Fortified space

As Fortified room ( Russian Укреплённый район short: Russian Укрепрайон - UR), both the fortifications along the former borders of the Soviet Union as well as units of the Red Army during the German-Soviet war called (1941-1945).

Fortifications along the state border of the Soviet Union

Before the German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, 57 URs had been laid out along the borders to cover strategically important points, in particular river crossings and access routes. The majority of the UR (42) were established in the western military districts. By June 1941, however, most of the systems were only partially completed; some of the technical equipment in older systems had been removed and used in new buildings.

Fortification program from 1928

In the summer of 1927, a first building program was decided. Four strategically important areas should be fortified:

The facilities in Karelia were intended to block the access routes to Leningrad east of Lake Ladoga and protect this important industrial center against attack from Finland. In the Polotsk area, the systems secured the crossings over the Daugava and the Polotsk railway junction against a Polish advance towards Smolensk-Moscow. In the Mosir area, the traffic routes were also secured against a Polish incursion. A wide fortress arch, which was based on the Dnieper , was supposed to protect the Ukrainian capital Kiev against attacks. This first phase of construction cost around 32 million rubles .

Second construction phase until 1930

As a result of the first five-year plan, it was decided to create nine additional URs. Six of them were in Ukraine, which was of great importance for its agriculture and industry:

In addition, three other UR should secure the border against an attack from the Baltic States:

Third construction phase by 1938

In 1938 it was decided to build eight more URs, most of which were again in Ukraine:

There was also one UR in Belarus and Northern Russia:

When the Second World War broke out in 1939, some of the facilities had not yet been completed and some were already out of date. The bunkers from 1928/29 were only inadequately protected against fire from heavy artillery.

Securing the new western border in 1940

After the German and Soviet conquest of Poland in 1939, the Soviet Union was able to move its western border 200 to 400 km further west. The Soviet leadership did not expect a German attack as Hitler's Germany was still at war with France and Great Britain. At first there were no measures to secure the conquered areas. However, the experience of the winter war against Finland in 1939/1940 showed the value of fortifications. The Red Army had suffered considerable losses trying to break through the so-called " Mannerheim Line ". In the wake of the Winter War, the Soviet Union also acquired Finnish territories in the Leningrad area and the Hanko naval base . In the summer of 1940, work began on building new fortifications:

In Lithuania, which was occupied by the Red Army in June 1940, the construction of three URs to secure the border with East Prussia began:

Six URs were created in the formerly Polish areas:

In addition, the Arctic port of Murmansk was secured by a UR.

Expansion of the security on the western border in 1941

At the beginning of 1941 the Soviet General Staff had come to the conclusion that a German attack was to be expected soon and therefore ordered the accelerated expansion of the fortifications on the western border. Against the opposition of Marshals Zhukov and Tymoshenko , orders were given to dismantle most of the old defenses that were now in the interior of the country and to install weapons and equipment in the newly built fortifications. The fortifications begun in 1941 were intended to complete the defense against Germany and secure the borders against Hungary and Romania:

In addition there were at the Finnish border:

Fortified rooms in the Red Army

Already during the Russian Civil War , the Red Army had set up special units that had high firepower and low personnel requirements, so-called artillery machine gun battalions. These units were used in particular to secure the flanks and to shield from troop concentrations. In 1923 the first independent units were set up, known as fortified rooms . In 1938 there were 25 artillery machine gun battalions serving as crew for the thirteen fortified spaces along the borders of the Soviet Union. An artillery machine gun battalion had a strength of around 650 men, which, depending on the equipment, occupied 15–30 anti-tank positions, 10–15 machine gun positions, 5–10 gun positions, 5–8 searchlight positions and about a dozen other observation and communication posts.

Several artillery machine gun battalions were combined into one fortified space. To distinguish them, the units were numbered, while the fortifications were designated by the place name. On May 21, 1941, the People's Commissariat for Defense ordered the UR to be brought to full strength in the western part of the Soviet Union. At the same time, 17 new UR were set up. As a result, by July 1, 1941, more than 120,000 additional men were to be available to occupy the defenses along the new border. Of the 57 UR that passed on June 22, 1941, 42 were stationed in the western military districts. This armed force, divided into seven regiments and 160 artillery machine gun battalions, had a nominal strength of 192,240 men and had 1,700 artillery pieces and 9,800 machine guns of all kinds. In fact, only 34 percent of the officer positions and 27.7 percent of the non-commissioned officers positions were occupied in this UR Teams only filled up to 47.2 percent.

