Former officers of the Wehrmacht in the army of the GDR. Igor Khodakov

An old photo already: November 1989, the Berlin Wall, literally saddled with thousands of jubilant crowds. Sad and confused faces are only in a group of people in the foreground - the border guards of the GDR. Until recently, formidable to enemies and rightly aware of themselves as the elite of the country, they suddenly turned into superfluous extras at this holiday. But this was not the worst thing for them ...

“Somehow I accidentally ended up in the house of a former captain of the National People's Army (NPA) of the GDR. He graduated from our higher military school, good level a programmer, but has been toiling without a job for three years now. And around the neck is a family: a wife, two children.

From him for the first time I heard what I was destined to hear many times.

You betrayed us ... - the former captain will say. He will say calmly, without strain, gathering his will into a fist.

No, he was not a “political commissar”, he did not cooperate with the Stasi, and yet he lost everything.”

These are lines from the book of Colonel Mikhail Boltunov "ZGV: Bitter Road Home".

The problem, however, is much deeper: having left the soldiers and officers of the army created by us to the mercy of fate, have we betrayed ourselves? And was it possible to keep the NPA, albeit under a different name and with a changed organizational structure, but as a faithful ally of Moscow?

Let's try to figure it out, of course, as far as possible, within the framework of a short article, especially since these issues have not lost their relevance to this day, especially against the backdrop of NATO's eastward expansion and the spread of US military and political influence in the post-Soviet space.

Disappointment and humiliation.

So, in 1990, the unification of Germany took place, which caused euphoria on the part of both West and East Germans. It's done! A great nation regained its unity, the much hated Berlin Wall collapsed at last. However, as is often the case, unbridled joy was replaced by bitter disappointment. Of course, not for all residents of Germany, no. Most of them, as opinion polls show, do not regret the unification of the country.

The disappointment affected mainly a certain part of the inhabitants of the GDR that had sunk into oblivion. Quite quickly, they realized: in essence, the Anschluss had taken place - the absorption of their homeland by the western neighbor.

The officer and non-commissioned officer corps of the former NNA suffered the most from this. It did not become an integral part of the Bundeswehr, but was simply dissolved. Most of the former servicemen of the GDR, including generals and colonels, were fired. At the same time, they were not credited for service in the NNA for either military or civilian seniority. Those who were lucky enough to put on the uniform of recent opponents were demoted in rank.

As a result, East German officers were forced to stand for hours in lines at the labor exchange and roam around in search of work - often low-paid and unskilled.

And worse than that. In his book, Mikhail Boltunov cites the words of the last Minister of Defense of the GDR, Admiral Theodor Hoffmann: “With the unification of Germany, the NPA was disbanded. Many professional soldiers have been discriminated against.”

Discrimination, in other words - humiliation. And it could not be otherwise, for the well-known Latin proverb says: "Woe to the vanquished!". And doubly woe if the army was not crushed in battle, but simply betrayed by both its own and the Soviet leadership.

The GDR army was one of the most professional in Europe.
And it is by no means accidental that the German leadership tried to eliminate it as quickly as possible.

However, many will consider the latter statement disputable and will note the irreversibility and even spontaneity of the process of unification of the two Germanys. But the point is not that the FRG and the GDR were bound to unite, but how this could happen. And the absorption of the eastern neighbor by West Germany was far from the only way.

What was the alternative that would allow the NPA officer corps to take a worthy position in the new Germany and remain loyal to the USSR? And what is more important for us: whether he possessed Soviet Union real opportunities to maintain its military-political presence in Germany, preventing the expansion of NATO to the East? To answer these questions, we need to make a short historical digression.

In 1949, a new republic appeared on the map - the GDR. It was created as a response to education in the American, British and French occupation zones of the FRG. It is interesting that Joseph Stalin did not seek to create the GDR, taking the initiative to unify Germany, but on condition that it did not join NATO.

Heinz Hoffmann - Minister of Defense of the GDR until 1985.
During the years of the Great Patriotic War- antifascist

However, the former allies refused. Proposals for the construction of the Berlin Wall came to Stalin at the end of the 40s, but the Soviet leader abandoned this idea, considering it discrediting the USSR in the eyes of the world community.

Remembering the history of the birth of the GDR, one should also take into account the personality of the first chancellor of the West German state, Konrad Adenauer, who, according to the former Soviet ambassador to the FRG, Vladimir Semenov, “cannot be considered only a political opponent of Russia. He had an irrational hatred of the Russians."

Konrad Adenauer is one of the key figures in the history of the Cold War.
First Federal Chancellor of Germany

The birth and formation of the NPA

Under these conditions, and with the direct participation of the USSR, on January 18, 1956, the NPA was created, which quickly turned into a powerful force. In turn, the navy of the GDR became the most combat-ready along with the Soviet in the Warsaw Pact.

This is not an exaggeration, because the Prussian and Saxon lands, which were once the most warlike German states, were part of the GDR. strong armies. This is especially true, of course, of the Prussians. It was the Prussians and Saxons that formed the basis of the officer corps, first of the German Empire, then the Reichswehr, then the Wehrmacht and, finally, the NNA.

The traditional German discipline and love for military affairs, the strong military traditions of the Prussian officers, the rich combat experience of previous generations, multiplied by advanced military equipment and the achievements of Soviet military thought, made the GDR army an invincible force in Europe.

The army of the GDR really enjoyed popular love in their country.
At least at first.

It is noteworthy that in some way the dreams of the most far-sighted German and Russian statesmen at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, who dreamed of a military alliance between the Russian and German empires, came true in the NNA.

The strength of the army of the GDR was in the combat training of its personnel, because the number of the NNA has always remained relatively low: in 1987 it had 120 thousand soldiers and officers in its ranks, yielding, say, to the Polish People's Army - the second largest army after the Soviet one in the Warsaw Pact.

However, in the event of a military conflict with NATO, the Poles had to fight on secondary sectors of the front - in Austria and Denmark. In turn, the NNA was given more serious tasks: to fight in the main direction - against the troops operating from the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, where the first echelon of NATO ground forces, that is, the Bundeswehr itself, was deployed, as well as the most combat-ready divisions of the Americans, British and French.

Tanker of the GDR army under the state flag

Army of the GDR on exercises

The Soviet leadership trusted the German brothers in arms. And not in vain. The commander of the 3rd Army of the Western Group of Forces in the GDR and later the deputy chief of staff of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, General Valentin Varennikov, wrote in his memoirs: “The National People’s Army of the GDR actually grew before my eyes in 10-15 years from zero to a formidable modern army, equipped with everything necessary and capable of acting no worse than the Soviet troops.”

This point of view is essentially confirmed by Matvey Burlakov: “The peak of the Cold War was in the early 80s. It remained to give a signal - and everything would have rushed. Everything is ready, the shells are in the tanks, it remains to shove them into the barrel - and forward. Everything would have been burned, everything would have been destroyed there. Military installations, I mean - not cities. I often met with NATO Military Committee Chairman Klaus Naumann. He once asks me: “I saw the plans of the GDR army that you claimed. Why didn't you attack?" We tried to collect these plans, but someone hid them, made copies. And Naumann agreed with our calculation that we should be in the English Channel within a week. I say: “We are not aggressors, why are we going to attack you? We have always expected you to be the first to start.” That's how they explained it."

Note: Naumann saw the plans of the GDR army, whose tanks were among the first to reach the English Channel and, according to him, no one could effectively interfere with them.

In the event of a NATO attack, this army would be in the English Channel in a week.
NATO strategists sincerely wondered why, with such power at hand,
we didn't hit. A simple thing just can't fit in their heads
that the Russians really didn't want war.

From the point of view of the intellectual training of the personnel, the NPA also stood at a high level: by the mid-80s, 95 percent of the officer corps in its ranks had a higher or secondary specialized education, about 30 percent of the officers graduated from military academies, 35 percent - higher military schools.

