Nna GDR dress uniform. Honecker's Afrika Korps? Legends and truths about the use of NPA in Africa. The most efficient army in Eastern Europe

Among the former Wehrmacht officers who stood at the origins of the creation of the National People's Army of the GDR, General Vincenz 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, Müller fought in Ukraine and the North Caucasus. The lieutenant general spent his last battle at the beginning of the summer of 1944 near Minsk as the commander of the 4th Army, after which he was forced to surrender to the advancing units of the Red Army.
Until 1948, Vincenz 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 posts in the structure of the NPA, Müller kept in touch with his former comrades in arms who served in Bavaria. It is known that the general several times secretly met with the Minister of Finance of the Federal Republic of Germany Fritz Schaeffer, trying to help improve relations between the two Germany. In 1958, Mueller fell into disgrace and was dismissed.
In March 1956, Willy Stof began his work as head of the Ministry of National Defense of the GDR, having received the rank of colonel general a year earlier. Shtof had been in the ranks of the German Communist Party since 1931, but he could not avoid serving in the Wehrmacht. Since 1941, he fought on the Eastern Front, was wounded and awarded the Iron Cross. The war ended for him only in 1945 with being taken prisoner, where he began fruitful cooperation with the Soviet authorities.
Hans von Wich devoted the entire war to aviation, leading various air forces. He was captured by the Soviet Union in Carlsbad 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 guard 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 interesting figure in the former leadership of the Wehrmacht is Colonel Wilhelm Adam, who at the last stage of the Battle of Stalingrad was part of the headquarters of Paulus's 6th Army. After surrender he was in Suzdal, Krasnogorka and Voikovo. He took an active part 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 head of the department of management of educational institutions, then he headed the Higher Officers' School in Dresden. Until the death of Paulus, Adam maintained friendly relations with him. He rose to the rank of Major General of the NNA.
Colonel Rudolf Bamler is an artilleryman. During the war, he served as chief of staff of various armies. He was captured during the Belarusian offensive operation near Mogilev, immediately disowned his Nazi past and began to closely cooperate with the Soviet state security agencies.
Upon returning to Germany, he taught in the military educational institutions, later took the post of chief inspector of the Barracks militia. Health problems forced him to find a calmer 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. Rumor has it that since 1959 he has held an unofficial post in the East German intelligence "Stasi".
Arno von Lenski, along with Vincenz Müller, was another Wehrmacht general who was entrusted with the construction of the NPA. He finished World War II at Stalingrad with the rank of Lieutenant General. Just like Paulus, he was held 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 NPA. His responsibilities 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 neglect of discipline. Since the late 1950s, East German and Soviet authorities decided on the gradual dismissal of former Wehrmacht officers from service.

After the unification of Germany, hundreds of GDR officers were left to fend for themselves.

An old photograph: November 1989, the Berlin Wall, literally saddled by a crowd of thousands of people. Only a group of people in the foreground - the border guards of the GDR - have sad and bewildered faces. Until recently, menacing to enemies and rightly aware of themselves as the country's elite, they suddenly turned into extra extras on this holiday. But even this was not the most terrible thing for them ...

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

For the first time, I heard from him what I was destined to listen to 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", did not cooperate with the "Stasi" and nevertheless lost everything. "

The problem, however, is much deeper: having abandoned the soldiers and officers of our own army to the mercy of fate, did we not thereby betray ourselves? And was it possible to keep the NNA, albeit under a different name and with a changed organizational structure, but as a loyal 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 background of NATO's eastward expansion and the spread of the US military-political influence in the post-Soviet space.

So, in 1990, the unification of Germany took place, causing euphoria on the part of both West and East Germans. It is finished! The great nation has regained unity, the so hated Berlin Wall has finally come down. However, as is often the case, unbridled joy was replaced by bitter disappointment. Of course, not for all people in Germany, no. Most of them, as shown by opinion polls, do not regret the unification of the country.

