Molotov Line
Encyclopedia
The so-called Molotov Line was a system of border fortifications built by the Soviet Union in the years 1940–1941 along its new western borders. These borders where the result of the Occupation of the Baltic States, Eastern Poland
and Bessarabia
in 1940.
The line stretched from the Baltic Sea
to the Carpathian Mountains
. It was made up of thirteen fortified regions, most covering about 100 km of the border. It was a part of the larger Soviet defence network along its western borders, stretching from the Arctic Ocean
to the Black Sea
.
Each fortified region (in Russian ukreplennyi raion, or UR) consisted of a large number of concrete bunkers (pillboxes) armed with machineguns, antitank guns and artillery. The bunkers were built in groups for mutual support, each group forming a centre of resistance. A dedicated military unit was permanently assigned to man each region.
When Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 during the course of Operation Barbarossa
, most of the line was not yet finished, and hence posed a negligible obstacle to the invading forces. Only the four southernmost regions, partly completed, were able to hamper the advance of the Wehrmacht
for a few days. (The Brest Fortress
resisted much longer, but it was an older fortification technically not part of the Molotov line).
The ruins of these fortifications, many of them well preserved, can be found today in Lithuania
, Poland, Belarus
and Ukraine
. The modern borders are somewhat different from the borders in 1941, and hence some sections of the line do not lie in border zones and are easily accessible. On the other hand, other sections do lie right along the modern Polish-Ukrainian, Polish-Belarusian and Lithuanian-Russian borders, so access to them may still be restricted for reasons of border security.
In Lithuania the line consisted of four fortified regions:
Overall 101 bunkers were built in Lithuania but many were not fully completed. They were significantly vulnerable and could be neutralised quickly by throwing grenades or burning fuel into periscope shafts, which were absolutely unprotected.
Continuing south, the other regions, today located along the eastern border of Poland with Belarus and Ukraine, were:
The name Molotov line is informal and has come into use relatively recently. It was popularised by the writings of Viktor Suvorov
, notably by his book Icebreaker
.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
in 1940.
The line stretched from the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
to the Carpathian Mountains
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
. It was made up of thirteen fortified regions, most covering about 100 km of the border. It was a part of the larger Soviet defence network along its western borders, stretching from the Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
to the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
.
Each fortified region (in Russian ukreplennyi raion, or UR) consisted of a large number of concrete bunkers (pillboxes) armed with machineguns, antitank guns and artillery. The bunkers were built in groups for mutual support, each group forming a centre of resistance. A dedicated military unit was permanently assigned to man each region.
When Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 during the course of Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, most of the line was not yet finished, and hence posed a negligible obstacle to the invading forces. Only the four southernmost regions, partly completed, were able to hamper the advance of the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
for a few days. (The Brest Fortress
Brest Fortress
Brest Fortress , formerly known as Brest-Litovsk Fortress , is a 19th century Russian fortress in Brest, Belarus. It is one of the most important Soviet World War II war monuments commemorating the Soviet resistance against the German invasion on June 22, 1941...
resisted much longer, but it was an older fortification technically not part of the Molotov line).
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Poland, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. The modern borders are somewhat different from the borders in 1941, and hence some sections of the line do not lie in border zones and are easily accessible. On the other hand, other sections do lie right along the modern Polish-Ukrainian, Polish-Belarusian and Lithuanian-Russian borders, so access to them may still be restricted for reasons of border security.
In Lithuania the line consisted of four fortified regions:
- 1. TelšiaiTelšiaiTelšiai , is a city in Lithuania with about 35,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of Telšiai County and Samogitia region, and it is located on Lake Mastis.-Names:...
fortified region (line from PalangaPalangaPalanga and beautiful sand dunes. Officially Palanga has the status of a city municipality and includes Šventoji, Nemirseta, Būtingė and other settlements, which are considered as part of the city of Palanga.-Legend:...
to JudrėnaiJudrėnaiJudrėnai is a small town in Klaipėda County, in northwestern Lithuania. According to the 2001 census, the town has a population of 531 people....