The UR 1–8, 10–13, 15 and 17 were used in the area of the south-western front, the UR 23, 26–29 in that of the northern front . The northwest front had the UR 41, 42, 44, 46 and 48, the western front over the UR 62-66 and 68. In addition, the UR 80, 81, 84 and 86 still existed in the 9th Army in the Crimea and the UR 83 in the Odessa military district. The UR 101–111 were intended to defend the borders in the Far East.

Strategic importance of fortified spaces

After the end of the civil war and foreign intervention (until 1922), the Soviet Union found itself in a strategically unfavorable position: Militarily and economically weakened, it was almost completely surrounded by hostile states or potential opponents. At the same time, the main industrial centers and the grain surplus areas were within reach of a possible attacker. With the first building program in 1928, the most likely incursion routes were initially to be closed and the most important industrial centers protected.

In later construction phases, too, the main focus was placed on protecting the Ukrainian agricultural and industrial centers, but now long-term defense along the borders was planned. In the event of a surprise attack, the UR were supposed to hold off the enemy until the mobilization and concentration of the Red Army had been completed to such an extent that a counterattack could take place. Conversely, the UR should also cover the deployment and deployment of the Red Army in the run-up to a Soviet attack.

Remarks

literature

David M. Glantz: Stumbling Colossus. The Red Army on the eve of World War . University Press of Kansas, Lawrence 1998, ISBN 0-7006-0879-6 , pp. 149-151 .
JE Kaufmann, RM Jurga: Fortress Europe. European Fortifications of World War II . PA Combined Publishing, Conshohocken 1999, ISBN 978-1-58097-000-6 , pp. 349-380 .
Robert E. Tarleton: What Really Happened to the Stalin Line? Part I . In: Journal of Slavic Military Studies . tape 5 , no. 2 , 1992, p. 187-219 .
Robert E. Tarleton: What Really Happened to the Stalin Line? Part II . In: Journal of Slavic Military Studies . tape 6 , no. 1 , 1993, p. 21-61 .
Neil Short: The Stalin and Molotov Lines . Osprey, Oxford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84603-192-2 .
Steven J. Zaloga , Leland S. Ness: Companion to the Red Army. 1939-1945 . 2nd Edition. The History Press, Brimscombe Port 2009, ISBN 978-0-7524-5475-7 , pp. 53-59 .

Web links

Commons : Soviet fortifications - collection of images, videos, and audio files

Statistical information on the fortifications of the first three construction phases. Retrieved May 14, 2010 .
Photos from the “Stalin Line” Museum (Minsk Fortified Region). Retrieved May 14, 2010 .
Fortifications of the "Molotow Line" in southern Poland near Przemyśl. Retrieved May 14, 2010 (Polish).
Site about the fortifications in Lithuania. Retrieved May 14, 2010 .
Slovaks against the Molotov Line (I.). Retrieved May 14, 2010 .
Slovaks against the Molotov Line (II.). Retrieved May 14, 2010 .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Neil Short: The Stalin and Molotov Lines . Osprey, Oxford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84603-192-2 .
^ ^A ^b David M. Glantz: Stumbling Colossus. The Red Army on the eve of World War . University Press of Kansas, Lawrence 1998, ISBN 0-7006-0879-6 , pp. 149-151 .
^ ^A ^b Steven J. Zaloga, Leland S. Ness: Companion to the Red Army. 1939-1945 . 2nd Edition. The History Press, Brimscombe Port 2009, ISBN 978-0-7524-5475-7 , pp. 53-59 .

[Short-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Neil Short: The Stalin and Molotov Lines . Osprey, Oxford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84603-192-2 .

[Glantz-2] A ^b David M. Glantz: Stumbling Colossus. The Red Army on the eve of World War . University Press of Kansas, Lawrence 1998, ISBN 0-7006-0879-6 , pp. 149-151 .

[Zaloga-3] A ^b Steven J. Zaloga, Leland S. Ness: Companion to the Red Army. 1939-1945 . 2nd Edition. The History Press, Brimscombe Port 2009, ISBN 978-0-7524-5475-7 , pp. 53-59 .