Disappointment mainly affected some of the inhabitants of the GDR, which had sunk into oblivion. Quite quickly, they realized that what had actually happened was the Anschluss - the absorption of their homeland by their western neighbor.

The officer and non-commissioned officer corps of the former NPA suffered the most from this. It did not become an integral part of the Bundeswehr, but was simply disbanded. Most of the former military personnel of the GDR, including generals and colonels, were dismissed. At the same time, service in the NNA was not credited to them either for military or civilian work experience. Those who were lucky enough to wear the uniform of recent opponents were demoted.

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

AND worse than that... In his book, Mikhail Boltunov quotes 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 military personnel 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 loyal to both its own and Soviet leadership.

General Matvey Burlakov, former commander-in-chief of the Western Group of Forces, spoke directly about this in an interview: "Gorbachev and others betrayed the Union." And did not this betrayal begin with the betrayal of his loyal allies, who, among other things, ensured the geopolitical security of the USSR in the western direction?

However, many will consider the last statement controversial and will note the irreversibility and even spontaneity of the process of unification of the two Germanies. But the point is not that the FRG and the GDR inevitably had 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: did he possess Soviet Union real possibilities to maintain its military-political presence in Germany, preventing NATO expansion to the east? To answer these questions, we need to take a short historical excursion.

In 1949, a new republic appeared on the map - the GDR. It was created in response to education in the American, British and French occupation zones of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is interesting that Joseph Stalin did not strive to create the GDR, having come forward with the initiative for the unification of Germany, but on condition that it did not join NATO.

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 Germany, Vladimir Semyonov, “cannot be considered only a political enemy of Russia. He had an irrational hatred for the Russians. "

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 GDR navy became the most combat-ready along with the Soviet in the Warsaw Pact.

This is not an exaggeration, for the GDR included the Prussian and Saxon lands, which once represented the most belligerent German states with strong armies. This is especially true, of course, for the Prussians. It was the Prussians and Saxons who formed the basis of the officer corps, first of the German Empire, then the Reichswehr, then the Wehrmacht and, finally, the NPA.

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

It is noteworthy that in some way the NPA embodied 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.

The strength of the GDR army was in the combat training of its personnel, because the number of the NPA always remained relatively low: in 1987 it numbered 120 thousand soldiers and officers in its ranks, inferior, 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 in secondary sectors of the front - in Austria and Denmark. In turn, the NPA was given more serious tasks: to fight in the main direction - against troops operating from the territory of the FRG, where the first echelon of NATO ground forces was deployed, that is, the Bundeswehr itself, as well as the most combat-ready divisions of the Americans, British and French.

The Soviet leadership trusted the German brothers in arms. And not in vain. General Valentin Varennikov, commander of the 3rd WGV Army in the GDR and later Deputy Chief of Staff of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, General Valentin Varennikov, wrote in his memoirs: 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 1980s. It remained to give a signal - and everything would rush. Everything is ready, the shells are in the tanks, it remains to shove in the barrel - and forward. They would have burned everything, they would have destroyed everything there. Military facilities, I mean, are not cities. I often met with the chairman of the NATO military committee, Klaus Naumann. He once asks me: “I saw the plans of the GDR army, which you approved. Why didn't you start the offensive? " We tried to collect these plans, but someone hid them and 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 always expected you to be the first to start. " So they explained it. We cannot say that we should have started first. "

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.

From the point of view of the intellectual training of personnel, the NPA also stood at a high level: by the mid-1980s, 95 percent of its officer corps had a higher or specialized secondary education, about 30 percent of officers graduated from military academies, 35 percent from higher military schools.

In a word, at the end of the 80s, the GDR army was ready for any tests, 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 development housing construction, increasing 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 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.

The coming of Mikhail Gorbachev 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 enthusiastic. In addition, at the end of the 80s, a massive departure of citizens of the GDR to the FRG began. Gorbachev made it clear to his East German counterpart that Soviet aid to the GDR is directly dependent on Berlin's reforms.

