Towards the end of World War II, the German leadership had not accepted defeat, but had begun to realize that a considerable attack on the Reich was inevitable. One of the tactics decided on, probably through a direct decision of German dictator Adolf Hitler to resist the advance was the creation of strongholds (German: Festung [“fortresses”]) where the defenders were ordered to defend them at all costs. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Hitler redirects here. ... Festung is a generic German word for a fortress. ... Fortifications (Latin fortis, strong, and facere, to make) are military constructions designed for defensive warfare. ...

In the east, Stalingrad (Battle of Stalingrad), Warsaw, Budapest (Battle of Budapest), Kolberg, Königsberg (Battle of Königsberg), Küstrin, Danzig and Breslau (Festung Breslau) were selected as strongholds whilst in the west locations included the island of Alderney. Volgograd (Russian: ), formerly called Tsaritsyn (Russian: ) (1598–1925) and Stalingrad (Russian: ) (1925–1961) is a city and the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. ... Combatants Germany Italy Hungary Romania Slovakia Soviet Union Commanders Maximilian von Weichs Friedrich Paulus # Erich von Manstein Hermann Hoth Italo Garibaldi Gusztav Jany Petre Dumitrescu Constantin Constantinescu Vasiliy Chuikov Aleksandr Vasilyevskiy Georgiy Zhukov Semyon Timoshenko Konstantin Rokossovsky Rodion Malinovsky Strength German Sixth Army German Fourth Panzer Army Romanian Third Army... Motto: Contemnit procellas (It defies the storms) Semper invicta (Always invincible) Coordinates: Country Poland Voivodeship Masovia Powiat city county Gmina Warszawa Districts 18 boroughs City Rights turn of the 13th century Government  - Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz (PO) Area  - City 516. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Kołobrzeg (pronounce: [kɔwɔbʒεg], German Kolberg) is a city in Middle Pomerania in north-western Poland with some 50,000 inhabitants (2000). ... Kaliningrad (Russian: ; Lithuanian: Karaliaučius; German  , Polish: Królewiec; briefly Russified as Kyonigsberg), is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea. ... Combatants Axis Soviet Union Commanders General Otto von Lasch Marshal Vasilevsky Marshal Rokossovsky Strength 130,000 250,000 Casualties 50,000 60,000 The Battle of Königsberg was the last battle of the East Prussian Operation. ... Kostrzyn nad OdrÄ… (German: ) is a town in western Poland, about 40 km west of Gorzów Wielkopolski, at the confluence of the Oder and Warta rivers, on the border with Germany. ... GdaÅ„sk ( ; IPA: ), also known by its German name Danzig ( ) and several other names, is the sixth-largest city in Poland and is Polands principal seaport and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. ... Motto: Miasto spotkaÅ„ (the meeting place) Coordinates: , Country Poland Voivodeship Lower Silesian Powiat city county Gmina WrocÅ‚aw Established 10th century City Rights 1262 Government  - Mayor RafaÅ‚ Dutkiewicz Area  - City 292. ... The Battle of Breslau, otherwise known as the Siege of Breslau was a four months long siege of the city of Breslau (now WrocÅ‚aw, Poland) in Lower Silesia, Germany. ... Capital St Anne Status Part of Guernsey, Crown dependency of the UK Official language(s) English Head of Government Sir Norman Browse Population 2,400 Currency Pound sterling (GBP). ...

The fate of the strongholds varied. Stalingrad, the first of the "fortresses" to fall is seen as a crucial turning point in the war and one of the key battles which lead to German defeat. In several cases (Breslau and Alderney, for example) the fortresses were bypassed by the attackers and did not actually fall until long after they had been neutralised (though fighting in Breslau was sustained). Warsaw was almost completely destroyed in the aftermath of the Warsaw Uprising. Motto: Miasto spotkaÅ„ (the meeting place) Coordinates: , Country Poland Voivodeship Lower Silesian Powiat city county Gmina WrocÅ‚aw Established 10th century City Rights 1262 Government  - Mayor RafaÅ‚ Dutkiewicz Area  - City 292. ... Capital St Anne Status Part of Guernsey, Crown dependency of the UK Official language(s) English Head of Government Sir Norman Browse Population 2,400 Currency Pound sterling (GBP). ... Combatants Poland Germany Commanders Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski #, Antoni ChruÅ›ciel #, Tadeusz PeÅ‚czyÅ„ski Erich von dem Bach, Rainer Stahel, Heinz Reinefarth, Bronislav Kaminski Strength 50,000 troops (10,000 armed) 25,000 troops Casualties 18,000 killed, 12,000 wounded, 15,000 taken prisoner 250,000 civilians killed...

References

• BBC article on Alderney
• Europe: A History, ISBN 0-06-097468-0, the history of Europe; page 1038

World map showing the location of Europe. ...

See also

• Stalingrad
• Festung Breslau
• Kolberg
• Breslau
• Atlantic Wall

Stalingrad is the former name of two cities: Volgograd, Russia Karviná-Nové Město, near Ostrava, Czech Republic Other uses: The Battle of Stalingrad (a major turning-point of World War II and arguably the bloodiest battle in human history) Stalingrad (German film set during the above battle) Stalingrad... Festung Warschau (German Fortress Warsaw) is the name applied to the city of Warsaw by the Germans. ... Kołobrzeg (pronounce: [kɔwɔbʒεg], German Kolberg) is a city in Middle Pomerania in north-western Poland with some 50,000 inhabitants (2000). ... Motto: Miasto spotkaÅ„ (the meeting place) Coordinates: , Country Poland Voivodeship Lower Silesian Powiat city county Gmina WrocÅ‚aw Established 10th century City Rights 1262 Government  - Mayor RafaÅ‚ Dutkiewicz Area  - City 292. ... German coastal artillery in the Pas-de-Calais area, with laborers at work on casemate. ...

External link

• Festung Breslau/Fortress Wrocław