In a word, at the end of the 80s, the GDR army was ready for any test, but the country was not. Unfortunately, the combat power of the armed forces could not compensate for the socio-economic problems that the GDR faced by the beginning of the last quarter of the 20th century. Erich Honecker, who headed the country in 1971, was guided by the Soviet model of building socialism, which significantly distinguished him from many leaders of other Eastern European countries.

Honecker's key goal in the socio-economic sphere is to improve the well-being of the people, in particular, through the development of housing construction and an increase in pensions.

Alas, good undertakings in this area led to a decrease in investment in the development of production and the renewal of outdated equipment, the wear and tear of which was 50 percent in industry and 65 percent in agriculture. In general, the East German economy, like the Soviet one, developed along an extensive path.

Defeat without firing a shot

Mikhail Gorbachev's coming to power in 1985 complicated relations between the two countries - Honecker, being a conservative, reacted negatively to perestroika. And this is against the background of the fact that in the GDR the attitude towards Gorbachev as the initiator of reforms was of an enthusiastic nature. In addition, at the end of the 80s, a mass exodus of citizens of the GDR to the FRG began. Gorbachev made it clear to his East German counterpart that Soviet aid to the GDR directly depended on Berlin's reforms.

What followed is well known: in 1989, Honecker was removed from all posts, a year later West Germany absorbed the GDR, and a year later the Soviet Union ceased to exist. The Russian leadership hastened to withdraw from Germany almost half a million troops equipped with 12,000 tanks and armored vehicles, which became an unconditional geopolitical and geostrategic defeat and accelerated the entry of yesterday's allies of the USSR under the Warsaw Pact into NATO.

But all these are dry lines about relatively recent past events, behind which is the drama of thousands of NPA officers and their families. With sadness in their eyes and pain in their hearts, they looked at the last parade of Russian troops on August 31, 1994 in Berlin. Betrayed, humiliated, useless, they witnessed the departure of the once allied army, which lost the cold war with them without a single shot.

M.S. Gorbachev lost cold war without a single shot

And after all, just five years earlier, Gorbachev promised not to leave the GDR to its fate. Did the Soviet leader have grounds for such statements? On the one hand, it would seem not. As we have already noted, in the late 1980s, the flow of refugees from the GDR to the FRG increased. After the removal of Honecker, the leadership of the GDR showed neither the will nor the determination to preserve the country and take truly effective measures for this that would allow Germany to be reunited on an equal footing. Declarative statements not supported by practical steps do not count in this case.

But there is another side of the coin. According to Boltunov, neither France nor Great Britain considered the issue of German reunification to be urgent. This is understandable: in Paris they were afraid of a strong and united Germany, which had crushed the military power of France twice in less than a century. And of course, it was not in the geopolitical interests of the Fifth Republic to see a united and strong Germany at its borders.

In turn, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher adhered to a political line aimed at maintaining the balance of power between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, as well as observing the terms of the Final Act in Helsinki, the rights and responsibilities of the four states for post-war Germany.

Against this background, the desire of London to develop cultural and economic ties with the GDR in the second half of the 80s does not seem accidental, and when it became obvious that the unification of Germany was inevitable, the British leadership proposed extending this process for 10-15 years.

And perhaps most importantly, in the matter of containing the processes aimed at unifying Germany, the British leadership counted on the support of Moscow and Paris. And even more than that: German Chancellor Helmut Kohl himself did not initially initiate the absorption of his eastern neighbor by West Germany, but advocated the creation of a confederation, putting forward a ten-point program to implement his idea.

Thus, in 1990, the Kremlin and Berlin had every chance to realize the idea once proposed by Stalin: the creation of a single, but neutral and non-NATO Germany.

The preservation of a limited contingent of Soviet, American, British and French troops on the territory of a united Germany would become a guarantor of German neutrality, and the armed forces of the FRG created on an equal basis would not allow the spread of pro-Western sentiments in the army and would not turn former NPA officers into outcasts.

Soviet and German brothers in arms. Photo from the 1950s
The day will come when the descendants of some will renounce both their country and their allies.
And the heirs of others will suddenly find themselves without a livelihood

personality factor

All this was quite feasible in practice and met the foreign policy interests of both London and Paris, as well as Moscow and Berlin. So why did Gorbachev and his entourage, who had the opportunity to rely on the support of France and England in the defense of the GDR, did not do this and easily went for the absorption of their eastern neighbor by West Germany, ultimately changing the balance of power in Europe in favor of NATO?

From Boltunov’s point of view, the personality factor played a decisive role in this case: “... Events took an unplanned turn after the meeting of foreign ministers, at which E. A. Shevardnadze (the USSR Foreign Minister) went into direct violation of Gorbachev’s directive.

One thing is the reunification of two independent German states, the other is the Anschluss, that is, the absorption of the GDR by the Federal Republic. It is one thing to overcome the split in Germany as a cardinal step towards eliminating the split in Europe. Another is the transfer of the leading edge of the split of the continent from the Elbe to the Oder or further east.

Shevardnadze gave a very simple explanation for his behavior - I learned this from Anatoly Chernyaev, an aide to the president (USSR): “The Generalsher asked about it so much. And Genscher is a good man."

"Good man" Eduard Shevardnadze - one of the main culprits of the tragedy of the GDR

Perhaps this explanation oversimplifies the picture associated with the unification of the country, but it is obvious that such a rapid absorption of the GDR by West Germany is a direct consequence of the short-sightedness and weakness of the Soviet political leadership, which, based on the logic of its decisions, is more focused on the positive image of the USSR in the Western world than on the interests of its own state.

Ultimately, the collapse of both the GDR and the socialist camp as a whole, as well as the collapse of the Soviet Union, provides a vivid example of the fact that the determining factor in history is not some objective processes, but the role of the individual. This is undeniably evidenced by the entire past of mankind.

After all, there were no socio-economic prerequisites for entering the historical arena of the ancient Macedonians, if not for the outstanding personal qualities of the kings Philip and Alexander.

The French would never have brought most of Europe to their knees had Napoleon not been their emperor. And there would have been no October coup in Russia, the most shameful in the history of the country of the Brest Peace, just as the Bolsheviks would not have won the Civil War, if not for the personality of Vladimir Lenin.

All these are just the most striking examples, indisputably testifying to the determining role of the individual in history.

There is no doubt that nothing like the events of the early 1990s could have happened in Eastern Europe if Yuri Andropov had been at the head of the Soviet Union. A man with a strong will, in the field of foreign policy, he invariably proceeded from the geopolitical interests of the country, and they demanded the maintenance of a military presence in Central Europe and the comprehensive strengthening of the combat power of the NNA, regardless of the attitude of the Americans and their allies to this.

Heinz Kessler - Minister of Defense of the GDR after 1985 - did everything that depended on him,
to keep the country from destruction. But there was nothing he could do about the rising
a lump of social problems, nor with the betrayal of the Soviet elite.
Others had to solve these problems - but they did not have the will.

The scale of Gorbachev's personality, as, indeed, of his inner circle, objectively did not correspond to the complex of the most complex domestic and foreign policy problems that the Soviet Union faced.

The same can be said about Egon Krenz, who replaced Honecker as SED General Secretary and was not a strong and strong-willed person. This is the opinion of General Markus Wolff, who headed the foreign intelligence of the GDR, about Krenz.

One of the properties of weak politicians is inconsistency in following the chosen course. So it happened with Gorbachev: in December 1989, at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, he unequivocally declared that the Soviet Union would not leave the GDR to its fate. A year later, the Kremlin allowed West Germany to carry out the Anschluss of its eastern neighbor.

Kohl also felt the political weakness of the Soviet leadership during his visit to Moscow in February 1990, since it was after that that he began to more energetically pursue a course towards the reunification of Germany and, most importantly, began to insist on maintaining its membership in NATO.

And as a result: in modern Germany, the number of American troops exceeds 50,000 soldiers and officers stationed, including on the territory of the former GDR, and the NATO military machine is deployed near Russian borders. And in the event of a military conflict, the well-trained and trained officers of the former NPA will no longer be able to help us. And they probably don't want to...

