Northern Group of Forces
Encyclopedia
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
stationed in Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
from the end of Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1945 until 1993 when they were withdrawn in the aftermath of the fall of Soviet Union. Although officially considered Polish allies under the Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
treaty, they were seen by most Poles as a Soviet occupation force.
History
The Soviet forces entered Poland as they were advancing towards GermanyNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in the course of the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
Byelorussian Strategic Offensive Operation (Summer 1944). Following the Vistula-Oder
Vistula-Oder Offensive
The Vistula–Oder Offensive was a successful Red Army operation on the Eastern Front in the European Theatre of World War II; it took place between 12 January and 2 February 1945...
offensives (early 1945), the entire Polish territory was cleared from Nazi occupation by Soviet forces. While formal Polish sovereignty was almost immediately restored, the territory of Poland fell under de facto Soviet control as the Soviet military and security forces acted to ensure that Poland would be ruled by the Soviet-installed communist puppet government of Poland
Polish Committee of National Liberation
The Polish Committee of National Liberation , also known as the Lublin Committee, was a provisional government of Poland, officially proclaimed 21 July 1944 in Chełm under the direction of State National Council in opposition to the Polish government in exile...
.
As the war ended, the structure of the Soviet military was reorganized from a war-time to the peace-time establishment. Directive No. 11097 of 10 June 1945 created several new formations, known as Groups of Forces, equivalent to military district
Military district
Military districts are formations of a state's armed forces which are responsible for a certain area of territory. They are often more responsible for administrative than operational matters, and in countries with conscript forces, often handle parts of the conscription cycle.Navies have also used...
s, but used for command and administration of Soviet forces outside the Soviet Union itself. One of those new formations, at that time 300,000-400,000 strong, was to be stationed in Poland. It was mostly based on the 2nd Belorussian Front
2nd Belorussian Front
The 2nd Belorussian Front was a military formation of Army group size of the Soviet Army during the Second World War...
of General Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Rokossovskiy was a Polish-origin Soviet career officer who was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, as well as Marshal of Poland and Polish Defence Minister, who was famously known for his service in the Eastern Front, where he received high esteem for his outstanding military skill...
(formerly stationed around Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...
and Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
). With the exception of Szczecin
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
(Stettin), which fell under the operational territory of the Western Group of Forces, the Northern Group of Forces was located entirely within the territory of Poland.
The Polish communist government, which largely owed its existence to the Soviets (see Polish Committee of National Liberation
Polish Committee of National Liberation
The Polish Committee of National Liberation , also known as the Lublin Committee, was a provisional government of Poland, officially proclaimed 21 July 1944 in Chełm under the direction of State National Council in opposition to the Polish government in exile...
, Polish people's referendum, 1946
Polish people's referendum, 1946
The People's Referendum of 1946, also known as the "Three Times Yes" referendum, was a referendum held in Poland on 30 June 1946 on the authority of the State National Council...
, Polish legislative election, 1947
Polish legislative election, 1947
The Polish legislative election of 1947 was held on January 19, 1947 in the People's Republic of Poland. The anti-communist opposition candidates and activists were persecuted and the eventual results were falsified...
), signed several agreements with the Soviet Union regulating the status and purpose of the Soviet troops.
In the early years, the Soviet forces aided Polish Communists in establishing their government and combating anti-communist and nationalist resistance, such as the Polish cursed soldiers
Cursed soldiers
The cursed soldiers is a name applied to a variety of Polish resistance movements formed in the later stages of World War II and afterwards. Created by some members of the Polish Secret State, these clandestine organizations continued their armed struggle against the Stalinist government of Poland...
or the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (see Operation Vistula). Finally, in the first post-war years, the major task of the Northern Group was to organize and transport war reparations
War reparations
War reparations are payments intended to cover damage or injury during a war. Generally, the term war reparations refers to money or goods changing hands, rather than such property transfers as the annexation of land.- History :...
from the former eastern territories of Germany attached to Poland after World War II (the so-called Recovered Territories
Recovered Territories
Recovered or Regained Territories was an official term used by the People's Republic of Poland to describe those parts of pre-war Germany that became part of Poland after World War II...
) to the Soviet Union; those actions, often involving complete stripping down of industrial facilities, sometimes also took place in the traditional Polish territories. This caused tensions between the Soviets and the Polish government, which intended to use the resources of those territories to rebuild Poland.