The rest 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 grouping, equipped with 12 thousand tanks and armored vehicles, which became an unconditional geopolitical and geostrategic defeat and hastened the entry of yesterday's allies of the USSR in the Warsaw Pact into NATO.

Demonstration performances with the GDR special forces

But all these are dry lines about relatively recent events, followed by the drama of thousands of NPA officers and their families. With sadness in their eyes and pain in their hearts, they watched the last parade of Russian troops on August 31, 1994 in Berlin. Loyal, humiliated, useless to anyone, they witnessed the departure of the once allied army, which lost the Cold War with them without a single shot.

And after all, just five years earlier, Gorbachev had promised not to leave the GDR to its fate. Did the Soviet leader have any grounds for such statements? On the one hand, it would seem not. As we have already noted, at the end of the 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, which would allow Germany to be reunited on an equal footing. Declarative statements that are not supported by practical steps do not count in this case.

But there is also another side of the coin. According to Boltunov, neither France nor Great Britain considered the issue of German reunification urgent. This is understandable: in Paris they feared a strong and united Germany, which in less than a century had twice crushed the military might of France. 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 a 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 four states for post-war Germany.

Against this background, London's desire 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 to extend this process for 10-15 years.

And perhaps most importantly: in curbing the processes aimed at uniting Germany, the British leadership counted on the support of Moscow and Paris. And even more than that: German Chancellor Helmut Kohl himself was not initially the initiator of the absorption of its 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 of realizing the idea once proposed by Stalin: the creation of a unified, but neutral and non-NATO member of Germany.

Preservation on the territory of a united Germany, albeit a limited contingent of Soviet, American, British and French troops would become the 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 the former NPA officers into outcasts.

All this was quite realizable 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 to defend the GDR, did not do this and easily went to the absorption of their eastern neighbor by West Germany, ultimately changing the balance of power in Europe in favor of NATO?

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

The reunification of two independent German states is one thing, the Anschluss, that is, the absorption of the GDR by the Federal Republic, is another. 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 continental split from the Elbe to the Oder or further to the east.

Shevardnadze gave a very simple explanation of his behavior - I learned this from the presidential aide ( THE USSR. - Auth.) Anatoly Chernyaeva: “Genscher asked for this. And Genscher is a good person. "

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, oriented, if we proceed from the logic of its decisions, more towards a positive image of the USSR in the West. the world, rather than the interests of their 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, provide a vivid example of the fact that the determining factor in history is not some objective processes, but the role of the individual. The entire past of mankind indisputably testifies to this.

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

The French would never have brought much of Europe to their knees if they had not been their emperor Napoleon. And there would not have been an October coup in Russia, the most shameful in the history of the country of the Brest-Litovsk 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 that indisputably testify to the determining role of the individual in history.

There is no doubt that nothing similar to the events of the early 90s could have happened in Eastern Europe if Yuri Andropov was 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 preservation of a military presence in Central Europe and the comprehensive strengthening of the combat power of the NPA, regardless of the attitude of the Americans and their allies to this.

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

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

One of the characteristics 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 stated unequivocally 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, because it was after this that he began to more energetically pursue a course towards reunification of Germany and, most importantly, began to insist on maintaining its NATO membership.

And as a result: in modern Germany, the number of American troops exceeds 50 thousand soldiers and officers, including stationed on the territory of the former GDR, and the NATO military machine is deployed near the Russian borders. And in the event of a military conflict, well-trained and trained officers of the former NPA will no longer be able to help us. And they hardly 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 position in Central and Eastern Europe, gradually ousting British capital from there.

Igor KHODAKOV

Hello dear.

Yesterday we had an introduction on a new topic: well, today, let's start with specific examples.
And let's talk about the path and not very numerous, but one of the most combat-ready armies of the whole world in those years - about the GDR Volksarmey, she is the National People's Army (NPA) 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.