As for England and France, their fears about the unification of Germany were not in vain: the latter quickly took a leading position in the European Union, strengthened its strategic and economic situation in Central and Eastern Europe, gradually ousting British capital from there.

Exactly sixty years ago, on January 18, 1956, a decision was made to create the National People's Army of the German Democratic Republic (NNA GDR). Although March 1 was officially celebrated as the Day of the National People's Army, since it was on this day in 1956 that the first military units of the GDR took the oath, in reality, the NPA can be counted from January 18, when the People's Chamber of the GDR adopted the Law on the National People's Army of the GDR. Having existed for 34 years, until the unification of Germany in 1990, the National People's Army of the GDR went down in history as one of the most combat-ready armies of post-war Europe. Among the socialist countries, it was the second after the Soviet Army in terms of training and was considered the most reliable among the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries.

Actually, the history of the National People's Army of the GDR began after West Germany began to form its own armed forces. The Soviet Union in the post-war years pursued a much more peaceful policy than its Western opponents. That's why long time The USSR sought to comply with the agreements and was in no hurry to arm East Germany. As you know, according to the decision of the Conference of the Heads of Governments of Great Britain, the USSR and the USA, held July 17 - August 2, 1945 in Potsdam, Germany was forbidden to have its own armed forces. But after the end of World War II, relations between yesterday's allies - the USSR on the one hand, the United States and Great Britain on the other - began to deteriorate rapidly and soon turned into extremely tense. The capitalist countries and the socialist camp found themselves on the verge of armed confrontation, which actually gave grounds for violating the agreements that were reached in the process of defeating Nazi Germany. By 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was established on the territory of the American, British and French zones of occupation, and the German Democratic Republic on the territory of the Soviet zone of occupation. The first to militarize "their" part of Germany - the FRG - were Great Britain, the USA and France.

In 1954, the Paris Agreements were concluded, the secret part of which provided for the creation of West Germany's own armed forces. Despite the protests of the West German population, which saw the growth of revanchist and militaristic sentiments in the reconstruction of the country's armed forces and feared a new war, on November 12, 1955, the German government announced the creation of the Bundeswehr. Thus began the history of the West German army and the history of the practically undisguised confrontation between the "two Germanys" in the field of defense and armaments. After the decision to create the Bundeswehr, the Soviet Union had no choice but to "give the go-ahead" to the formation of its own army and the German Democratic Republic. The history of the National People's Army of the GDR has become a unique example of a strong military commonwealth of the Russian and German armies, which in the past fought more with each other than cooperated. Do not forget that the high combat capability of the NPA was due to the fact that Prussia and Saxony, the lands from which the main part of the German officers had come from for a long time, became part of the GDR. It turns out that it was the NNA, and not the Bundeswehr, that inherited to a greater extent historical traditions German armies, but this experience was put at the service of military cooperation between the GDR and the Soviet Union.

Barracks People's Police - the forerunner of the NPA

It should be noted that in fact the creation of armed units, service in which was based on military discipline, began in the GDR even earlier. In 1950, the People's Police was created as part of the Ministry of the Interior of the GDR, as well as two main departments - the Main Directorate of the Air Police and the Main Directorate of the Marine Police. In 1952, on the basis of the Main Directorate of Combat Training of the People's Police of the GDR, the Barracks People's Police was created, which was an analogue of the internal troops of the Soviet Union. Naturally, the KNP could not lead fighting against modern armies and was called upon to perform purely police functions - to fight sabotage and bandit groups, disperse riots, and protect public order. This was confirmed by the decision of the 2nd Party Conference of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The Barracks People's Police was subordinated to the Minister of the Interior of the GDR, Willy Shtof, and the chief of the CNP was directly in charge of the Barracks People's Police. Lieutenant General Heinz Hoffmann was appointed to this post. The personnel of the Barracks People's Police were recruited from among volunteers who signed a contract for a period of at least three years. In May 1952, the Union of Free German Youth took patronage of the Barracks People's Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR, which contributed to a more active influx of volunteers into the ranks of the barracks police and improved the state of the rear infrastructure of this service. In August 1952, the previously independent Naval People's Police and the People's Air Police became part of the Barracks People's Police of the GDR. The People's Air Police in September 1953 was transformed into the Directorate of the KNP Aeroclubs. It had two airfields Kamenz and Bautzen, training aircraft Yak-18 and Yak-11. The Maritime People's Police had patrol boats and small minesweepers.

In the summer of 1953, it was the Barracks People's Police, along with the Soviet troops, that played one of the main roles in suppressing the riots organized by the American-British agents. After that, the internal structure of the Barracks People's Police of the GDR was strengthened and its military component was strengthened. Further reorganization of the KNP on a military model continued, in particular, the General Headquarters of the Barracks People's Police of the GDR was created, which was headed by Lieutenant General Vinzenz Müller, a former general of the Wehrmacht. Also, the Territorial Administration "North" headed by Major General Herman Rentsch and the Territorial Administration "South" headed by Major General Fritz Jone were also created. Each territorial administration was subordinate to three operational detachments, and the General Staff was subordinate to a mechanized operational detachment, which was armed with even 40 armored vehicles, including T-34 tanks. The operational detachments of the Barracks People's Police were reinforced motorized infantry battalions with up to 1,800 personnel. The structure of the operational detachment included: 1) the headquarters of the operational detachment; 2) a mechanized company on armored vehicles BA-64 and SM-1 and motorcycles (the same company was armed with armored water tankers SM-2); 3) three motorized infantry companies (on trucks); 4) fire support company (field artillery platoon with three ZIS-3 guns; anti-tank artillery platoon with three 45 mm or 57 mm anti-tank guns; mortar platoon with three 82 mm mortars); 5) headquarters company (communications platoon, sapper platoon, chemical platoon, reconnaissance platoon, transport platoon, supply platoon, control department, medical department). In the Barracks People's Police were established military ranks and a military uniform was introduced that differed from the uniform of the People's Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR (if the people's police officers wore a dark blue uniform, then the barracks police officers received a more "military" uniform of protective color). The military ranks in the Barracks People's Police were established as follows: 1) soldier, 2) corporal, 3) non-commissioned officer, 4) staff non-commissioned officer, 5) sergeant major, 6) chief sergeant major, 7) non-commissioned lieutenant, 8) lieutenant, 9) chief lieutenant, 10) captain, 11) major, 12) lieutenant colonel, 13) colonel, 14) major general, 15) lieutenant general. When the decision was made to create the National People's Army of the GDR, thousands of employees of the Barracks People's Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR expressed a desire to join the National People's Army and continue serving there. Moreover, in fact, it was within the Barracks People's Police that the "skeleton" of the NPA was created - land, air and sea units, and the command staff of the Barracks People's Police, including top commanders, almost completely transferred to the NPA. The employees who remained in the Barracks People's Police continued to perform the functions of protecting public order and combating crime, that is, they retained the functionality of the internal troops.

"Founding Fathers" of the GDR Army

On March 1, 1956, the Ministry of National Defense of the GDR began its work. It was headed by Colonel General Willy Shtof (1914-1999), in 1952-1955. served as Minister of the Interior. A communist with pre-war experience, Willi Stof joined the Communist Party of Germany at the age of 17. Being an underground worker, he, nevertheless, could not avoid service in the Wehrmacht in 1935-1937. served in an artillery regiment. Then he was demobilized and worked as an engineer. During the Second World War, Willy Shtof was again called up for military service, participated in battles on the territory of the USSR, was injured, and was awarded the Iron Cross for his valor. He went through the entire war and was taken prisoner in 1945. While in a Soviet prisoner of war camp, he underwent a special training course at an anti-fascist prisoner of war school. The Soviet command prepared future cadres from among the prisoners of war to occupy administrative positions in the zone of Soviet occupation. Willy Stof, who had not previously held prominent positions in the communist movement in Germany, made in a few post-war years dizzying career. After his release from captivity, he was appointed head of the industrial and construction department, then headed the Department economic policy apparatus of the SED. In 1950-1952 Willy Stof served as director of the economic department of the Council of Ministers of the GDR, and then was appointed Minister of the Interior of the GDR. Since 1950, he was also a member of the Central Committee of the SED - and this despite his young age - thirty-five years. In 1955, as Minister of the Interior of the GDR, Willy Shtof received the military rank of Colonel General. Taking into account the experience of leading the power ministry, in 1956 it was decided to appoint Willy Shtof to the post of Minister of National Defense of the German Democratic Republic. In 1959, he received the next military rank of General of the Army. Lieutenant-General Heinz Hoffmann, who served in the Ministry of Internal Affairs as head of the Barracks People's Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR, also moved from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of National Defense of the GDR.

