Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (1945–54) Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (1954–89) Western Group of Forces (1989–94) | |
---|---|
Active | 1945–1994 |
Country |
|
Branch | |
Type | Group of forces |
Part of | |
Headquarters | Wünsdorf (now in Zossen) |
Engagements | East German uprising of 1953 |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | See list |
The Western Group of Forces (WGF),[a] previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG)[b] and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG),[c] were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany was formed after the end of World War II in Europe from units of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts. The group helped suppress the East German uprising of 1953. After the end of occupation functions in 1954 the group was renamed the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. The group represented Soviet interests in East Germany during the Cold War. Before changes in Soviet foreign policy during the early 1990s, the group shifted to a more offensive role and in 1989 became the Western Group of Forces. Russian forces remained in the eastern part of Germany after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and German reunification until 1994.
History
Period | Native designation | German | English | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Short | Long version | Short | Long version | Short | Long version | |||
1945–1954 | ГСОВГ | Группа советских оккупационных войск в Германии | GSBD | Gruppe der Sowjetischen Besatzungstruppen in Deutschland | GSOFG | Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany | ||
1954–1989 | ГСВГ | Группа советских войск в Германии | GSSD | Gruppe der Sowjetischen Streitkräfte in Deutschland | GSFG | Group of Soviet Forces in Germany | ||
GSTD | Gruppe der Sowjetischen Truppen in Deutschland | |||||||
1989–1994 | ЗГВ | Западная группа войск | WGT | Westgruppe der Truppen | WGF | Western Group of Forces |
The Group of Soviet Occupation Forces, Germany was formed after the end of World War II in Europe from formations of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts, commanded by Georgy Zhukov. On its creation on 9 June 1945 it included:[1]
- the 11th Guards Tank Corps
- 9th Tank Corps, 12th Guards Tank Corps
- 6th Guards Mechanised Corps ; 10th Guards Tank Corps
- 272nd Rifle Division)
- 9th Tank Corps
- 416th Rifle Divisions); 230th Rifle Division; three independent tank brigades
- 11th Tank Corps
- 1st Guards Tank Corps and the 25th Tank Corps.
- 49th Army (HQ Wittenberg)
- 70th Army (HQ Rostock)
- First Polish Army (two divisions)
- Dnieper Flotilla
- 16th Air Army (HQ Woltersdorf)
The 4th Artillery Corps also became part of the GSFG in 1945.
An order of 29 May 1945 had ordered the disestablishment of the
In January 1946, the 2nd Shock Army left the Soviet Zone. A month later, the 47th Army was disbanded, with its units withdrawn to the Soviet Union. In October the 5th Shock Army was disbanded. In 1947 the
After the abolition of the occupation functions in 1954, the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany became known as the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSVG) on 24 March. The legal basis for the GSVG's stay in East Germany was the Treaty on Relations between the USSR and the GDR of 1955.[5]
Withdrawals from East Germany in 1956 and 1957/58 comprised more than 70,000 Soviet army personnel, including
The GSFG had the task to ensure for the adherence to the regulations of the Potsdam Agreement. Furthermore, they represented the political and military interests of the Soviet Union. In 1957 an agreement between the governments of the USSR and the GDR laid out the arrangements over the temporary stay of Soviet armed forces on the territory of the GDR, the numerical strength of the Soviet troops, and their assigned posts and exercise areas. It was specified that the Soviet armed forces were not to interfere into the internal affairs of the GDR, as they had done during the East German uprising of 1953.
Following a resolution of the
Until the last years of Perestroika the GSFG was in the process of realignment as a more offensive force regarding strength, structure and equipment, before a clear reduction of the tank forces in 1989. The GSFG was renamed the Western Group of Forces on 1 June 1989.[6] The withdrawal of the GSFG was one of the largest peacetime troop transfers in military history. Despite the difficulties, which resulted from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the same period, the departure was carried out according to plan and punctually until August 1994. Between the years of 1992 and 1993, the Western Group of Forces in Germany (along with the Northern Group of Forces) halted military exercises.
The return of the troops and material took place particularly by the sea route by means of the ports in
In addition to German territories, the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany operational territory also included the region of town of Szczecin, part of the territories transferred from Germany to Poland following the end of the Second World War. The rest of Poland fell under the Northern Group of Forces, while the southern regions (Austria, Czechoslovakia) were under the Central Group of Forces.