The country's defense issues 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 Defense.

General of the Army Heinz Hoffmann 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. The supreme body is the Main Political Directorate of the NPA. When creating the NPA, the experience of building the Armed Forces of the USSR and other socialist countries was used.
NPA is recruited in accordance with the Law on the introduction of universal military service (January 24, 1962) and on the principle of voluntariness. Draft age - 18 years, duration of service - 18 months

The training of officers is carried out in the higher officers' schools and in the Military. academy named after F. Engels.
As I said above, the army of the GDR was not the most numerous. As of 1987, the Ground Forces of the GDR NPA numbered 120,000 troops.

The number of the Air Force is about 58,000 people.

The number of the 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 (South, headquarters in Leipzig) and MB-V (North, headquarters in Neubrandenburg) and one artillery brigade, which was not part of any of the military districts, in each of which there were 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 (Pionier 1bataillon) logistics battalion (Bataillon materieller Sicherstellung), 1 chemical defense battalion (Bataillon chemischer Abwehr), 1 sanitary battalion (Sanitätsbataillon), 1 reconnaissance battalion (Aufklärungsbataillon), 1 missile division (Raketenabteilung).
The main tank of the GDR army was the T-55, which made up about 80% of the park. The remaining 20% ​​fell on the T-72b slingshot and T-72G, mainly Polish or Czechoslovakian production. The share of new tanks increased steadily.

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 division (Raketenabteilung), 1 engineer battalion (Pionierbataillon), 1 logistics battalion (Bataillon materieller Sicherstellung), 1 sanitary battalion (Sanitätsbataillon), 1 chemical defense battalion (Bataillon chemischer Abwehr), 1 material support battalion (Bataillon materieller Sicherstellung).


Each missile brigade consisted of 2-3 missile 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 shock squadrons (Jagdfliegergeschwader), 1 anti-aircraft missile brigade (Fla-Raketenbrigade), 2 anti-aircraft missile regiments (Fla-Raketenbrigade) , 3-4 radio technical battalions (Funktechnisches Bataillon). There were also modern aircraft of the MiG-29 type.


The Air Force also included one of the most legendary and effective units of the Volksarmee - the 40th airborne battalion of the NNA "Willie Sanger" (German - 40. "Willi Sanger Fallschirmjager Bataillon). The soldiers 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 airborne units of the NPA, as part of a limited contingent of Soviet troops, participated in military operations in Afghanistan.

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


The naval aviation consisted of 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 (Project 1159) and 16 small anti-submarine ships (MPK) of the Parchim type, Project 133.1

In total, the Volksarme had 6 divisions (11 when mobilized)
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:
19 Motorized Rifle Division of the NNA - the second Guards Tank Army.
17th Motorized Rifle NNA - Eighth Guards Army.
6 Motorized Rifle NVA - Western Front reserve.


It's funny that despite the military doctrine, which was formulated as "a denial of all the traditions of the Prussian-German military", there were many borrowings from the 2nd and 3rd Reichs in insignia, titles and uniforms. Let's just say - a compilation from the insignia of the Wehrmacht and the Soviet Army. So the insignia of gefreighters moved from sleeves to shoulder straps and became similar to the sergeant's stripes of the Soviet Army. The insignia of the non-commissioned officers remained completely Wehrmacht. The officer's and general's shoulder straps 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.
There were also some differences in the form. 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 remembered about it here here.