Heinz Hoffmann (1910-1985) can be called the second "founding father" of the National People's Army of the GDR, besides Willy Stoff. Coming from a working-class family, Hoffmann joined the Communist Youth League of Germany at the age of sixteen, and at the age of twenty he became a member of the Communist Party of Germany. In 1935, underground worker Heinz Hoffmann was forced to leave Germany and flee to the USSR. Here he was selected for education - first political at the International Lenin School in Moscow, and then military. November 1936 to February 1837 Hoffmann took special courses in Ryazan at the Military Academy. M.V. Frunze. After completing the courses, he received the rank of lieutenant and already on March 17, 1937 he was sent to Spain, where at that time there was Civil War between Republicans and Francoists. Lieutenant Hoffman was appointed to the post of instructor in handling Soviet in the training battalion of the 11th International Brigade. On May 27, 1937, he was appointed military commissar of the "Hans Beimler" battalion in the same 11th International Brigade, and on July 7 he took command of the battalion. The next day, Hoffmann was wounded in the face, and on July 24, in the legs and stomach. In June 1938, Hoffmann, who had previously been treated in hospitals in Barcelona, ​​was taken out of Spain, first to France and then to the USSR. After the outbreak of the war, he worked as an interpreter in prisoner-of-war camps, then became the chief political officer in the Spaso-Zavodsky prisoner-of-war camp in the Kazakh SSR. April 1942 to April 1945 Hoffmann served as a political instructor and teacher at the Central Anti-Fascist School. From April to December 1945, he was an instructor and then head of the 12th Party School of the Communist Party of Germany in Skhodnya.

After returning to East Germany in January 1946, Hoffmann worked in various positions in the SED apparatus. On July 1, 1949, with the rank of inspector general, he became vice-president of the German Department of the Interior, and from April 1950 to June 1952, Heinz Hoffmann served as head of the Main Directorate for Combat Training of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR. On July 1, 1952, he was appointed head of the Barracks People's Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR and Deputy Minister of the Interior of the country. For obvious reasons, Heinz Hoffmann was chosen when he was included in the leadership of the emerging Ministry of National Defense of the GDR in 1956. This was also facilitated by the fact that from December 1955 to November 1957. Hoffman completed a course of study at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces. Returning to his homeland, on December 1, 1957, Hoffmann was appointed First Deputy Minister of National Defense of the GDR, and on March 1, 1958, also Chief of the General Staff of the National People's Army of the GDR. Subsequently, on July 14, 1960, Colonel-General Heinz Hoffmann replaced Willi Stoff as Minister of National Defense of the GDR. General of the Army (since 1961) Heinz Hoffmann headed the military department of the German Democratic Republic until his death in 1985 - twenty-five years.

Chief of the General Staff of the NNA from 1967 to 1985. remained Colonel General (since 1985 - General of the Army) Heinz Kessler (born 1920). Coming from a family of communist workers, Kessler in his youth took part in the activities of the youth organization of the Communist Party of Germany, however, like the vast majority of his peers, he did not escape the call to the Wehrmacht. As an assistant machine gunner, he was sent to the Eastern Front and already on July 15, 1941, he defected to the side of the Red Army. In 1941-1945. Kessler was in Soviet captivity. At the end of 1941, he entered the courses of the Anti-Fascist School, then was engaged in propaganda activities among prisoners of war and wrote appeals to the soldiers of the active Wehrmacht armies. In 1943-1945. He was a member of the National Committee "Free Germany". After being released from captivity and returning to Germany, Kessler in 1946, at the age of 26, became a member of the Central Committee of the SED and in 1946-1948. headed the organization of the Free German Youth in Berlin. In 1950, he was appointed head of the Main Directorate of the Air Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR with the rank of inspector general and remained in this post until 1952, when he was appointed head of the Air People's Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR (since 1953 - head of the Directorate of flying clubs of the Barracks People's Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR). The rank of Major General Kessler was awarded in 1952 - with the appointment to the post of head of the People's Air Police. From September 1955 to August 1956 he studied at the Air Force Military Academy in Moscow. After completing his studies, Kessler returned to Germany and on September 1, 1956 was appointed Deputy Minister of National Defense of the GDR - Commander of the NNA Air Force. October 1, 1959 he was awarded the military rank of lieutenant general. Kessler held this post for 11 years - until his appointment as chief of the General Staff of the NNA. On December 3, 1985, after the unexpected death of General of the Army Karl-Heinz Hoffmann, Colonel General Heinz Kessler was appointed Minister of National Defense of the GDR and remained in this post until 1989. After the collapse of Germany, on September 16, 1993, a Berlin court sentenced Heinz Kessler to seven and a half years in prison.

Under the leadership of Willy Shtof, Heinz Hoffmann, other generals and officers, with the most active participation of the Soviet military command, the construction and development of the National People's Army of the GDR began, which quickly turned into the most combat-ready after the Soviet armed forces among the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries. Everyone who was related to the service in Eastern Europe in the 1960s - 1980s noted a significantly higher level of training, and most importantly, the morale of the NPA military personnel compared to their counterparts from the armies of other socialist states. Although initially many Wehrmacht officers and even generals, who were the only military specialists in the country at that time, were recruited into the National People's Army of the GDR, the officer corps of the NNA still differed significantly from the officer corps of the Bundeswehr. Former Nazi generals were not so numerous in its composition and, most importantly, were not in key positions. A system of military education was created, thanks to which it was possible to quickly train new officer cadres, up to 90% of whom were from workers and peasant families.

In the event of an armed confrontation between the "Soviet bloc" and Western countries, the National People's Army of the GDR was given an important and difficult task. It was the NNA that had to directly engage in hostilities with the Bundeswehr formations and, together with units of the Soviet Army, ensure the advance into the territory of West Germany. It is no coincidence that NATO considered the NPA as one of the key and very dangerous adversaries. Hatred for the National People's Army of the GDR subsequently affected the attitude towards its former generals and officers already in united Germany.

The most combat-ready army in Eastern Europe

The German Democratic Republic was divided into two military regions - the Southern Military District (MB-III) headquartered in Leipzig, and the Northern Military District (MB-V) headquartered in Neubrandenburg. In addition, the National People's Army of the GDR included one artillery brigade of central subordination. Each military district included two motorized divisions, one armored division and one missile brigade. The motorized division of the NNA of the GDR included in its composition: 3 motorized regiments, 1 armored regiment, 1 artillery regiment, 1 anti-aircraft missile regiment, 1 missile department, 1 engineer battalion, 1 material support battalion, 1 sanitary battalion, 1 chemical protection battalion. The armored division included 3 armored regiments, 1 motorized regiment, 1 artillery regiment, 1 anti-aircraft missile regiment, 1 engineer battalion, 1 material support battalion, 1 chemical protection battalion, 1 medical battalion, 1 reconnaissance battalion, 1 missile department. The missile brigade included 2-3 missile departments, 1 engineering company, 1 logistics company, 1 meteorological battery, 1 repair company. The artillery brigade included 4 artillery departments, 1 repair company and 1 material support company. The NPA air force included 2 air divisions, each of which included 2-4 strike squadrons, 1 anti-aircraft missile brigade, 2 anti-aircraft missile regiments, 3-4 radio engineering battalions.

