"We will win after all. When and how is the Fuehrer's business."

I. Goebbels

The Duchy of Prussia arose in 1525 on part of the lands of the Teutonic Order, which conquered the Prussians in the 13th century - a group of Baltic tribes that inhabited part of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. In 1618 Brandenburg merged with the Duchy of Prussia, and in 1701 the Brandenburg-Prussian state became the Kingdom of Prussia (the capital is Berlin). The history of the emergence and development of the Prussian state was constantly associated with the seizure of foreign lands. The rule of the military in Prussia has always been its characteristic feature. The leading role in the economic and political life of Prussia was played by cadets - German large landowners with a citadel in East Prussia. The Prussian kings from the Hohenzollern dynasty (Frederick II and others) significantly expanded the territory of the state in the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries. In 1871, the Prussian Junkers, led by Bismarck "with iron and blood," completed the unification of Germany. The Prussian king also became the German emperor. As a result of the November 1918 revolution in Germany, the monarchy in Prussia was abolished. Since 1945 Germany has been divided into separate lands. In 1947, the Control Council passed a law to liquidate the Prussian state as a stronghold of militarism and reaction.

The leaders of the Wehrmacht were well aware of the political, economic and strategic importance of East Prussia. Therefore, extensive work was carried out here to improve the system of field and long-term fortifications. Numerous hills, lakes, swamps, rivers, canals and woodlands contributed to the creation of the defense. Of particular importance was the presence in the central part of East Prussia of the Masurian Lakes, which divided the Soviet troops advancing from the east into two groups - northern and southern, complicating the interaction between them. The construction of fortifications in East Prussia began long before the start of the war. All of them were covered over a considerable length by ditches, wooden, metal and reinforced concrete posts. The basis of only one Hejlsberg fortified area was formed by 911 permanent defensive structures.

On the territory of East Prussia, in the area of \u200b\u200bRastenburg, under the cover of the Masurian Lakes from the moment of the attack on the USSR and up to 1944, Hitler's headquarters "Wolfschanze" was located in a deep underground, located 1 km east of the city of Rostenburg (Kentishn). It was built in the strictest secrecy by the Todt military construction organization in the winter and spring of 1941. It was a section of terrain fenced with barbed wire, fields and ditches, on which carefully camouflaged reinforced concrete bunkers were located, half buried in the ground. The bunkers were equipped with apartments, offices of the leaders of Germany. Hitler's bunker was located in the northern part of the Wolfschanze, had walls 6 meters thick, and was surrounded by barbed wire fences under a high voltage current. The camp was guarded by the "SS battalion of the Fuhrer's personal guard." It also housed the headquarters of the Wehrmacht High Command (OKW) and a large underground communications center. Nearby was the headquarters of the ground forces and the air force (Luftwaffe).

Defeats on the Soviet-German front forced the Wehrmacht command to take additional measures to defend the Headquarters. In the fall of 1944, the General Staff of the Ground Forces approved a plan for the construction of structures on the entire Eastern Front, including in East Prussia. In accordance with this plan, on its territory and in Northern Poland, old fortifications were hastily modernized and a field defense was created, the system of which included Ilmenhorst, Letzen, Allenstein, Heilsberg, Mlavsky and Torun fortified areas, as well as 13 ancient fortresses. During the construction of the fortifications, advantageous natural boundaries, solid stone structures of numerous farms and large settlements, connected by a well-developed network of highways and railways, were used. Between the defensive zones there were a large number of cut-off positions and separate defense units. As a result, a fortified defensive system was created, the depth of which reached 150-200 km. The most developed in engineering terms, it was north of the Masurian Lakes, where in the direction of Gumbinnen, Konigsberg, there were nine fortified strips.

The defense of East Prussia and Northern Poland was entrusted to Army Group Center under the command of General G. Reinhardt. It occupied the line from the mouth of the Neman to the mouth of the Western Bug and consisted of the 3rd tank, 4th and 2nd armies. In total, by the beginning of the Soviet offensive, the enemy grouping consisted of 35 infantry, 4 tank and 4 motorized divisions, a scooter brigade and 2 separate groups.