By 1949 the Soviet Union had concluded twenty-year bilateral treaties of friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance with Poland and several other countries, which usually granted the Soviet Union rights to a continued military presence on their territory. The Polish government, however, had no operational control over the Soviet forces. On December 17, 1956, as one of the agreements of the Polish October
Polish October
Polish October, also known as October 1956, Polish thaw, or Gomułka's thaw, marked a change in the Polish internal political scene in the second half of 1956...
period, the Polish and Soviet governments signed the dedicated treaty
Status of Forces Agreement
A status of forces agreement is an agreement between a host country and a foreign nation stationing forces in that country. SOFAs are often included, along with other types of military agreements, as part of a comprehensive security arrangement...
that would finally fully regulate the Soviet military presence in Poland, the "Agreement on Legal Status of Soviet Troops Temporarily Stationed in Poland". According to the 1956 treaty (which was further developed by later, more specific amendments), the Soviet military in Poland was limited to 66,000 troops, although the Soviets never fully disclosed the actual number of personnel of the Northern Group to the Polish government, and the Polish government had no right to inspect the Soviet bases. The treaty also limited the number of Soviet bases in Poland to 39, while the actual number of bases reached 79. The Soviets also installed nuclear weapons in Poland, without informing the Polish government of that fact. The treaty's name declared the Soviet military presence to be temporary, while in fact the treaty did not contain any limitations to the duration of their stay, nor any provisions on their withdrawal. Until the 1956 agreement, the Soviet troops stationed in Poland were seen by some Poles as occupying Polish territory; even afterwards they were de facto exempt from any Polish oversight and their role of an 'allied force' stationed in the territory was viewed by many as a mere propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
claim. The issue of Polish-Soviet military cooperation was further regulated the next year, and in the 1965 Polish-Soviet friendship treaty that reflected the Soviet domination of Polish military policy.
The Northern Group of Forces had several objectives. With the beginning of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, it was to act, together with other Groups of Forces, as a counterpart to the Western Allies
Western Allies
The Western Allies were a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It generally includes the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth, the United States, France and various other European and Latin American countries, but excludes China, the Soviet Union,...
(particularly the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) forces in Europe. Later, in that regard it represented part of the Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
forces, countering the NATO troops. Its second objective was much less stressed in public Soviet sources, but nonetheless crucial: it was to ensure the loyalty of the Polish communist government, and its Polish People's Army; a policy consistent with that of the Brezhnev Doctrine
Brezhnev Doctrine
The Brezhnev Doctrine was a Soviet Union foreign policy, first and most clearly outlined by S. Kovalev in a September 26, 1968 Pravda article, entitled “Sovereignty and the International Obligations of Socialist Countries.” Leonid Brezhnev reiterated it in a speech at the Fifth Congress of the...
, and enforced during events such as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 or the Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
of 1968. Soviet forces were mobilized and actually advanced on Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
during Polish October
Polish October
Polish October, also known as October 1956, Polish thaw, or Gomułka's thaw, marked a change in the Polish internal political scene in the second half of 1956...
in 1956, and there were threats that they could be similarly used before the martial law in Poland
Martial law in Poland
Martial law in Poland refers to the period of time from December 13, 1981 to July 22, 1983, when the authoritarian government of the People's Republic of Poland drastically restricted normal life by introducing martial law in an attempt to crush political opposition to it. Thousands of opposition...
was introduced to stem the progress of the Solidarity movement in 1980. All of the objectives of the Northern Group were shared with the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany in the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
and to a lesser extent with the two Groups with a shorter history: the Central Group of Forces
Central Group of Forces
The Central Group of Forces was a Soviet military formation used to control Soviet troops in Central Europe on two occasions: in Austria and Hungary from 1945-55 and troops stationed in Czechoslovakia after the Prague Spring of 1968....
in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
(from 1968 on) and the Southern Group of Forces
Southern Group of Forces
The Southern Group of Forces was a Soviet Armed Forces formation formed twice following the Second World War, most notably around the time of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956....
in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and (only until 1958) Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
.
The presence of Soviet forces on Polish territory caused several problems, in addition to the war reparations issue. Although not supported by the Soviet High Command, excesses by individual soldiers of the Red Army led to mounting tensions between Soviet forces and the Polish population. Contemporary archives contained many reports of mugging, burglary, rape and murder attributed to Soviet soldiers in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War; even Polish Communists were uneasy, as in 1945 the future Chairman of the Polish Council of State
Polish Council of State
The Council of State of the Republic of Poland was introduced by the 1947 Small Constitution. It consisted of the President of the Republic of Poland, the Marshal and Vicemarshals of Constituent Sejm, President of the Supreme Chamber of Control and could consist of other members...