Story navy The GDR began in 1952, when units of the Maritime People's Police were created as part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR. In 1956, the ships and personnel of the Naval People's Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR entered the National People's Army, and until 1960 they were called the Naval Forces of the GDR. Rear Admiral Felix Scheffler (1915-1986) became the first commander of the GDR Navy. A former merchant sailor, from 1937 he served in the Wehrmacht, but almost immediately, in 1941, he was captured by the Soviets, where he remained until 1947. In captivity, he joined the National Committee of Free Germany. After returning from captivity, he worked as secretary of the rector of the Karl Marx Higher Party School, then joined the naval police, where he was appointed chief of staff of the Main Directorate of the Naval Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR. October 1, 1952 he received the rank of rear admiral, from 1955 to 1956. served as commander of the Naval People's Police. After the establishment of the Ministry of National Defense of the GDR, on March 1, 1956, he moved to the post of commander of the GDR Navy and held this post until December 31, 1956. Later, he held a number of important positions in the naval command, was responsible for combat training of personnel, then for equipment and weapons, and retired in 1975 from the post of deputy fleet commander for logistics. Vice-Admiral Waldemar Ferner (1914-1982), a former underground communist who left Nazi Germany in 1935, and after returning to the GDR, headed the Main Directorate of the Naval Police, replaced Felix Scheffler as commander of the GDR Navy. From 1952 to 1955 Ferner served as commander of the Naval People's Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR, which was transformed into the Main Directorate of the Naval Police. From January 1, 1957 to July 31, 1959, he commanded the Navy of the GDR, after which, from 1959 to 1978. served as head of the Main Political Directorate of the National People's Army of the GDR. In 1961, it was Waldemar Ferner who was the first in the GDR to be awarded the rank of admiral - the highest rank of the country's naval forces. The longest-serving commander of the People's Navy of the GDR (as the GDR Navy was called since 1960) was Rear Admiral (then Vice Admiral and Admiral) Wilhelm Eim (1918-2009). A former prisoner of war who sided with the USSR, Eim returned to post-war Germany and quickly made a party career. In 1950, he began serving in the Main Directorate of the Naval Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR - first as a communications officer, and then as deputy chief of staff and head of the organizational department. In 1958-1959. Wilhelm Eim was in charge of the logistics service of the GDR Navy. On August 1, 1959, he was appointed to the post of commander of the East German Navy, but from 1961 to 1963. studied at the Naval Academy in the USSR. Upon his return from the Soviet Union, Rear Admiral Heinz Norkirchen, acting commander, again gave way to Wilhelm Eim. Aim served as commander until 1987.

In 1960, a new name was adopted - the People's Navy. The Navy of the GDR became the most combat-ready after the Soviet naval forces of the Warsaw Pact countries. They were created taking into account the complex Baltic hydrography - after all, the only sea to which the GDR had access was the Baltic Sea. The low suitability of large ships for operations led to the predominance of high-speed torpedo and missile boats, anti-submarine boats, small missile ships, anti-submarine and anti-mine ships, and landing ships in the People's Navy of the GDR. The GDR had a fairly strong naval aviation, equipped with airplanes and helicopters. The people's navy was supposed to solve, first of all, the tasks of defending the country's coast, combating submarines and mines of the enemy, the landing of tactical assault forces, the support of ground forces on the coast. The personnel of the Volksmarine consisted of approximately 16,000 military personnel. The GDR Navy was armed with 110 combat and 69 auxiliary ships and ships, 24 naval aviation helicopters (16 Mi-8 and 8 Mi-14), 20 Su-17 fighter-bombers. The command of the Navy of the GDR was located in Rostock. The following structural units of the Navy were subordinate to him: 1) the flotilla in Peenemünde, 2) the flotilla in Rostock - Warnemünde, 3) the flotilla in Dransk, 4) the Naval School. Karl Liebknecht in Stralsund, 5) Naval School. Walter Steffens in Stralsund, 6) Waldemar Werner Coastal Missile Regiment in Gelbenzand, 7) Kurt Barthel Naval Combat Helicopter Squadron in Parow, 8) Paul Wieszorek Naval Aviation Squadron in Lag, 9) Johann Wesolek Signal Regiment in Böhlendorf, 10) Communications and Flight Support Battalion ov in Laga, 11) a number of other units and service units.

Until 1962, the National People's Army of the GDR was completed by hiring volunteers, the contract was concluded for a period of three years. Thus, for six years the NPA remained the only professional army among the armies of the socialist countries. It is noteworthy that conscription for military service was introduced in the GDR five years later than in the capitalist FRG (there the army switched from contract to conscription in 1957). The number of NPA was also inferior to the Bundeswehr - by 1990, 175,000 people were serving in the ranks of the NPA. The defense of the GDR was compensated by the presence on the territory of the country of a huge contingent of Soviet troops - the ZGV / GSVG (Western Group of Forces / Group of Soviet Forces in Germany). The training of the officers of the NPA was carried out at the Friedrich Engels Military Academy, the Wilhelm Pieck Higher Military-Political School, specialized military educational institutions types of troops. An interesting system of military ranks was introduced in the National People's Army of the GDR, partly duplicating the old Wehrmacht ranks, but partly containing obvious borrowings from the military rank system of the Soviet Union. The hierarchy of military ranks in the GDR looked like this (analogues of ranks in the Volksmarine - the People's Navy are given in brackets): I. Generals (admirals): 1) Marshal of the GDR - the rank was never assigned in practice; 2) General of the Army (Admiral of the Fleet) - in the ground forces, the rank was awarded to the highest officials, in the Navy, the title was never awarded due to the small number of Volksmarine; 3) Colonel General (Admiral); 4) Lieutenant General (Vice Admiral); 5) Major General (Rear Admiral); II. Officers: 6) Colonel (Captain zur See); 7) Lieutenant Colonel (Frigate Captain); 8) Major (Corvette captain); 9) Captain (Lieutenant Captain); 10) Oberleutnant (Oberlieutenant zur See); 11) Lieutenant (Lieutenant zur See); 12) Non-commissioned lieutenant (Unter-lieutenant zur See); III. Fenrichs (similar to Russian ensigns): 13) Ober-Staff-Fenrich (Ober-Stabs-Fenrich); 14) Headquarters Fenrich (Staff Fenrich); 15) Ober-fenrich (Ober-fenrich); 16) Fenrich (Fenrich); IV Sergeants: 17) Staff Sergeant Major (Staff Obermeister); 18) Ober-sergeant major (Ober-meister); 19) Feldwebel (Meister); 20) Unter sergeant major (Obermat); 21) Non-commissioned officer (Mat); V. Soldiers / sailors: 22) Headquarters corporal (Headquarters sailor); 23) Corporal (Ober-sailor); 24) Soldier (Sailor). Each branch of the military also had its own specific color in the edging of shoulder straps. For generals of all branches of the military, it was scarlet, motorized infantry units - white, artillery, missile troops and air defense units - brick, armored troops - pink, landing troops - orange, signal troops - yellow, military construction troops - olive, engineering troops, chemical troops, topographic and motor transport services - black, rear units, military justice and medicine - dark green; air force (aviation) - light blue, anti-aircraft missile forces of the air force - light gray, navy - blue, border service - green.

The sad fate of the NPA and its military personnel

With good reason, the German Democratic Republic can be called the most faithful ally of the USSR in Eastern Europe. The National People's Army of the GDR remained the most combat-ready after the Soviet army of the Warsaw Pact until the end of the 1980s. Unfortunately, the fate of both the GDR and its armies turned out badly. East Germany ceased to exist as a result of the policy of "unification of Germany" and the corresponding actions of the Soviet side. In fact, the GDR was simply given to the Federal Republic of Germany. The last Minister of National Defense of the GDR was Admiral Theodor Hofmann (born 1935). He already belongs to the new generation of officers of the GDR, who received military education in the military educational institutions of the republic. On May 12, 1952, Hoffmann entered the service as a sailor in the Naval People's Police of the GDR. In 1952-1955, he studied at the Officer School of the Naval People's Police in Stralsund, after which he was assigned to the post of combat training officer in the 7th Flotilla of the GDR Navy, then served as a commander of a torpedo boat, studied at the Naval Academy in the USSR. After returning from the Soviet Union, he held a number of command positions in the Volksmarine: Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the 6th Flotilla, Commander of the 6th Flotilla, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy for Operations, Deputy Commander of the Navy and Chief of Combat Training. From 1985 to 1987 Rear Admiral Hofmann served as Chief of Staff of the Navy of the GDR, and in 1987-1989. - Commander of the Navy of the GDR and Deputy Minister of Defense of the GDR. In 1987, Hoffmann was awarded the military rank of vice admiral, in 1989, with the appointment to the post of Minister of National Defense of the GDR - admiral. After the Ministry of National Defense of the GDR was abolished on April 18, 1990 and replaced by the Ministry of Defense and Disarmament, which was headed by the democratic politician Rainer Eppelmann, Admiral Hofmann until September 1990 served as Assistant Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the National People's Army of the GDR. After the dissolution of the NPA, he was dismissed from military service.

