The Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (1949–1988) (ГСВГ, Группа советских войск в Германии), also known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (1945–1949) and the Western Group of Forces (1988–1994) were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. Soviet redirects here. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the armed forces of the Soviet Union. ... GDR redirects here. ...

The Soviet armies permanently stationed in Germany were the predominant land-based military threat to NATO from the late 1940s until 1989, a primary factor in the military situation during the Cold War. The possibility of a Soviet invasion of West Germany and other Western European countries (or a corresponding NATO eastward incursion) was however kept low due to the dangers of nuclear escalation. NATO 2002 Summit in Prague. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ...

History

The GSFG was formed after the completion of the Second World War from formations of the First and 2nd Belorussian Fronts. On its creation on 9.7. 1945 it included:^[1] Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... The 2nd Belorussian Front (alternative spellings are 2nd Byelorussian Front and 2nd Belarusian Front) was a military subdivision (Front) of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. ...

• the Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army (headquarters Dresden) · 8th Guards Mechanised Corps, the 11th Guards Tank Corps
• 2nd Guards Tank Army (headquarter Fürstenberg) · Soviet 1st Mechanized Corps, 9th Guards Tank Corps, 12th Guard Tank Corps
• 4th Guards Tank Army (headquarter Eberswalde) · 5. guard mech. corps · 6. guard mech. corps · 10. guard tank corps
• 2nd Shock Army (headquarter Schwerin) · 109th Rifle Corps (46., 90., 372. rifle division), 116th rifle corps (86., 321., 326. rifle division)
• 3rd Shock Army (headquarter Stendal) · 7. rifle corps (146., 265., 364. rifle division) · 12th Guard Rifle Corps (23. guard, 52. guard, 33. rifle division) · 79. rifle corps (150., 171., 207. rifle division) · 9. tank corps
• 5. shock army (headquarter Berlin) · 9. rifle corps (248., 301. rifle division) · 26. guard rifle corps (89. guard, 94. guard, 266. rifle division) · 32. rifle corps (60. guard, 295., 416. rifle division) · 230. rifle division · three independent tank brigades
• Eighth Guards Army (headquarter Weimar) 4th Guards Rifle Corps (35th, 47., 57. guard rifle division) · 28. guard rifle corps (39., 79., 88. guard rifle division) · 29. guard rifle corps (27., 74., 82. guard rifle division) · 11th Tank Corps
• 47. army (headquarter Halle) · 77. rifle corps (185., 260., 328. rifle division) · 125. rifle corps (60., 76., 175. rifle division) · 129. rifle corps (82., 132., 143. rifle division) 1st Guards Tank Corps and the 25th Tank Corps.

These troops had the task, for the adherence to the regulations to ensure the Potsdam Agreements. Furthermore they represented the politico-military interests of the Soviet Union. In the year 1957 an agreement between the governments Soviet Union and the GDR in 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, 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, which they did later during the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany. The Soviet First Guards Tank Army was a Soviet armoured formation that fought as part of the Red Army on the Eastern Front during World War II. The army was commanded throughout most of the war by Mikhail Katukov. ... The Second Tank Army was formed in January - February, 1943 on the basis of the 3rd Reserve Army of the Bryansk Front. ... The 1st Guards Mechanized Corps (honorific Vienna) was a Red Army armoured formation that saw service during World War II on the Eastern Front. ... The Soviet 8th Guards Army was an army of the Soviet Army, disbanded finally in the early 1990s. ... The Potsdam Agreement, or the Potsdam Proclamation, was an agreement on policy for the occupation and reconstruction of Germany and other nations after fighting in the European Theatre of World War II had ended with the German surrender of May 8, 1945. ... Protesters marching through the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany took place in June and July 1953. ...

Following a resolution of the government of the USSR 1979/80 20,000 army personnel, 1,000 tanks and much equipment was withdrawn from the territory of the GDR. In the course of Perestroika the GSFG was realigned as a more defensive force regarding strength, structure and equipment. This entailed a clear reduction of the tank forces in 1989 . The withdrawal of the GSFG was one of the largest troop transfers to times of peace 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. Council of Ministers of the USSR (Russian: , tr. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

The return of the troops and material took place particularly by the sea route by means of the ports in Rostock and the island of Ruegen as well as via Poland. The Russian Ground Forces said good-bye on 25 June 1994 with a military parade of the 6th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade in Berlin. The parting celebrations in Wuensdorf on 11 June 1994 and in the Treptower park in Berlin on 31 August 1994 marked the end of Soviet military operational readiness on German soil. Motto: Within your walls be concordance and public welfare Rostock (pronounced // from Polabian Roz toc, literally to flow apart) is the largest city in the north German state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. ... The Russian Ground Forces (Russian: ) are the land forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. ...