, Aleksander Zawadzki
Aleksander Zawadzki
Aleksander Zawadzki was a Polish Communist political figure and head of state of Poland from 1952 to 1964.A member of the Communist Youth Union, Zawadzki went into exile in the Soviet Union in 1931, after spending six years in prison for "subversive activities." He returned to Poland in 1939, just...
, worried that "raping and looting of the Soviet army would provoke a civil war". In the early years, the Red Army appropriated any resources it needed from the Polish government with no thought of compensation, or treating Poles as their allies. For example, when the Northern Group commander, Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Rokossovskiy was a Polish-origin Soviet career officer who was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, as well as Marshal of Poland and Polish Defence Minister, who was famously known for his service in the Eastern Front, where he received high esteem for his outstanding military skill...
, decided that it should be headquartered in Legnica
Legnica
Legnica is a town in south-western Poland, in Silesia, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the plain of Legnica, riverside: Kaczawa and Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 1975 and 31 December 1998 Legnica was the capital of the Legnica Voivodeship. It is currently the seat of the county...
, he ordered all Poles, including communist officials who were organizing the city and provincial government, to vacate one third of the city within 24 hours, later requisitioning any of their private belongings (like furniture) left behind. This incident was perceived by contemporaries as a particularly brutal action, and rumors circulated exaggerating its severity. Later, Polish settlements in which Soviet garrisons were placed were inconvenienced in other ways, for example by being removed from all official maps or by the low flying Soviet jets, training at night. Approximately 600 Polish citizens died over the years 1945-1993 in crimes or accidents for which the Soviet soldiers were responsible. The Soviet army, which was subject to many financial privileges (reduced taxation, import tariffs, etc.), often refused to pay for municipal resources it consumed, particularly water, gas or electricity. On the other hand, Soviet units did also aid the locals with infrastructure projects, harvests, or during environmental disasters.
After the fall of communism in Poland in 1989, and with the signs of the fall of the Soviet Union, the new Polish government wanted the Soviet troops to leave Poland. By that time the Northern Group had already shrunk to 58,000 troops, but its military installations were still spread over about 700 square kilometres of Polish territory. After a new treaty in late 1991 and May 1992, and Poland's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet agreed to withdraw military units by 1992 and support units by 1993. Soviet troops begun leaving Poland, with the first group exiting in 1991. All troops left Poland by the end of 1993, the last leaving on 18 September. Symbolically, Polish President Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...
saw them off on 17 September, the anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939
Soviet invasion of Poland (1939)
The 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland was a Soviet military operation that started without a formal declaration of war on 17 September 1939, during the early stages of World War II. Sixteen days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west, the Soviet Union did so from the east...
.
Structure
The Group was headquartered in LegnicaLegnica
Legnica is a town in south-western Poland, in Silesia, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the plain of Legnica, riverside: Kaczawa and Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 1975 and 31 December 1998 Legnica was the capital of the Legnica Voivodeship. It is currently the seat of the county...
, Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia ; is the northwestern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia; Upper Silesia is to the southeast.Throughout its history Lower Silesia has been under the control of the medieval Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy from 1526...
, where Soviet military took over 1/3 of the city as their extraterritorial enclave (although for six years the operational headquarters was in Świdnica
Swidnica
Świdnica is a city in south-western Poland in the region of Silesia. It has a population of 60,317 according to 2006 figures. It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, being the seventh largest town in that voivodeship. From 1975–98 it was in the former Wałbrzych Voivodeship...
). Other major Soviet military bases were located in Bagicz
Bagicz
Bagicz is a settlement in the administrative district of Gmina Ustronie Morskie, within Kołobrzeg County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Ustronie Morskie, north-east of Kołobrzeg, and north-east of the regional capital Szczecin.Before...
, Białogard, Brzeg
Brzeg
Brzeg is a town in southwestern Poland with 38,496 inhabitants , situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on the left bank of the Oder...
, Borne Sulinowo
Borne Sulinowo
Borne Sulinowo is a town in Poland's Western Pomeranian Voivodship, in the Powiat of Szczecinek. It is a capital of a separate gmina and home to 4149 inhabitants...