The Ministry of Defense and Disarmament was created after in the GDR, under pressure from the Soviet Union, where Mikhail Gorbachev had long been in power, reforms began that also affected the military sphere. On March 18, 1990, the Minister of Defense and Disarmament was appointed - it was 47-year-old Rainer Eppelman, a dissident and pastor in one of the evangelical parishes in Berlin. In his youth, Eppelman served 8 months in prison for refusing to serve in the National People's Army of the GDR, then received a spiritual education and from 1975 to 1990. served as a pastor. In 1990, he became chairman of the Democratic Breakthrough Party and in this capacity was elected to the People's Chamber of the GDR, and was also appointed Minister of Defense and Disarmament.

October 3, 1990 happened historical event- The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic are reunited. However, in fact, this was not a reunification, but simply the inclusion of the territories of the GDR into the FRG, with the destruction of the administrative system that existed in the socialist period and its own armed forces. The National People's Army of the GDR, despite the high level of training, was not included in the Bundeswehr. The German authorities feared that the generals and officers of the NPA were maintaining communist sentiments, so a decision was made to actually disband the National People's Army of the GDR. Only privates and non-commissioned officers of military service were sent to serve in the Bundeswehr. Regular military personnel were much less fortunate. All generals, admirals, officers, Fenrikhs and non-commissioned officers of the cadre were dismissed from military service. The total number of dismissed - 23155 officers and 22549 non-commissioned officers. Almost none of them managed to be reinstated in the service in the Bundeswehr, the vast majority were simply dismissed - and military service was not counted by them either in the length of service in the military, or even in the length of civil service. Only 2.7% of the officers and non-commissioned officers of the NPA were able to continue serving in the Bundeswehr (mostly they were technical specialists capable of servicing Soviet equipment, which, after the reunification of Germany, went to the FRG), but they received ranks lower than those they wore in the National People's Army - the FRG refused to recognize the military ranks of the NPA.

Veterans of the National People's Army of the GDR, left without pensions and without taking into account military experience, were forced to look for low-paid and low-skilled work. The right-wing parties of the FRG also opposed their right to wear the military uniform of the National People's Army - the armed forces of the "totalitarian state", as the GDR is estimated in modern Germany. Concerning military equipment, the vast majority was either disposed of or sold to third countries. So, combat boats and ships of the Volksmarine were sold to Indonesia and Poland, some were transferred to Latvia, Estonia, Tunisia, Malta, Guinea-Bissau. The reunification of Germany did not lead to its demilitarization. Until now, American troops are stationed on the territory of Germany, and Bundeswehr units are now taking part in armed conflicts around the world - ostensibly as peacekeeping forces, but in reality - protecting US interests.

Currently, many former servicemen of the National People's Army of the GDR are members of public veteran organizations engaged in protecting the rights of former officers and non-commissioned officers of the NPA, as well as the fight against discrediting and denigrating the history of the GDR and the National People's Army. In the spring of 2015, in honor of the seventieth anniversary of the Great Victory, over 100 generals, admirals and senior officers of the National People's Army of the GDR signed a letter - an appeal "Soldiers for Peace", in which they warned Western countries against the policy of escalating conflicts in modern world and confrontation with Russia. “We do not need military agitation against Russia, but mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence. What we need is not military dependence on the United States, but our own responsibility for the world,” the appeal says. Under the appeal, among the first are the signatures of the last ministers of national defense of the GDR - General of the Army Heinz Kessler and Admiral Theodor Hoffmann.

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Hello dear.

Yesterday we had an introduction about new topic: Well, today let's start with concrete examples.
And let's talk the way and not very numerous, but one of the most combat-ready armies of the whole world in those years - about the GDR Volksarmey, it is also the National People's Army (NNA) of the German Democratic Republic
The Volksarmee was created in 1956 from 0, and literally in 10-15 years it became a very formidable force.
It consisted of ground forces, air force and air defense forces, navy and border troops.

Issues of the country's defense were decided by the National Defense Council, subordinate to the People's Chamber and the State Council of the GDR.
The armed forces were led by the Minister of National Defence.

Army General Heinz Hoffmann in 1960-1985 Minister of National Defense of the GDR

There was the main headquarters of the NPA and the headquarters of the branches of the armed forces. supreme body- The main political department of the NPA. When creating the NPA, the experience of building the Armed Forces of the USSR and other socialist countries was used.
The NPA is completed in accordance with the Law on the Introduction of General Military Duty (January 24, 1962) and on the principle of voluntariness. Conscription age - 18 years of service -18 months

Training of officers is carried out in higher officer schools and in the Military. academy. F. Engels.
As I said above, the GDR army was not the most numerous. As of 1987, the Ground Forces of the NPA of the GDR numbered 120,000 servicemen.

The number of Air Force - about 58,000 people.

The number of personnel of the Navy is about 18 thousand people.

The border guards of the GDR were very numerous - up to 47,000 people.

The territory of East Germany was divided into two military districts - MB-III (Southern, headquarters in Leipzig) and MB-V (North, headquarters in Neubrandenburg) and one artillery brigade, which was not part of any of the military districts, each of which included two motorized rifle divisions (motorisierte Schützendivision, MSD), one armored division (Panzerdivision, PD) and one missile brigade (Raketenbrigade, RBr).

Each armored division consisted of 3 armored regiments (Panzerregiment), one artillery regiment (Artillerieregiment), 1 motorized rifle regiment (Mot.-Schützenregiment), 1 anti-aircraft missile regiment (Fla-Raketen-Regiment), 1 engineer battalion (Pionierbataillon), 1 material support battalion (Bataillon materieller Sicherstellung), 1 chemical protection battalion (Bataillon chemischer Abwehr), 1 sanitary battalion (Sanitätsbataillon), 1 reconnaissance battalion (Aufklärungsbataillon), 1 rocket department (Raketenabteilung).
The main tank of the GDR army was the T-55, which accounted for about 80% of the fleet. The remaining 20% ​​accounted for the T-72b slingshot and T-72G, mainly of Polish or Czechoslovak production. The proportion of new tanks has steadily increased.

Each motorized rifle division consisted of 3 motorized regiments (Mot.-Schützenregiment), 1 armored regiment (Panzerregiment), 1 artillery regiment (Artillerieregiment), 1 anti-aircraft missile regiment (Fla-Raketenregiment), 1 missile department (Raketenabteilung), 1 engineer battalion (Pionierbataillon), 1 material battalion security (Bataillon materieller Sicherstellung), 1 sanitary battalion (Sanitätsbataillon), 1 chemical protection battalion (Bataillon chemischer Abwehr), 1 material support battalion (Bataillon materieller Sicherstellung).


Each missile brigade consisted of 2-3 rocket departments (Raketenabteilung), 1 engineering company (Pionierkompanie), 1 material support company (Kompanie materieller Sicherstellung), 1 meteorological battery (meteorologische Batterie), 1 repair company (Instandsetzungskompanie).


The artillery brigade consisted of 4 divisions (Abteilung), 1 repair company (Instandsetzungskompanie), 1 material support company (Kompanie materieller Sicherstellung).