The greatest density of forces and means was created in the Insterburg and Mlavsky directions. In the reserve of the high command and the armies were two infantry, four tank and three motorized divisions, a separate group and a scooter brigade, which accounted for almost a quarter of the total number of all formations. They were mainly located in the Mazury Lakes region, and partially in the Ilmenhorst and Mlavsky fortified areas. This grouping of reserves allowed the enemy to carry out a maneuver to deliver counterattacks against the Soviet troops advancing north and south of the Masurian Lakes.

In addition, various auxiliary and special units and subunits (serfs, reserve, training, police, naval, transport, security), as well as Volkssturm units and Hitler Youth detachments, were deployed on the territory of East Prussia, which then took part in the conduct of defensive operations. Ground forces supported the aircraft of the 6th Air Fleet. The ships of the Wehrmacht Navy, based in the Baltic Sea, were intended for the defense of sea communications, artillery support of troops in coastal areas, as well as for their evacuation from isolated coastal areas.

According to the plan developed by January 1945, Army Group Center had the task, relying on fortified defenses, to stop the advance of Soviet troops into the depths of East Prussia and to pin them down for a long time. The General Staff of the German Ground Forces also prepared an active version of the hostilities of the Army Group Center: "inflicting a counterattack from East Prussia into the flank and rear of the central group of Soviet troops operating in the Berlin direction." It was supposed to enter into force upon successful accomplishment of defensive tasks by Army Group Center and its possible strengthening at the expense of the Courland grouping. It was also planned to release a number of divisions as the front line was leveled through the elimination of protrusions in the defense and the withdrawal of the 4th Army's troops beyond the Masurian Lakes line.

State and military leaders of Germany, natives of East Prussia, who had extensive possessions there (G. Goering, E. Koch, W. Weiss, G. Guderian and others), insisted on strengthening the Army Group Center even by weakening the defense in other sectors front. In his address to the Volkssturmists, E. Koch called for the defense of this area, claiming that with the loss of it, the whole of Germany would perish. Trying to strengthen the morale of the troops and the population, the fascist command launched widespread chauvinist propaganda. The entry of Soviet troops into East Prussia was used to intimidate the Germans, who, allegedly, young and old, would face imminent death.

In fact, all those capable of carrying weapons were enrolled in the Volkssturm. Fascist ideologues continued to stubbornly insist that if the Germans showed high resilience, Soviet troops would not be able to overcome the "impregnable fortifications of East Prussia," and thanks to the new weapon, victory would be for the Germans. With the help of social demagogy, repression and other measures, the Nazis tried to force the population of Germany to fight to the last man. "Every bunker, every quarter of a German city and every German village," Hitler's order emphasized, "must turn into a fortress, where the enemy will either bleed to death, or the garrison of this fortress will die in hand-to-hand combat under its ruins ... In this harsh struggle even art monuments and other cultural values \u200b\u200bshould not be spared for the existence of the German people. It should be led to the end. "

The indoctrination was accompanied by repression by the military command. An order was announced in the troops against receipt, which demanded that East Prussia be kept at all costs. To strengthen discipline and instill universal fear in the army and in the rear, Hitler's directive on the death penalty "with the immediate execution of death sentences in front of the formation" was carried out with particular cruelty.

P the First World War caused enormous damage to East Prussia, since the province was the only German territory in which hostilities took place.

The total damage was 1.5 billion marks. 39 cities and 1900 rural settlements were destroyed to varying degrees. The eastern regions of the province were especially affected (here Eidtkunen, Darkemen, Schirvindt were completely destroyed, Stallupenen was badly damaged). Local authorities immediately began to eliminate the consequences of the war. The provinces helped the cities from the hinterland of Germany with labor, building materials and food.

IN the Treaty of Versailles turned out to be as difficult for East Prussia as it was for the rest of Germany. The winners decided to reduce its territory. The Memel region and the city of Memel itself were transferred under the control of the League of Nations and from 1920 to 1923 were occupied by French troops.