(one of the two largest), Burzykowo, Chojna
Chojna
Chojna is a small town in western Poland in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It lies approximately 60 km south of Szczecin and participates in the Douzelage....
, Dębice
Debice
Dębice may refer to the following villages in Poland:* Dębice, Lower Silesian Voivodeship * Dębice, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship * Dębice, Greater Poland Voivodeship...
, Kęszyca Leśna
Keszyca Lesna
Kęszyca Leśna is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Międzyrzecz, within Międzyrzecz County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Międzyrzecz, south of Gorzów Wielkopolski, and north of Zielona Góra....
, Kluczewo
Kluczewo Airfield
Kluczewo Airfield is a former Soviet airbase located in Kluczewo, a suburb of Stargard Szczeciński in Poland. Its concrete runway measures 2500 x 60 m, but it is closed to air traffic....
, Kłomino, Nowa Sól
Nowa Sól
Nowa Sól is a town on the Oder River in Lubusz Voivodeship, western Poland. It is the capital of Nowa Sól County and had a population of 40,351 as of 2006.-History:...
, Oława, Przemków
Przemków
Przemków is a town in Polkowice County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Przemków. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany...
-Trzebień
Trzebien
Trzebień may refer to the following places in Poland:*Trzebień, Lower Silesian Voivodeship *Trzebień, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship *Trzebień, Masovian Voivodeship...
(may refer to the same base as Strachów/Pstrąże), Strachów
Strachów
Strachów may refer to the following places in Poland:*Strachów, Strzelin County in Lower Silesian Voivodeship *Strachów, Wrocław County in Lower Silesian Voivodeship *Strachów, Łódź Voivodeship...
(now - deserted town shown as Pstrąże on maps), Świdnica
Swidnica
Świdnica is a city in south-western Poland in the region of Silesia. It has a population of 60,317 according to 2006 figures. It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, being the seventh largest town in that voivodeship. From 1975–98 it was in the former Wałbrzych Voivodeship...
, Świętoszów
Swietoszów
Świętoszów is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Osiecznica, within Bolesławiec County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany....
, Świnoujście
Swinoujscie
Świnoujście is a city and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, located in the extreme north-west of Poland. It is situated mainly on the islands of Uznam and Wolin, but also occupies smaller islands, of which the largest is Karsibór island, once part of Usedom, now separated by a Piast...
(military harbor), Szprotawa
Szprotawa
Szprotawa is a town in Poland, in Lubusz Voivodeship, in Żagań County. It has 12,648 inhabitants .- History :The first information about the terrains of today's Szprotawa comes at 1000 from the chronicle of bishop Thietmar of Merseburg, who accompanied the emperor Otto III on pilgrimage to the...
, Wschowa
Wschowa
Wschowa is a town in the Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland with 14,607 inhabitants . It is the capital of Wschowa County.-History:Wschowa was originally a border fortress in a region disputed by the Polish dukes of Silesia and Greater Poland. After German colonists had established a settlement nearby,...
, Żagań
Zagan
Zagan may refer to:*Zagan - a demon in the Ars Goetia*Żagań - a town in west Poland...
. Those bases included 15 airfields, 1 large and 11 smaller ports,
In the late 1940s the NGF's forces included:
- 43rd Army (Soviet Union) was stationed in the region GdańskGdanskGdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
- ŚwinoujścieSwinoujscieŚwinoujście is a city and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, located in the extreme north-west of Poland. It is situated mainly on the islands of Uznam and Wolin, but also occupies smaller islands, of which the largest is Karsibór island, once part of Usedom, now separated by a Piast...
- SzczecinekSzczecinekSzczecinek [] is a city in Middle Pomerania, northwestern Poland with some 39,777 inhabitants . Previously in Koszalin Voivodeship , it has been the capital of Szczecinek County in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999...
; one of its corps was stationed on the DanishDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
island of BornholmBornholmBornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea located to the east of the rest of Denmark, the south of Sweden, and the north of Poland. The main industries on the island include fishing, arts and crafts like glass making and pottery using locally worked clay, and dairy farming. Tourism is...