Exactly sixty years ago, on January 18, 1956, it was decided 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 were sworn in, in reality the NPA can be counted precisely 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 efficient armies in 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. In the postwar years, the Soviet Union pursued a much more peaceful policy than its Western opponents. Therefore, for a long time, the USSR tried 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 Government of Great Britain, the USSR and the USA, which took place on July 17 - August 2, 1945 in Potsdam, Germany was prohibited from having 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 brink of armed confrontation, which actually gave rise to the violation of the agreements that were reached in the process of the victory over Nazi Germany. By 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was created 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, who 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 FRG government announced the creation of the Bundeswehr. Thus began the history of the West German army and the history of the almost undisguised confrontation between the "two Germanies" in the field of defense and armaments. After the decision to create the Bundeswehr, the Soviet Union had no choice but to "give the green light" 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 cooperation between the Russian and German armies, which in the past fought with each other rather than cooperated. Do not forget that the high combat effectiveness of the NPA was explained by the entry into the GDR of Prussia and Saxony - the lands from which the bulk of the German officers had long originated. It turns out that it was the NNA, and not the Bundeswehr, who largely inherited the historical traditions of the 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 predecessor 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 were created as part of the Ministry of the Interior of the GDR, as well as two main directorates - the Main Directorate of the Air Police and the Main Directorate of the Naval 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 were created, which was an analogue of the internal troops of the Soviet Union. Naturally, the KNP could not conduct hostilities against modern armies and was called upon to perform purely police functions - to fight sabotage and bandit groups, disperse riots, and maintain public order. This was confirmed by the decision of the 2nd party conference of the Socialist United Party of Germany. The Barracks People's Police were subordinate to the Minister of the Interior of the GDR, Willy Stof, and the chief of the KNP 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 was recruited from among volunteers who entered into a contract for a period of at least three years. In May 1952, the Free German Youth Union took over the 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 formerly independent Maritime People's Police and the Air People's 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 Aeroclubs of the KNP. She 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 mass 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 continued on a military basis, in particular, the General Headquarters of the Barracks People's Police of the GDR was created, headed by Lieutenant General Vincenz Müller, a former general of the Wehrmacht. The Territorial Administration “North”, headed by Major General Hermann Rentsch, and the Territorial Administration “South”, headed by Major General Fritz Jone, were also created. Each territorial directorate was subordinate to three operational detachments, and a mechanized operational detachment was subordinate to the General Staff, 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 cannon SM-2); 3) three motorized infantry companies (on trucks); 4) a fire support company (a field artillery platoon with three ZIS-3 guns; an anti-tank artillery platoon with three 45 mm or 57 mm anti-tank guns; a mortar platoon with three 82 mm mortars); 5) headquarters company (communications platoon, sapper platoon, chemical platoon, reconnaissance platoon, transport platoon, supply platoon, command department, medical department). In the Barracks People's Police, military ranks were established and a military uniform was introduced, which differed from the uniform of the People's Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR (if the employees of the People's Police wore dark blue uniforms, then the employees of the barracks police received a more "militarized" uniform of a khaki). The military ranks in the Barracks People's Police were established as follows: 1) soldier, 2) corporal, 3) non-commissioned officer, 4) headquarters 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 their desire to join the National People's Army and continue their service there. Moreover, in fact, it was within the Barracks People's Police that the "skeleton" of the NPA was created - land, air and naval units, and the command staff of the Barracks People's Police, including senior commanders, almost completely became part of the NPA. The employees who remained in the Barracks People's Police continued to perform the functions of protecting public order, fighting crime, that is, they retained the functionality of the internal troops.

The 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 Willie Stoff (1914-1999), in 1952-1955. who served as Minister of Internal Affairs. A pre-war communist, Willy Stohoff joined the German Communist Party at the age of 17. As an underground member, he, nevertheless, could not avoid serving 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, took part in battles on the territory of the USSR, was wounded, 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 completed 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 take up administrative positions in the zone of Soviet occupation. Willy Stof, who had not previously held prominent positions in the communist movement in Germany, made a dizzying career in the post-war years. After his release from captivity, he was appointed head of the industrial and construction department, then headed the Office 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, when he was the Minister of the Interior of the GDR, Willy Stof was promoted to the military rank of Colonel General. Taking into account the experience of leading the power ministry, in 1956 it was decided to appoint Willy Stof as the Minister of National Defense of the German Democratic Republic. In 1959 he received the next military rank of General of the Army. From the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he moved to the Ministry of National Defense of the GDR and 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.