But at the end of January 1923, an uprising broke out in Memel demanding reunification with Lithuania. The Lithuanian government officially supported the rebels. On February 16, a conference of ambassadors in the League of Nations, put in a difficult situation, adopted a positive decision, on the basis of which a convention was signed in Paris on May 8, 1924, establishing broad autonomy for the region within Lithuania.

In addition, the region of Zoldau (town of Dzialdowo) was separated from East Prussia.

IN Overall, East Prussia lost about 315,000 hectares of land and 166,000 of its former citizens. The province was cut off from the rest of Germany. Its new "insular" position led to isolation from the lands with which it had close economic ties. East Prussia found itself in a difficult situation, she faced great economic difficulties. The transit Russian transport and commodity communication was cut off - the most important source of income.

In and around the lands cut off from the empire, a rather tense political situation arose, associated with serious territorial claims from Poland. Then the political and military elite of East and West Prussia in the second half of 1919 put forward a project of an independent eastern state in order to respond by military means to the ambitions of the neighboring country.

The implementation of these plans ran into sharp objections from the high military command, since it did not meet the goals of the Reich's foreign policy, according to which East Prussia, under any circumstances, had to remain German territory. But the resolution of the dispute with Poland (and Lithuania) with the help of military force under the conditions of the Weimar Republic was impossible due to the disarmament of Germany envisaged by Versailles.

The disputes were settled diplomatically.

But in 1922 in Rappalo, diplomatic relations were restored between Germany and the USSR, and East Prussia in the east had an important economic partner.

Derulyuft airline business card

IN In 1922, the Moscow-Koenigsberg airline was opened. By the way, Sergei Yesenin and Isadora Duncan were among the "Renovators" of this international airline. Their plane landed on May 10, 1922 at 20:00. at the Königsberg airfield Devau.

In the same year, Soviet Russia for the first time took part in the German Oriental Fair established in Königsberg (back in 1920), presenting an exposition of Russian export goods in the House of Technology.

In 1924, a city radio station began operating in Königsberg.

Gradually, East Prussia was recovering from the post-war shock.

H the national socialist movement at the very beginning of its development did not receive significant resonance and spread in East Prussia. There was not a single native of this province of Germany in the leadership of the NSWPD.

(Westpreussen) is a Prussian province, bordered in the west by Brandenburg and Pomerania, in the north by the Baltic Sea, in the south by Poznan and Russia (Vistula provinces), and in the east by Eastern Poland, with which it constituted one province until 1878 Prussia. Space 25521 sq. km. Western Poland occupies part of the North German lowland, through which the hilly North German ridge passes here. The Vistula River cuts through this ridge with a wide, fertile valley. The main heights of the plateau: Karthaus with Mount Turmberg (331 m) and the Elbing Mountains (198 m).

Rivers: Vistula, dividing at Mount Montauerspice into the Vistula and Nogat, and at Danzig into the Danzig and Elbing branches; on the right, the Vistula receives Drevenc and Ossa, and on the left: Schwarzwasser, Montau, Ferse and Motlau. Other rivers: Liebe, Elbing, Reda, Leba, Stolpe and Kyuddov. Lakes: Drauzen, Gezerikhskoe, Zorgenskoe, Tsarnovitskoe, Radaunskoe, Gros-Tsitenskoe, Muskendorfskoe, Feitskoe and Groß-Bettinskoe. Channels: Elbing-Oberland.

Climate: average annual temperature 7.6 °, Konits 6.6 °, Schoenberg (on the Korthaus plateau) 5.6 °. Annual precipitation is 50 cubic meters. m.