In addition to German territories, Group of Soviet Forces in Germany operational territory also included the region of town of Szczecin (Settin), part of the territories transferred from Germany to Poland following the end of the Second World War. Rest of Poland fell under the Northern Group of Forces, while the southern regions (Austria, Czechoslovakia) were under the Central Group of Forces. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Review of 6 Soviet Guard Vitebsk-Novohrod Mechanised Division, Northern Group of Forces, in Borne Sulinowo, Poland. ... Soviet officers in Libavá training center, winter 1985 The Central Group of Forces was a Soviet military formation used to control Soviet troops in Western Europe on two occasions: in Austria and Hungary from 1945-55 and troops stationed in Czechoslovakia after the Prague Spring of 1968. ...

Structure and Equipment in 1991

The Soviet troops occupied 777 barracks plants at 276 locations on the territory of the GDR. 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 WGF. In addition there were still about 208,000 relatives of officers as well as civil employees came, among them were about 90,000 children. Most locations were in the area of today's Brandenburg. Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ...   (Lower Sorbian: Bramborska; Upper Sorbian: Braniborska) is one of Germanys sixteen Bundesländer (federal states). ...

In 1991 there were approximately:

• 4,200 tanks
• 8,200 armored vehicles
• 3,600 artillery pieces
• 106,000 other motor vehicles
• 690 airplanes
• 680 helicopters
• 180 rocket systems

18th Guards Army was withdrawn from Germany to the Belarussian Military District in 1979 and later disbanded. The Belarussian Military District was a military district of the Military of the Soviet Union, activated in the 1920s, active as the Western Special Military District just before Operation Barbarossa, reformed in 1943 initially at Smolensk, with its HQ moved to Minsk in 1944, and disbanded after the fall of...

At the end of the 1980s, the primary Soviet formations included:^{[citation needed]}

• 1st Guards Tank Red Banner Army, Dresden
  • 9th Guards Tank Division
  • 11th Guards Tank Division
  • 20th Motorized Rifle Division
• Second Guards Tank Army, Fürstenberg/Havel
  • 16th Guards Tank Division
  • 21st Guards Motorized Rifle Division
  • 94th Guards Motorized Rifle Division
  • 207th Guards Motorized Rifle Division
• 3rd Shock Army, Magdeburg
  • 7th Guards Tank Division
  • 10th Guards Tank Division
  • 12th Guards Tank Division
  • 47th Tank Division
  • 14th Guards Motorized Rifle Division
• 8th Guards Order of Lenin Army, Nohra
  • 79th Guards Tank Division
  • 27th Guards Motorized Rifle Division
  • 39th Guards Motorized Rifle Division
  • 57th Guards Motorized Rifle Division
• 20th Guards Red Banner Army, Eberswalde-Finow
  • 35th Guards Motorized Rifle Division
  • 6th Guards Motorized Rifle Division
  • 12th Guards Motorized Rifle Division
  • 90th Guards Tank Division
• 16th Air Army
  • 6th Fighter Aviation Division
  • 16th Fighter Aviation Division
  • 126th Fighter Aviation Division
  • 105th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Division
  • 126th Fighter Aviation Division

The Soviet First Guards Tank Army was a Soviet armoured formation that fought as part of the Red Army on the Eastern Front during World War II. The army was commanded throughout most of the war by Mikhail Katukov. ... Dresden (Sorbian: Drježdźany; etymologically from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the riverside forest, Czech: ) is the capital city of the German Federal Free State of Saxony. ... The Second Tank Army was formed in January - February, 1943 on the basis of the 3rd Reserve Army of the Bryansk Front. ... Fürstenberg is a town in the Oberhavel district, in Brandenburg, Germany. ... This article is about the German city. ... The Soviet 8th Guards Army was an army of the Soviet Army, disbanded finally in the early 1990s. ... Nohra is a municipality in the Weimarer Land district of Thuringia, Germany. ... Map of Germany showing Eberswalde Eberswalde is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in the German Federal State (Bundesland) of Brandenburg, about 50 km northeast of Berlin. ... The 90th Guards Tank Division was formed twice. ... The 16th Red Banner Air Army (16 воздушная Краснознаменная армия) is a formation of the Russian Air Force. ...

Commanders-in-Chief of the GSFG

The first three Commanders-in-Chief were also Chiefs of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany. The Soviet Military Administration in Germany (Russian initials: SVAG (Советская военная администрация в Германии, СВ&#1040...