Heinz Hoffmann (1910-1985) can be called the second "founding father" of the National People's Army of the GDR, besides Willy Stof. Coming from a working-class family, Hoffmann joined the German Communist Youth League at the age of sixteen, and at the age of twenty became a member of the German Communist Party. In 1935, the underground worker Heinz Hoffmann was forced to leave Germany and flee to the USSR. Here he was selected for education - first a political one at the International Leninist School in Moscow, and then a military one. From November 1936 to February 1837 Hoffman 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 was sent to Spain, where at that time was Civil War between Republicans and Francoists. Lieutenant Hoffman was assigned to the position of instructor in the treatment of 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, 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 instructor at the Spaso-Zavodsky prisoner of war camp on the territory 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 German Communist Party in Skhodnya.

After returning in January 1946 to the territory of East Germany, Hoffmann worked in various positions in the apparatus of the SED. On July 1, 1949, with the rank of Inspector General, he became vice-president of the German Directorate of the Interior, and from April 1950 to June 1952, Heinz Hoffmann served as head of the Main Combat Training Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR. On July 1, 1952, he was appointed Chief of the Barracks People's Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR and Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs 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 training course at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces. Returning home, on December 1, 1957, Hoffmann was appointed First Deputy Minister of National Defense of the GDR, and on March 1, 1958, he was also appointed Chief of the General Staff of the National People's Army of the GDR. Subsequently, on July 14, 1960, Colonel General Heinz Hoffmann replaced Willy Stof 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 NPA from 1967 to 1985. remained Colonel General (from 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 avoid being drafted into the Wehrmacht. As an assistant machine gunner, he was sent to the Eastern Front and already on July 15, 1941 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 armies of the Wehrmacht. In 1943-1945. 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 (from 1953 - the head of the Aeroclub Directorate of the Barracks People's Police Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR). The rank of Major General Kessler was awarded in 1952 - with the appointment of the head of the Air People's 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 was appointed on September 1, 1956, Deputy Minister of National Defense of the GDR - Commander of the NVA Air Force. On October 1, 1959, he was awarded the military rank of Lieutenant General. Kessler held this post for 11 years - until he was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the NPA. On December 3, 1985, after the unexpected death of Army General Karl-Heinz Hoffmann, Colonel General Heinz Kessler was appointed Minister of National Defense of the GDR and held this post until 1989. After the collapse of Germany, on September 16, 1993, a Berlin court sentenced Heinz Kessler to seven s half years in prison.

Under the leadership of Willy Stof, 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 enough turned into the most combat-ready armed forces among the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries after the Soviet ones. Everyone who was involved in serving in Eastern Europe in the 1960s - 1980s noted significantly more high level training, and most importantly - the fighting spirit of the NPA servicemen in comparison with their colleagues from the armies of other socialist states. Although initially many officers and even generals of the Wehrmacht, who were the only military specialists in the country at that time, were involved in the National People's Army of the GDR, the officer corps of the NPA was still significantly different 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 quite quickly possible to train new officer cadres, up to 90% of whom came 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 assigned an important and difficult task. It was the NNA that was to directly engage in hostilities with the formations of the Bundeswehr and, together with units of the Soviet Army, ensure the advance into the territory of West Germany. It is no coincidence that NATO viewed the NPA as one of the key and very dangerous adversaries. Hatred of the National People's Army of the GDR subsequently affected the attitude towards its former generals and officers already in the united Germany.