. However it was disbanded in the summer of 1946. - Soviet 65th ArmyArmy (Soviet Army)An army, besides the generalized meanings of ‘a country's armed forces’ or its ‘land forces’, is a type of formation in militaries of various countries, including the Soviet Union. This article serves a central point of reference for Soviet armies without individual articles, and explains some of...
was stationed in the region Łódź - PoznańPoznanPoznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
- Wrocław. 7th Red Banner Tank Army was created in 1946 from HQ, 65th Army and in 1947 was brought out into Belorussia. - Soviet 52nd Army was stationed in the region KielceKielceKielce ) is a city in central Poland with 204,891 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship...
- CzęstochowaCzestochowaCzęstochowa is a city in south Poland on the Warta River with 240,027 inhabitants . It has been situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously the capital of Częstochowa Voivodeship...
- KrakówKrakówKraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
. - Soviet 96th Rifle Corps was stationed in the region Łomża - Mława - Pułtusk.
- Soviet 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps was stationed in LublinLublinLublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
. - Soviet 3rd Guards Tank CorpsTank Corps (Soviet)-Pre-War Development of Soviet Mechanised Forces:In Soviet Russia, the so called armored forces preceded the Tank Corps. They consisted of the motorised armored units made of armored vehicles and armored trains...
was stationed in KrakówKrakówKraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
. - Soviet 5th Tank CorpsTank Corps (Soviet)-Pre-War Development of Soviet Mechanised Forces:In Soviet Russia, the so called armored forces preceded the Tank Corps. They consisted of the motorised armored units made of armored vehicles and armored trains...
was stationed in Białystok. - 10th Tank Corps10th Guards Uralsko-Lvovskaya Tank DivisionThe 10th Guards Uralsko-Lvovskaya Volunteer Tank Division, also known at the Ural-Lvov Tank Division, is a tank division of the Russian Ground Forces and part of the Moscow Military District's 20th Army, under the command of Lt. General Andrey Tretyak. The division traces its heritage back to 1943,...
was stationed in KrotoszynKrotoszynKrotoszyn is a town in central Poland with 30,010 inhabitants . It has been part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship since 1999; it was within Kalisz Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998....
. - 20th Tank Corps was stationed in Wrocław. This formation became the 20th Tank Division later in 1945.
- Elements of the Soviet 4th Air Army4th Air ArmyThe 4th Air Army was a Soviet Air Force formation and from 1992 to 2009 was part of the Russian Air Force. From 1998 the army was designated the 4th Army of Air Forces and Air Defence. It was first established on 22 May 1942 from the Air Forces of the Soviet Southern Front, and fought on the...
were also stationed in Poland: Soviet 8th Fighter Corps, Soviet 4th Air Assault Corps and Soviet 5th Bomber Corps.
Altogether the Northern Group of Forces had three ground and one air Armies, 4 tank corps (from July 1945 reorganized into tank divisions), 30 rifle division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
s, 12 air divisions, 1 cavalry corps and 10 artillery divisions. The formation had a strength of around 300,000-400,000 soldiers stationed in Poland.
This large number of formations was quickly reduced as the post war demobilisations took place.
By 1955 the force had been reduced to the 18th, 26th, and 27th Rifle Divisions, the 20th Tank Division, and the 26th Mechanised Division - probably numbering no more than 100,000 troops.
Much later, after many reorganisations and reductions, the 6th Motor Rifle Division and 20th Tank Division were the principal Soviet formations stationed in the Group in the 1980s and early 1990s.
In 1990s, when the Group was preparing for leaving Poland, it had the strength of approximately 56,000 soldiers, with 600 tanks, 400 artillery pieces and 200 planes.
The Northern Group had its own newspaper, the Znamia Pobiedy (Flag of Victory).
The Northern Group had nuclear weapons deployed in at least three bases in Poland with some 178 nuclear assets, growing to 250 in the late 1980s.
Soviet
Commanders of Northern Group of Forces- June 1945 - October 1949: Marshal of the Soviet UnionMarshal of the Soviet UnionMarshal of the Soviet Union was the de facto highest military rank of the Soviet Union. ....