, 75 kilometers, 8 centers of resistance, 23 bunkers built and 366 under construction on June 22, 1941). - 2. ŠiauliaiŠiauliaiŠiauliai , is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 133,900. It is the capital of Šiauliai County. Unofficially, the city is the capital of Northern Lithuania.-Names:...
fortified region (line from PajūrisPajūrisPajūris is a small town in Tauragė County, in western Lithuania. According to the 2001 census, the town has a population of 945 people....
to JurbarkasJurbarkasJurbarkas is a city in Tauragė County, Lithuania. It is on the right-hand shore of the Neman River at its confluence with the tributaries Mituva and Imsre...
, 90 kilometers, 6 centers of resistance, 27 bunkers built and 403 under construction). - 3. KaunasKaunasKaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
fortified region (line from Jurbarkas to Kalvarija, 105 kilometers, 10 centers of resistance, 31 bunkers built and 599 under construction). - 4. AlytusAlytusAlytus is a city with municipal rights in southern Lithuania. It is the capital of Alytus County. Its population in 2007 was 68,835. Alytus is the historical centre of the Dzūkija region. The city lies on the banks of the Nemunas River. The major highways linking Vilnius, Kaunas, Lazdijai, and...
fortified region (line from Kalvarija to border of Lithuanian SSRLithuanian SSRThe Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union...
, 57 kilometers, 5 centers of resistance, 20 bunkers built and 273 under construction).
Overall 101 bunkers were built in Lithuania but many were not fully completed. They were significantly vulnerable and could be neutralised quickly by throwing grenades or burning fuel into periscope shafts, which were absolutely unprotected.
Continuing south, the other regions, today located along the eastern border of Poland with Belarus and Ukraine, were:
- 5. Grodno fortified region - 80 km, 9 centers of resistance, 42/98/606 bunkers operational/built/under construction on June 22, 1941 (in Belarus and Poland)
- 6. OsowiecOsowiecOsowiec is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Goniądz, within Mońki County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland.The village has a population of 60.-References:...
fortified region - 60 km, 8 centers of resistance, 35/59/594 (in Poland) - 7. ZambrówZambrówZambrów is a town in northeastern Poland with 22,933 inhabitants . It is the capital of Zambrów County. Situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship , previously in Łomża Voivodeship .-History:...
fortified region - 70 km, 10 centers of resistance, 30/53/550 (in Poland) - 8. BrestBrest, BelarusBrest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...
fortified region - 120 km, 10 centers of resistance, 49/128/380 (in Poland and Belarus) - 9. KovelKovelKovel is a city located in the Volyn Oblast , in northwestern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Kovelskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast. The current estimated population is around 65,777.Kovel gives its name to one of the...
fortified region - 80 km, 9 centers of resistance, 138 bunkers under construction (in Ukraine) - 10. Volodymyr-Volyns'kyi fortified region - 60 km, 7 centers of resistance, 97/97/141 (in Ukraine)
- 11. Kamyanka-Buzka (Kamionka Strumiłowa) fortified region - 45 km, 5 centers of resistance, 84/84/180 (in Ukraine)
- 12. Rawa Ruska fortified region - 90 km, 13 centers of resistance, 95/95/306 (in Poland and Ukraine)
- 13. PrzemyślPrzemyslPrzemyśl is a city in south-eastern Poland with 66,756 inhabitants, as of June 2009. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it was previously the capital of Przemyśl Voivodeship....
fortified region - 120 km, 9 centers of resistance, 99/99/186 over 140 bunkers were built (in Poland and Ukraine)
The name Molotov line is informal and has come into use relatively recently. It was popularised by the writings of Viktor Suvorov
Viktor Suvorov
Viktor Suvorov is the pen name for Vladimir Bogdanovich Rezun , a former Soviet and now British writer of Russian and Ukrainian descent who writes primarily in Russian, as well as a former Soviet military intelligence spy who defected to the UK...
, notably by his book Icebreaker
Icebreaker (Suvorov)
Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War?, by Viktor Suvorov is a 1987 documentary book, which alleges that World War II started as a result of Joseph Stalin's ploy to "liberate" the working class of Europe and eventually the whole world.-Suvorov's thesis:Suvorov challenges the widely-accepted...
.
External links
- Page about Molotov Line in southeast Poland, includes excellent gallery
- Molotov Line statistics
- http://tunelis.ginklai.net/fortification/molotov/index.en.html - Molotov line pictures in Lithuania
- Slovaks against the Molotov Line (I.)
- Slovaks against the Molotov Line (II.)
- Molotov Line in Poland with GPS positions (in Polish)