 31,1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferred upon individuals or groups for services furthering communism or the state, or in enhancing the defenses of the Soviet Union, military and it is second highest Soviet order, after the Order of Lenin. Above it was a red flag bearing the words October Revolution in Russian, a Hammer and Sickle emblem was placed at the bottom. The badge was worn on the left chest with a red ribbon bearing five blue stripes at the centre, the Russian cruiser Aurora was itself awarded with the Order of the October Revolution, the only ship ever to have received the award. Military units and institutions receiving the award applied the name to their title upon its reception. Order of the October Revolution at the Directory of the orders, medals, Order of the October Revolution Reference Page
42.
T-64
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The T-64 is a Soviet second-generation main battle tank introduced in the early 1960s. It was a more advanced counterpart to the T-62, the T-64 served tank divisions, in spite of being armed and armored like a heavy tank, the T-64 weighed only 38 tonnes. These features made the T-64 expensive to build, significantly higher than previous generations of Soviet tanks and this was especially true of the power pack. Several proposals were made to improve the T-64 with new engines and this led to the T-72 being designed as an emergency design, only to be produced in the case of a war, but its 40% lower price led to it entering production in spite of Morozovs objections. Although the T-62 and the famous T-72 would see much use and generally more development, it was the T-64 that formed the basis of subsequent modern Soviet tank designs. The T-64 was conceived in Kharkiv, Ukraine, as the main battle tank by Alexander A. Morozov. The T-64 design was developed by LKZ as the gas turbine-powered T-80 main battle tank. The turret of the T-64B would be used in the improved T-80U and T-80UD, the T-64 would only be used by the Soviet Army and never exported, unlike the T-54/55. By 1981, the improved T-64B began to be deployed in East Germany, while it was believed that the T-64 was only reserved for elite units, it was also used by much lower non-ready formations, for example, the Odessa Military Districts 14th Army. With the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, T-64 tanks remained in the arsenals of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Uzbekistan. Mid 2014, slightly fewer than 2,000 of the former Soviet inventory of T-64 tanks are in service with the military of Ukraine and about 4,000 are out-of-service, for the first time in the world. It has autoloader with a choice of shells, Armor received composite additives, previously all tanks had only metal. More than 1100 T-64 tanks were produced between 1964 and 1968, it was Object 432, the combat rate of fire reached 10 rounds per minute. In the first years of development the tank was invulnerable, opponents of the tank can be destroyed by shooting at the forehead from a distance of 1. 5-2km. Turret almost all closed reactive protection, the case is closed on the sides of the forehead, in the early 70s, heat ammunition can not penetrate reactive protection in most cases. Studies for the design of a new battle tank started as early as 1951, a project named obyekt 430 gave birth to three prototypes, which were tested in Kubinka in 1958. Those vehicles showed characteristics that were going to change the design of battle tanks on this side of the Iron Curtain. For the first time, an extremely compact opposed-piston engine was used, the transmission system comprised two lateral gears on each side of the engine
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