The Air Force (Luftstreitkräfte) consisted of 2 divisions (Luftverteidigungsdivision), each of which consisted of 2-4 strike squadrons (Jagdfliegergeschwader), 1 anti-aircraft missile brigade (Fla-Raketenbrigade), 2 anti-aircraft missile regiments (Fla-Raketenregiment), 3-4 radio engineering battalions (F unktechnisches Bataillon). There were also modern MiG-29 aircraft.


The Air Force also included one of the most legendary and effective units of the Volksarmee - the 40th airborne battalion of the NNA "Willi Sanger" (German - 40. "Willi Sanger Fallschirmjager Bataillon"). The fighters of this unit took part in almost all foreign conflicts with the participation of the Soviet military bloc - in particular, in Syria and Ethiopia. There is also a legend that the special forces of the NNA airborne units, as part of a limited contingent of Soviet troops, participated in combat operations in Afghanistan.

The navy (Volksmarine) was very good, and most importantly modern. It consisted of 110 warships of various classes and 69 auxiliary ships.


The naval aviation included 24 helicopters (16 of the Mi-8 type and 8 of the Mi-14 type), as well as 20 Su-17 fighter-bombers. The basis of the fleet is three patrol ships (SKR) of the Rostock type (pr. 1159) and 16 small anti-submarine ships (MPK) of the Parchim type, pr. 133.1

In total, the Volksarmee had 6 divisions (11 during mobilization)
1719 tanks (2798 during mobilization, in peacetime on conservation)
2792 infantry fighting vehicles (4999 during mobilization, in peacetime on conservation)
887 artillery pieces over 100mm
(1746 during mobilization, in peacetime on conservation)
394 combat aircraft

64 combat helicopters

According to the Warsaw Pact, in the event of hostilities, the following NPA divisions were attached to the armies of the Western Group of Forces:
19th Motorized Rifle Division of the NNA - 2nd Guards Tank Army.
17th Motorized Rifle NNA - 8th Guards Army.
6 Motorized rifle NPA - reserve of the Western Front.


It's funny that despite the military doctrine, which was formulated as "the denial of all the traditions of the Prussian-German military", there were many borrowings from the 2nd and 3rd Reich in insignia, ranks and uniforms. Let's just say - a compilation of the insignia of the Wehrmacht and the Soviet Army. So the insignia of the gefreiters moved from the sleeves to the shoulder straps and became similar to the sergeant's stripes of the Soviet Army. The insignia of the non-commissioned officers remained completely Wehrmacht. Officers' and generals' epaulettes remained the same as in the Wehrmacht, but the number of stars on them began to correspond to the Soviet system.

The highest rank of the Volksarmee was called Marshal of the GDR, but in fact no one was awarded this title.
Were in the form and their differences. For example, the Tale-Harz helmet, which was developed for the Wehrmacht, but did not have time to accept. Or the GDR version of the AK-47 called MPi-K (we mentioned it here.

Among the former officers of the Wehrmacht, who stood at the origins of the creation of the National People's Army of the GDR, General Vinzenz Müller occupies a special place. During World War II, he headed the operations department at the headquarters of Army Group C, which took part in the final phase of the breakthrough of the Maginot Line. Later, as chief of staff of the 17th Army, Muller fought in Ukraine and the North Caucasus. The lieutenant general spent his last battle in the early summer of 1944 near Minsk as commander of the 4th Army, after which he was forced to capitulate to the advancing units of the Red Army.
Until 1948, Vinzenz Müller was in Soviet captivity, where he radically changed his political views, becoming a consistent anti-fascist. In 1952, he returned to military activity, taking an active part in the creation of a professional army of the GDR.
Occupying the highest positions in the structure of the NPA, Müller maintained contacts with his former comrades who served in Bavaria. It is known that the general secretly met several times with German Finance Minister Fritz Schaeffer, trying to help improve relations between the two Germanys. In 1958 Muller fell into disgrace and was dismissed.
In March 1956, Willi Stof, who had received the rank of colonel general the year before, began his work as head of the Ministry of National Defense of the GDR. Since 1931 Shtof was in the ranks of the Communist Party of Germany, but he could not avoid service in the Wehrmacht. Since 1941, he fought on the Eastern Front, was wounded, and was awarded the Iron Cross. The war ended for him only in 1945 with his capture, where he began fruitful cooperation with the Soviet authorities.
Hans von Wich devoted the entire war to aviation, leading various air formations. He was captured by the Soviets in Karlsbad on the last day of the war. Like most of the German military, he returned to his homeland only in 1948, where he was immediately accepted into the border guards of the eastern zone of occupation as head of the supply department. Later he held a similar post in the Barracks People's Police of the GDR.
Another one interesting figure in the former leadership of the Wehrmacht - Colonel Wilhelm Adam, who at the last stage of the Battle of Stalingrad was part of the headquarters of the 6th Army of Paulus. After surrendering, he was in Suzdal, Krasnogorka and Voikovo. Actively participated in the activities of the pro-Soviet Union of German Officers.
After returning to Germany, Adam worked in educational and financial structures. One of the first was involved in the construction of the armed forces of the GDR. First, he was appointed to the position of head of the management department of educational institutions, then he headed the Higher Officer School in Dresden. Until the death of Paulus, Adam maintained friendly relations with him. He rose to the rank of Major General of the NPA.
Colonel Rudolf Bamler, an artilleryman by profession. During the war, he served as chief of staff of various armies. He was taken prisoner during the Belarusian offensive operation near Mogilev, immediately disowned his Nazi past and began to work closely with the Soviet state security agencies.
Upon his return to Germany, he taught at military schools, and later took up the post of chief inspector of the Barracks Militia. Health problems forced him to find a quieter place of work - he became the head of a military technical school in Erfurt. Bamler often made accusatory speeches against the leadership of the FRG. Since 1959, he is rumored to have held an unofficial post in the East German Stasi intelligence service.
Arno von Lensky, along with Vinzenz Müller, was another Wehrmacht general who was entrusted with the construction of the NPA. He finished World War II near Stalingrad with the rank of lieutenant general. Just like Paulus, he was kept in Krasnogorsk, Suzdal, Voikovo, participated in the activities of anti-fascist organizations.
In the GDR, on the recommendation of Marshal Chuikov, Lenski resumed his military career in the structures of the NNA. His duties included the formation and development of the tank forces of the East German state. Soon the general fell into disgrace: he was accused of unreliability, criticized for neglecting discipline. From the late 1950s, the East German and Soviet authorities decided to gradually dismiss former Wehrmacht officers from service.

The GDR (German Democratic Republic) is a state located in the central part of Europe and existed from 1949 to 1990. Why is this period firmly established in history? We will talk about this in our article.

A little about the GDR

East Berlin became the capital of the GDR. The territory occupied 6 modern federal states of Germany. The GDR was administratively divided into lands, districts and urban areas. It is worth noting that Berlin was not included in any of the 6 states and had a special status.

Creation of the GDR army

The army of the GDR was created in 1956. It consisted of 3 types of troops: land, navy, and on November 12, 1955, the government announced the creation of the Bundeswehr - the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. On January 18 of the following year, the law "On the Establishment of the National People's Army and the Formation of the Ministry of National Defense" was officially approved. In the same year, various headquarters subordinate to the ministry began their activities, and the first subsections of the NPA took the military oath. In 1959, the F. Engels Military Academy was opened, in which young people are trained for future service. She played an important role in the formation of a strong and efficient army, as the training system was thought out to the smallest detail. Nevertheless, it should be noted that until 1962, the army of the GDR was replenished by hire.

The GDR included Saxon and Prussian lands, which were previously inhabited by the most warlike Germans. It was they who served to ensure that the NPA became a powerful and rapidly growing force. The Prussians and Saxons quickly moved up the career ladder, first occupying the highest officer posts, and then taking over the management of the NPA. You should also remember the traditional discipline of the Germans, love for military affairs, the rich experience of the Prussian military and advanced military equipment, because all this in total made the army of the GDR almost invincible.