Generals directing the withdrawals from Germany diverted arms, equipment, and foreign monies intended to build housing in Russia for the withdrawn troops. Several years later, the last GSFG commander, General Matvey Burlakov, and the Defence Minister, Pavel Grachev, had their involvement exposed. They were also accused of ordering the murder of reporter Dmitry Kholodov, who had been investigating the scandals.[7]
Structure and equipment in 1991
The Soviet troops occupied 777 barracks at 276 locations on the territory of the German Democratic Republic. This also included 47 airfields and 116 exercise areas. At the beginning of 1991 there were still about 338,000 soldiers in 24 divisions, distributed among five land armies and an air army in what was by then the Western Group of Forces. In addition, there were about 208,000 relatives of officers as well as civil employees, among them about 90,000 children. Most locations were in the area of today's Brandenburg.
In 1991 there were approximately 4,200 tanks, 8,200 armored vehicles, 3,600 artillery pieces, 106,000 other motor vehicles, 690 aircraft, 680 helicopters, and 180 rocket systems.[8]
- See also
At the end of the 1980s, the primary Soviet formations included:[9]
- 1st Guards Tank Red Banner Army – Dresden
- 9th Tank Division – Riesa
- 11th Guards Tank Division – Dresden
- 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division – Grimma
- 2nd Guards Tank Army – Fürstenberg/Havel
- 16th Guards Tank Division – Neustrelitz
- 94th Guards Motor Rifle Division – Schwerin
- 207th Motor Rifle Division – Stendal(note; earlier Western reporting lists this as a Guards unit; this is incorrect)
-
- Halle
- Ohrdruf
- Naumburg
- 79th Guards Tank Division – Jena
- 20th Guards Red Banner Army – Eberswalde
- 25th Tank Division – Vogelsang
- 32nd Guards Tank Division – Jüterbog
- 35th Motor Rifle Division – Krampnitz
- 90th Guards Tank Division – Bernau bei Berlin
- 16th Air Army – Zossen[11]
- 6th Guards Fighter Aviation Division – Merseburg
- 4th Air Army.[12]
- 105th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Division – Großenhain
- 125th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Division – Rechlin [town, not in airfield] – disbanded July 1993 or October 1993.[13]
- 126th Fighter Aviation Division – Zerbst
Other Group-level formations included:
- 6th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Karlshorst, Berlin) - withdrawn to Kursk in 1994
- 34th Guards Artillery Division (Potsdam) (formed 25 June 1945 to 9 July 1945 in Germany)
Commanders-in-Chief of the GSFG
The first three
GSOFG, 1945–54
No. | Portrait | Commander-in-Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Georgy Zhukov (1896–1974) | Marshal of the Soviet Union9 June 1945 | 21 March 1946 | 285 days | |
2 | Vasily Sokolovsky (1897–1968) | Marshal of the Soviet Union22 March 1946 | 31 March 1949 | 3 years, 9 days | |
3 | Vasily Chuikov (1900–1982) | Marshal of the Soviet Union1 April 1949 | 26 May 1953 | 4 years, 55 days | |
4 | Andrei Grechko (1903–1976) | Marshal of the Soviet Union27 May 1953 | 16 November 1957 | 4 years, 173 days |
GSFG, 1954–89
No. | Portrait | Commander-in-Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Andrei Grechko (1903–1976) | Marshal of the Soviet Union27 May 1953 | 16 November 1957 | 4 years, 173 days | |
2 | Matvei Zakharov (1898–1972) | Marshal of the Soviet Union17 November 1957 | 14 April 1960 | 2 years, 149 days | |
3 | Ivan Yakubovsky (1912–1976) | Marshal of the Soviet Union15 April 1960 | 9 August 1961 | 1 year, 116 days | |
4 | Ivan Konev (1897–1973) | Marshal of the Soviet Union9 August 1961 | 18 April 1962 | 252 days | |
5 | Ivan Yakubovsky (1912–1976) | Marshal of the Soviet Union19 April 1962 | 26 January 1965 | 2 years, 282 days | |
6 | Pyotr Koshevoy (1904–1976) | Marshal of the Soviet Union27 January 1965 | 31 October 1969 | 4 years, 277 days | |
7 | Viktor Kulikov (1921–2013) | Marshal of the Soviet Union1 November 1969 | 13 September 1971 | 1 year, 316 days | |
8 | Semyon Kurkotkin (1917–1990) | Marshal of the Soviet Union14 September 1971 | 19 July 1972 | 3 years, 308 days | |