Population... In 1895 there were 1,494,360 people; Lutheran 702030, Catholics 758168 and Jews 20238. By nationality (1890): Poles 439577, Kashubians 53616, the rest are Germans. From 1886-1894 the resettlement commission to strengthen the German element here acquired 21890 hectares. land. Arable land and orchards 55.1%, meadows 6.4%, pastures 7.0%, forests 21.3%, the rest is inconvenient land. In 1895, 111.5 thousand tons of wheat, 311.8 thousand of rye, 93 thousand of barley, 170.8 thousand of oats, 1706 thousand of potatoes, 672 thousand of beets, 367 thousand tons of hay and 1685 of tobacco were harvested. thousand kg 554 thousand large cattle, 1300 thousand small, 425 thousand pigs, 221 thousand horses. Significant poultry farming and fishing. Extraction of amber and peat. Industry is concentrated mainly in the cities: Danzig, Elbing, Dirschau and Thorn. Shipbuilding, sawmills, glass, distilleries and breweries. Trade is significant in the harbors of Danzig and Elbing. In 1896 the merchant fleet consisted of 69 ships. Railways 1457 km. 13 gymnasiums, 4 real gymnasiums, two real schools, 19 gymnasiums, a commercial academy, an agricultural school, 6 teachers' seminaries, 3 institutes for the deaf and dumb, an institute for the blind, etc. The main city is Danzig. History - see Prussia (Duchy) and the Teutonic Order. Literature - see Prussia (kingdom).

• - Scheme of lines of the Moscow metro in 2004. "Yugo-Zapadnaya" metro station of the Sokolnicheskaya line. Opened in 1963. Architect Ya.V. Tatarzhinskaya. Built according to a standard design ...

  Moscow (encyclopedia)

• - one of two dynasties in the North. China, which ruled after the collapse of the Northern Wei state in 534-535. The capital of the state Z.V. was the city of Chang'an ...
• - the state, then the land in Germany. The main historical core of Prussia is Brandenburg, which in 1618 united with the duchy. The Brandenburg-Prussian state became a kingdom in 1701 ...

  Historical Dictionary

• - World War II Starting the summer offensive in 1944, the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front under the command of General. Chernyakhovsky crossed the river. Neman in three places, they took Grodno on July 26, August 1. - Kaunas and, having broken the resistance ...

  Encyclopedia of battles in world history

• - consists of the Moscow-Smolensk-Minsk latitudinal highway, crossed by the Bigosovo-Polotsk-Vitebsk-Smolensk-Zhukovka line and the Nevel-Orsha line. The Polotsk-Opochka line was built in 1917, and the Orsha-Lepel -...
• - one of the main Ukrainian railways. etc .; consists of the lines: Nizhyn - Kiev - Fastov - Kazatin - Zhmerynka - Vapnyarka, Bakhmach - st. them. T. Shevchenko, Ovruch - Shepetovka - Kamenets-Podolsk ...

  Technical Railway Dictionary

• - the German military-colonial state, the stronghold of reaction and militarism in Germany; liquidated as a result of the defeat of the fasc. Germany in World War II ...

  Soviet Historical Encyclopedia

• - one of the central states of North America. It was formed in 1863 from the deposited part of the state of Virginia, the population of which did not sympathize with the separatist ideas of the South and joined the Union ...
• - see Prussia ...

  Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron

• - I - the kingdom, the most important state of the German Empire, bordered in the north by the Baltic Sea, Denmark and the North German Sea, in the east with Russia and Austria, in the south with Austria, Saxony, Thuringia, Bavaria, ...

  Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron

• - 1 - Surface sq. km, 2 - Population in 1905 Provinces 1 2 East. Prussia 36994 2025741 West. Prussia 25535 1641936 Berlin ...

  Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron

• - a Prussian province bordering Russia, which until 1878, together with Western Poland, constituted one province of Prussia ...

  Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron

• is a Prussian province, bordered in the west by Brandenburg and Pomerania, in the north with the Baltic Sea, in the south with Poznan and Russia, and in the east with Eastern Poland, with which it constituted one province until 1878 ...

  Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron

• - a state that arose as a result of the military expansion of German feudal lords in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, a stronghold of reaction and militarism in Germany ...

  Great Soviet Encyclopedia

• - the state, then the land in Germany. The main historical core of Prussia is Brandenburg, which in 1618 united with the Duchy of Prussia. The Brandenburg-Prussian state became the kingdom of Prussia in 1701 ...

  Big encyclopedic dictionary

• - Vost "full-time Pr" ...

  Russian spelling dictionary

"Western Prussia" in the books

UNDER THE WING - EASTERN PRUSSIA