Konstantin RokossovskyKonstantin RokossovskyKonstantin Rokossovskiy was a Polish-origin Soviet career officer who was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, as well as Marshal of Poland and Polish Defence Minister, who was famously known for his service in the Eastern Front, where he received high esteem for his outstanding military skill... - October 1949 - August 1950: colonel general Kuzma Trubnikov
- September 1950 - July 1952: lieutenant general Alexei Radziyevsky
- July 1952 - June 1955: lieutenant general Mikhail Konstantinov
- June 1955 - February 1958: army general Kuz'ma Galitsky
- February 1958 - March 1963: colonel general Georgi Khetagurov
- March 1963 - June 1964: colonel general Sergei Maryakhin
- June 1964 - October 1964: lieutenant general Alexander Rudakov
- October 1964 - June 1967: colonel general Gleb Baklanov
- June 1967 - November 1968: army general Ivan Shkadov
- December 1968 - May 1973: colonel general Magomet Tankayev
- June 1973 - July 1975: colonel general Ivan GerasimovIvan HerasymovIvan Oleksandrovych Herasymov was a Russian-born Soviet Union 4 star general, Ukrainian politician and deputy in the Ukrainian parliament...
- July 1975 - January 1978: colonel general Oleg Kulishev
- February 1978 - August 1984: colonel general Yuri Zarudin
- August 1984 - February 1987: colonel general Alexander Kovtunov
- February 1987 - June 1989: colonel general Ivan Korbutov
- July 1989 - June 1992: colonel general Viktor DubyninViktor DubyninViktor Petrovich Dubynin was a prominent Soviet and Russian military figure, General of the Army, Hero of the Russian Federation .Born in 1943, Viktor Dubynin had been in service with the Soviet Army since 1961...
- June 1992 - September 1993: colonel general Leonid Kovalyov
Polish
Representative of Polish Council of Ministers- June 1945 - 1946: colonel Antoni Alster
Delegates of Economical Committee of Council of Ministers
- December 1946 - July 1947: colonel Julian Tokarski
- July 1947 - May 1949: colonel Wojciech Wilkoński
- May 1949 - 1952: colonel Teodor Kusznierek
- 1952 - 1957: colonel Jan Kogut
Representatives of Polish People's Army in the matter of stay of Soviet forces in Poland
- April 1957 - April 1968: brigade general Leszek Krzemień (also known as Maks Wolf)
- April 1968 - November 1972: division general Czesław Jan Czubryt-Borkowski
- November 1972 - March 1977: division general Józef Stebelski
- April 1977 - 1986: division general Michał Stryga
- 1986 - December 1988: division general Zbigniew Ohanowicz
- January 1989 - October 1990: brigade general Mieczysław Dębicki
- October 1990 - February 1995: brigade general Zdzisław Ostrowski
Aftermath
The Red Army was stationed in Poland for 48 years; it is estimated that its stay cost the Polish state 62.6 billion1000000000 (number)
1,000,000,000 is the natural number following 999,999,999 and preceding 1,000,000,001.In scientific notation, it is written as 109....
złoty (in 1993 prices, approx. 3.5 billion US dollars, not counting items removed from Polish territory after World War II); however, the Polish government decided to waive any claims to ensure a quicker evacuation of Soviet troops. The Soviets also claimed that any costs Poland incurred were balanced by the various aid (ex. infrastructure construction) provided over the years by the Soviet troops, as well as by the liberation from the Nazi occupation and later security.
In 1994 Polish government passed a legislation covering the use of the territories formerly used by the Soviet forces. Most of those territories have been put on sale by the Polish government. Some of the Soviet administered areas were subject to ecological contamination and pollution (by oil products, heavy metals, unexploded ordnance
Unexploded ordnance
Unexploded ordnance are explosive weapons that did not explode when they were employed and still pose a risk of detonation, potentially many decades after they were used or discarded.While "UXO" is widely and informally used, munitions and explosives of...
). They were also damaged by years of disrepair and poor maintenance.
External links
- Group of Soviet Forces in Poland Northern Group of Forces (NGF)
- Partial order of battle in 1989 Informacje ogólne związane z pobytem PGWAR w Polsce Mirosław Golon, Północna Grupa Wojsk Armii Radzieckiej w Polsce w latach 1945-1956. Okupant w roli sojusznika, 2004, Historicus - Portal Historyczny
Further reading
- Północna Grupa Wojsk Armii Radzieckiej w Polsce w latach 1945-1956. Okupant w roli sojusznika, Czasy Nowożytne, t. VI, Wyd. Fundacja „Pomerania” i Fundacja Uniwersytecka KUL, Toruń 1999, p. 37-115
- Mariusz Lesław Krogulski, Okupacja w imię sojuszu, VON BOROWIECKY, 2001, ISBN 8387689408