The most efficient army in Eastern Europe

The German Democratic Republic was divided into two military districts - 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 centrally subordinate artillery brigade. Each military district consisted of 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 battalion of chemical protection. 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 defense battalion, 1 sanitary battalion, 1 reconnaissance battalion, 1 missile department. The rocket brigade included 2-3 rocket departments, 1 engineering company, 1 material support company, 1 meteorological battery, 1 repair company. The artillery brigade included 4 artillery divisions, 1 repair company and 1 material support company. The air force of the NNA included 2 air divisions, each of which consisted of 2-4 shock squadrons, 1 anti-aircraft missile brigade, 2 anti-aircraft missile regiments, 3-4 radio technical battalions.

The history of the GDR navy began in 1952, when units of the People's Maritime Police were created as part of the GDR Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1956, the ships and personnel of the Maritime People's Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR entered the created National People's Army and until 1960 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 seaman, from 1937 he served in the Wehrmacht, but almost immediately, in 1941, he was captured by the Soviet Union, where he remained until 1947. In captivity, he joined the Free Germany National Committee. After returning from captivity, he worked as secretary of the rector of the Karl Marx Higher Party School, then entered the service of the naval police, where he was appointed chief of staff of the Main Directorate of the Marine Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR. On October 1, 1952, he was promoted to Rear Admiral, from 1955 to 1956. served as commander of the Maritime People's Police. After the creation of the Ministry of National Defense of the GDR on March 1, 1956, he transferred to the post of Commander of the GDR Navy and held this post until December 31, 1956. Later, he held a number of important posts in the naval command, was responsible for combat training personnel, then - for equipment and weapons, and retired in 1975 from the post of deputy fleet commander for logistics. As commander of the GDR Navy, Felix Schaeffler was replaced by Vice Admiral Waldemar Ferner (1914-1982), a former underground communist who left in 1935 Hitlerite Germany, and after returning to the GDR he headed the Main Directorate of the Maritime Police. From 1952 to 1955 Ferner served as commander of the Maritime People's Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR, into which the Main Directorate of the Naval Police was transformed. From January 1, 1957 to July 31, 1959, he commanded the GDR Navy, after which from 1959 to 1978. served as chief 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 title 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, Aim returned to post-war Germany and quickly made a party career. In 1950, he began service in the Main Directorate of the Naval Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the GDR - first as a liaison officer, and then as deputy chief of staff and head of the organizational department. In 1958-1959 Wilhelm Eim was in charge of the rear service of the GDR Navy. On August 1, 1959, he was appointed commander of the GDR Navy, but from 1961 to 1963. studied at the Naval Academy in the USSR. Upon his return from the Soviet Union, the acting commander Rear Admiral Heinz Norkirchen again gave way to Wilhelm Eim. Aim held the post of commander until 1987.

In 1960, a new name was adopted - the People's Navy. The GDR navy 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 for operations of large ships 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 GDR People's Navy. The GDR had a fairly strong naval aviation, equipped with aircraft and helicopters. The People's Navy was to solve, first of all, the tasks of defending the country's coastline, fighting enemy submarines and mines, landing tactical assault forces, and supporting ground forces on the coast. The Volksmarine numbered approximately 16,000 troops. The GDR navy was armed with 110 combat and 69 auxiliary ships and vessels, 24 naval aviation helicopters (16 Mi-8 and 8 Mi-14), 20 Su-17 fighter-bombers. The command of the GDR Navy was located in Rostock. The following structural units of the Navy were subordinate to him: 1) a flotilla in Peenemünde, 2) a flotilla in Rostock - Warnemünde, 3) a flotilla in Dransk, 4) a naval school. Karl Liebknecht in Stralsund, 5) naval school. Walter Steffens in Stralsund, 6) the coastal missile regiment "Waldemar Werner" in Gelbenzand, 7) the naval squadron of combat helicopters "Kurt Barthel" in Parov, 8) the naval aviation squadron "Paul Viszorek" in Lag, 9) Vesol signal regiment "Johan" in Böhlendorf, 10) a communications and flight support battalion in Lag, 11) a number of other units and service units.