9 | Yevgeny Ivanovsky (1918–1991) | Army General20 July 1972 | 25 November 1980 | 5 years, 128 days | |
10 | Mikhail Zaitsev (1923–2009) | Army General26 November 1980 | 6 July 1985 | 4 years, 222 days | |
11 | Pyotr Lushev (1923–1997) | Army General7 July 1985 | 11 July 1986 | 1 year, 4 days | |
12 | Valery Belikov (1925–1987) | Army General12 July 1986 | 12 November 1987 † | 1 year, 123 days |
WGF, 1989–94
No. | Portrait | Commander-in-Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Boris Snetkov (1925–2006) | Army general26 November 1987 | 13 December 1990 | 3 years, 17 days | |
2 | Matvey Burlakov (1935–2011) | Colonel general13 December 1990 | 31 August 1994 | 3 years, 261 days |
WGF military soviet
Members (June 1993):[15]
- Commander-in-Chief of the WGF – Colonel general М. P. Burlakov
- 1st deputy commander-in-Chief of the WGF – Colonel general A. N. Mityukhin
- Deputy commander-in-Chief of the WGF for the withdrawal of forces – Lieutenant general С. В. Тshernilevsky
- WGF chief of staff – Lieutenant general A. V. Teretev
- Deputy commander-in-Chief of the WGF for logistics – Lieutenant general W. I. Isakow
- Deputy commander-in-Chief of the EGF for armaments – Major general W. N. Shulikov
- Commander of the 16th Air Army – Lieutenant general A. F. Tarasenko
See also
- List of Soviet divisions 1917–1945
- List of Soviet Army divisions 1989–1991
- United States Army Europe and Africa
- United States Forces Japan
- United States Forces Korea
Notes
- ^ Russian: Западная Группа Войск, ЗГВ, romanized: Zapadnaya Gruppa Voysk, ZGV.
- ^ Russian: Группа Советских Оккупационных Войск в Германии, ГСОВГ, romanized: Gruppa Sovietskih Okkupatsionnyh Voysk v Germanii, GSOVG.
- ^ Russian: Группа Советских Войск в Германии, ГСВГ, romanized: Gruppa Sovietskih Voysk v Germanii, GSVG.
References
- ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 380
- ^ Stavka Order No. 11095
- ^ a b Feskov et al 2013, pp. 381–382
- ^ a b Michael Holm, 3 Red Banner Combined Arms Army, February 2015.
- ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 382
- ^ Chris Lofting & Kieron Pilbeam, 'Sperenburg,' Air Forces Monthly, February 1995, p. 42
- ISBN 0-300-07469-7. On p. 468, fn 130, Odom cites as his sources Komsomolskaya Pravda, 20 October 1994, and RFE/RL Daily Report, 24 October 1994, 2 November 1994, and 8 November 1994.
- ISBN 9781598849813.
- ISBN 0-85045-904-4
- ^ Holm 2015/Feskov et al 2013.
- ^ "16th Air Army". 16va.be. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
- ^ Michael Holm, 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Division Archived 1 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Michael Holm, 125th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Division Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, accessed September 2011
- ^ Michael Holm, 35th Landing-Assault Brigade Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 5-235-02221-1.
- Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306.
Further reading
- William Durie, " The United States Garrison Berlin 1945-1994", (Mission Accomplished, Aug 2014 ISBN 978-1-63068-540-9(English).
- Freundt, Lutz (1998). Sowjetische Fliegerkräfte Deutschland 1945–1994 (Band 1) [Soviet Aviation Forces in Germany 1945–1994 (Volume 1)] (in German). Diepholz: Freundt Eigenverlag. ISBN 3-000014-93-4.
- Scott and Scott, The Armed Forces of the USSR, Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, 1979
- Roter Stern über Deutschland, Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk und Stefan Wolle, Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin, 2001, Red Star over Germany, Soviet troops in the GDR, presents 49 years of the Soviet Army stationed in East Germany.
External links
- BRIXMIS (British Liaison Mission to GSFG)
- U.S. Military Liaison Mission memorial site, Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
- German Armed Forces Military History Research Office, Database of GSFG and NPA locations Archived 10 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine
- The GSVG : Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (in Russian)
- GSFG Archived 7 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
- The Group of Soviet Forces in Germany