• Georgy Zhukov 9 June 1945 to 21 March 1946
• Vasily Sokolovsky 22 March 1946 until 31 March 1949
• Vasily Chuikov 1 April 1949 until 26 May 1953
• Andrei Grechko 27 May 1953 until 16 November 1957
• Matvei Zakharov 17 November 1957 until 14 April 1960
• Ivan Ignatyevich Yakubovsky 15 April 1960 until 9 August 1961
• Ivan Konev 9 August 1961 to 18 April 1962
• Ivan Ignatyevich Yakubovsky 19. April 1962 to 26. January 1965
• Pyotr Koshevoy 27. January 1965 to 31. October 1969
• Viktor Kulikov 1. November 1969 to 13. September 1972
• Semyon Kurkotkin 14 September 1971 to 19 July 1972
• Yevgeni F. Ivanovski 20 July 1972 to 25. November 1980
• Mikhail M. Zaytsev 26. November 1980 to 6. July 1985
• Pyotr G. Lushev 7 July 1985 to 11 July 1986
• Valeri Belikov 12. July 1986 to 12. November 1987
• Boris W. Snetkow 26. November 1987 to 13. December 1990
• Matvei Burlakov 13 December 1990 to 31 August 1994

Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, GCB (Russian: ) (December 1, 1896 [O.S. November 19]–June 18, 1974), was a Soviet military commander who, in the course of World War II, led the Red Army to liberate the Soviet Union from the Nazi occupation, to overrun... Vasily Danilovich Sokolovsky (Russian: Василий Данилович Соколовский) (July 21, 1897 - May 10, 1968), Soviet military commander, was born into a peasant family in Kozliki, a small town in the province of Grodno, near Białystok in Poland (then part of the Russian Empire). ... Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov (Васи́лий Ива́нович Чуйко́в) (February 12, 1900 - March 18, 1982) was a lieutenant general in the Soviet Red Army during World War II, two times Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945), who after the war became a Marshal of the Soviet Union. ... Marshal of the Soviet Union Andrei Grechko Andrei Antonovich Grechko (October 17, 1903–April 26, 1976) Soviet general, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Minister of Defense, born in small town near Rostov, the son of Ukrainian peasants. ... Marshal of the Soviet Union Matvei Zakharov Matvei Vasilevich Zakharov (August 17, 1898- January 31, 1972) Marshal of the Soviet Union, Chief General Staff, Deputy Defense Minister, born in Kalinin (now Tver) northwest of Moscow, to peasant parents. ... Ivan Ignatyevich Yakubovsky (1912 - 1976) was a Russian marshal. ... Marshal Ivan Konev Ivan Stepanovich Koniev (Russian Иван Степанович Конев) (December 28, 1897 – May 21, 1973), Soviet military commander, was born into a peasant family near Podosinovsky in central Russia (now in Kirov Oblast). ... Petr Kirillovich Koshevoi (Russian: ) (December 21, 1904 — August 30, 1976) was a Soviet military leader. ... Viktor Georgiyevich Kulikov (born July 5, 1921) was the Warsaw Pact commander-in-chief from 1977 to 1989. ... Semyon Konstantinovich Kurkotkin (February 13, 1917 - September 16, 1990) was appointed Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1983. ...

References and See Also

1. ^ website, Axis History Forum

• Lutz Freundt, Sovetskiye voyska v Germanii, 1945-1994 (Soviet Troops in Germany 1945-1994), Molodaya Gvardiya Publishing House, 1994.
• 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, ISBN 3-86153-246-8. This German book, The Red Star over Germany, Soviet troops in the GDR, presents 49 years of the Soviet Army stationed in East Germany. The 256 pages of the book cover it all: from 49,000 who perished in prison camps of the Soviet zone, to the 18 Russian soldiers who refused to shoot unarmed Germans.
• Divisions of the Soviet Union 1917-1945
• List of Soviet Army divisions 1989-91

Young Guard may refer to one of the following The Young Guard (Napoleon), a French elite military unit during the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. ... Red star on the Soviet flag The five-pointed red star (a pentagram without the inner pentagon) is a symbol of Communism and Socialism and represents the five fingers of the workers hand, as well as five of six inhabited continents. ... GDR redirects here. ... The Soviet Unions Red Army raised over four hundred and fifty rifle divisions(infantry) during the Second World War, and over fifty cavalry divisions as well as many other artillery divisions and similar units. ... V.I. Feskov, K.A. Kalashnikov, V.I. Golikov, The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War 1945-91, Tomsk University Publishing House, Tomsk, 2004 Category: ...

External links

• Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
• GSFG (Russian)
• The Group of Soviet Forces in Germany