Activity

The army of the GDR began its active work in 1962, when the first maneuvers were carried out on the territory of Poland and the GDR, in which soldiers from the Polish and Soviet sides participated. The year 1963 was marked by a large-scale holding called the Quartet, in which the NNA, Polish, Czechoslovak and Soviet troops participated.

Despite the fact that the army of the GDR was not at all impressive in terms of numbers, it was the most combat-ready army in all of Western Europe. The soldiers showed excellent results, which was largely based on their studies at the Academy of F. Engels. Those who joined the army for hire were trained in all the skills and became powerful weapons of murder.

Doctrine

The National People's Army of the GDR had its own doctrine, which was developed by the leadership. The principles of organizing the army were based on the rejection of all the postulates of the Prussian-German military. An important point of the doctrine was the strengthening of the defense forces to protect the country's socialist system. Separately, the importance of cooperation with the armies of the socialist allied countries was emphasized.

Despite the great desire of the government, the National People's Army of the GDR was not able to completely break all ties with the classics of German military traditions. The army partly practiced the old customs of the proletariat and the era of the Napoleonic wars.

The Constitution of 1968 stated that the National People's Army of the GDR was called upon to protect the territory of the state, as well as its citizens, from external encroachments of other countries. In addition, it was indicated that all forces would be thrown into the protection and strengthening of the socialist system of the state. To maintain its power, the army maintained close ties with other armies.

Numeric expression

The national army of the GDR by 1987 consisted of 120 thousand soldiers. The ground forces of the army consisted of 9 air defense regiments, 1 air support regiment, 2 anti-tank battalions, 10 artillery regiments, etc. The army of the GDR, whose weapons were sufficient, defeated the enemy with the ability to handle their resources, cohesion and thoughtful tactical approach.

Preparation

The training of soldiers took place in higher officer schools, which were attended by almost all young people. The previously mentioned Academy of F. Engels, which produced professionals in their field, was especially popular. By 1973, 90% of the army consisted of peasants and workers.

Structure in the army

The territory of Germany was divided into 2 military districts, which were in charge of the People's Army of the GDR. The district headquarters are located in Leipzig and Neubrandenburg. A separate artillery brigade was also created, which was not part of any district, each of which had 2 motorized divisions, 1 missile brigade and 1 armored division.

army uniform

The Soviet army of the GDR wore a uniform with a red stand-up collar. Because of this, she received the nickname "canary". The Soviet army served at the State Security building. Soon the question arose of creating your own form. It was invented, but it was very reminiscent of the form of the Nazis. The government's excuses were that there were required amount such uniforms that their production is established and does not require intervention. The reason for the adoption of the traditional uniform was also the fact that the GDR did not have large financial investments. The emphasis was also placed on the fact that if the army is popular, then its form should be associated with the proletarian folk tradition.

The uniform of the GDR army inspired a certain forgotten fear associated with the times of Nazism. The story tells that when a military band was visiting Prague, half of the Czechs fled in different directions, seeing the uniform of soldiers with helmets and wicker shoulder straps.

The army of the GDR, whose uniform was not very original, had a pronounced color differentiation. Members of the Navy wore blue. The air services of the Air Force dressed in light blue, while the air defense and anti-aircraft missile forces wore light gray uniforms. should wear bright green clothes.

Most strongly, the color differentiation of the military was manifested in the uniform of the ground forces. Artillery, air defense and missile troops wore brick-colored clothes, motorized rifle troops wore white, airborne troops wore orange, and military construction troops wore olive. The rear services of the army (medicine, military justice and financial service) dressed in dark green uniforms.

Equipment

The equipment of the GDR army was quite weighty. There was almost no shortage of weapons, since the Soviet Union supplied a large amount of modern military equipment at an affordable price. Quite developed and widespread in the GDR were sniper rifles. The Ministry of State Security of the GDR itself ordered the creation of such weapons to strengthen the positions of anti-terrorist groups.

Army in Czechoslovakia

The GDR army invaded the territory of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and from that time the worst period for the Czechs began. The invasion took place with the help of the troops of all countries participating in the Warsaw Pact. The goal was the occupation of the territory of the state, and the reason was the reaction to a series of reforms, which were called the "Prague Spring". It is difficult to know the exact number of dead, as many archives are still closed.

The GDR army in Czechoslovakia was distinguished by its cold-bloodedness and some cruelty. Eyewitnesses of those events recalled that the soldiers treated the population without sentiment, not paying attention to the sick, wounded and children. Mass terror and unreasonable rigidity - that's how you can characterize the activities of the people's army. Interestingly, some participants in the events said that the Russian army had practically no influence on the troops of the GDR and had to silently endure the bullying of the Czechs on the orders of the high command.

If we do not take into account the official history, then it becomes interesting that, according to some sources, the GDR army was not introduced into the territory of Czechoslovakia, but concentrated at the borders of the state. The atrocities of the National Army of the GDR cannot be justified, but one should take into account the mental stress, fatigue and guilt with which the Germans went to Prague. The question of the number of deaths, as well as how many of them were real accidents, remains a mystery.

Composition of the Navy of the GDR

The army of the GDR was the most powerful of all the allied countries of the USSR. He owned modern ships that came into circulation in 1970-1980. At the time of the unification of Germany, the navy had 110 ships and 69 auxiliary vessels. They had different purposes, while being modern and equipped. Ships were built at national shipyards in the USSR and Poland. The air force had at its disposal 24 equipped helicopters. The personnel of the Navy was equal to approximately 16 thousand people.

The most powerful were 3 ships built in the USSR. At the same time, the GDR army had a special class of ships, which were very compact in size.

Activities after German reunification

On October 3, 1990, Germany was unified. By this time, the strength of the GDR army was almost 90 thousand people. For some political reasons, a powerful and fairly large army was disbanded. Officers and ordinary soldiers were not recognized as military, and their seniority was annulled. The staff was gradually laid off. Some of the military was able to return to the Bundeswehr, but received only lower positions there.

If the military was considered unsuitable for service in the new army, then this can still be found a logical explanation. They were brought up in a certain way, their focus was the opposite of the goals of a united Germany. It is rather strange that the new government decided to sell or dispose of most of the military equipment. The German leadership was actively looking for wealthy sellers in order to sell the still modern equipment at a higher price. Part of the ships passed to the Indonesian fleet.

The US government became very interested in the Soviet technology of the FRG and hurried to acquire part of it for itself. Of greatest interest was the boat, which was delivered to the research center of the US Navy in the city of Solomon. A lot of research was carried out on him, and at the same time he was highly appreciated by American shipbuilders. As a result, it was recognized that such RCA pose a great threat to the US Navy.

It is interesting that not a single ship of the National People's Army became part of the navy of the united Germany. This ended the history of the navy of the GDR, whose ships can be found in 8 different states.

Disappointment

After the reunification of Germany, the country rejoiced, but thousands of officers of the former People's Army were left to fend for themselves. The GDR army, whose photos are presented in the article, was confused, disappointed and angry. Only recently the soldiers were the elite of society, and now they have become the dregs that they did not want to hire. Pretty soon, the population of the country itself realized that it was not the unification of Germany, but the actual absorption by the western neighbor.

Former military men stood in line at the stock exchanges to get any job in order to feed themselves and their families. All that employees (with higher and lower ranks) of the GDR received after unification was discrimination and humiliation in all spheres of life.

Rank system

In the NNA, the rank system consisted of the Rank and the signs were thoughtfully adapted to the system of the Soviet Army, since its gradation was somewhat different from the German one. By combining these two systems, the GDR army created something of its own. The generals were divided into 4 ranks: Marshal of the GDR, Army General, Colonel General and Lieutenant General. The officer corps consisted of colonels, lieutenant colonels, majors, captains and senior lieutenants. Next came the subdivision of ensigns, sergeants and soldiers.

The National People's Army of the GDR was a powerful force that could significantly change the course of history throughout the world. Fate turned out in such a way that the soldiers did not have the opportunity to show all their strength and power, since this was prevented by the unification of Germany, which led to the complete collapse of the NPA.