Until 1962, the National People's Army of the GDR was recruited through the recruitment of 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 was introduced in the GDR five years later than in the capitalist FRG (where the army switched from contract to conscription in 1957). The number of the NPA was also inferior to the Bundeswehr - by 1990, 175,000 people served in the ranks of the NPA. The defense of the GDR was compensated by the presence on the country's territory of a huge contingent of Soviet troops - ZGV / GSVG (Western Group of Forces / Group of Soviet Forces in Germany). The training of the NPA officers was carried out at the Friedrich Engels Military Academy, the Wilhelm Pick Higher Military-Political School, and specialized military educational institutions of the combat arms. In the National People's Army of the GDR, an interesting system of military ranks was introduced, partially duplicating the old ranks of the Wehrmacht, but partially containing explicit borrowings from the system of military ranks of the Soviet Union. The hierarchy of military ranks in the GDR looked like this (the analogs 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 awarded in practice; 2) General of the Army (Admiral of the Fleet) - in the ground forces the rank was assigned to top officials, in the navy the rank 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 (Fregaten-Captain); 8) Major (Corvette Captain); 9) Captain (Lieutenant Commander); 10) Ober-lieutenant (Ober-lieutenant zur See); 11) Lieutenant (Lieutenant zur See); 12) Non-commissioned lieutenant (Non-commissioned lieutenant zur See); III. Fenrichs (similar to Russian ensigns): 13) Ober-staff-fenrich (Ober-staff-fenrich); 14) Shtabs-Fenrich (Shtabs-Fenrich); 15) Ober-Fenrich (Ober-Fenrich); 16) Fenrich (Fenrich); IV Sergeants: 17) Staff Feldwebel (Staff Obermeister); 18) Ober-Feldwebel (Ober-Meister); 19) Feldwebel (Meister); 20) Unter-sergeant-major (Obermat); 21) Non-commissioned officer (checkmate); V. Soldiers / sailors: 22) Chief corporal (Chief sailor); 23) Corporal (Ober-sailor); 24) Soldier (Sailor). Each branch of the army also had its own specific color in the edging of shoulder straps. For generals of all types of troops, it was scarlet, motorized infantry units were white, artillery, rocket troops and air defense units were brick, armored troops were pink, airborne troops were orange, signal troops were yellow, military construction troops were olive, engineering troops, chemical troops, topographic and road transport services - black, rear units, military justice and medicine - dark green; air force (aviation) - blue, air defense missile forces - light gray, navy - blue, border guard - green.

The sad fate of the NNA and its military personnel

The German Democratic Republic, with good reason, can be called the most loyal 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 countries until the end of the 1980s. Unfortunately, the fate of both the GDR and its armies did not develop well. East Germany ceased to exist as a result of the policy of "German unification" and the corresponding actions of the Soviet side. In fact, the GDR was simply ceded to the Federal Republic of Germany. The last Minister of National Defense of the GDR was Admiral Theodor Hoffmann (born 1935). He already belongs to the new generation of GDR officers, who received military education in the military educational institutions of the republic. On May 12, 1952, Hoffmann joined the Maritime People's Police of the GDR as a sailor. In 1952-1955 he studied at the Officer School of the Maritime People's Police in Stralsund, after which he was assigned to the position of a combat training officer in the 7th flotilla of the GDR Navy, then served as the 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 at Volksmarine: deputy commander and chief of staff of the 6th flotilla, commander of the 6th flotilla, deputy chief of the navy staff for operational work, deputy naval commander and chief for combat training. 1985 to 1987 Rear Admiral Hoffmann served as Chief of Staff of the GDR Navy, and in 1987-1989. - Commander of the GDR Navy and Deputy Minister of Defense of the GDR. In 1987, Hoffmann was promoted to the military rank of Vice Admiral, in 1989, with the appointment of the Minister of National Defense of the GDR - Admiral. After the Ministry of National Defense of the GDR was abolished on April 18, 1990 and was replaced by the Ministry of Defense and Disarmament, headed by the democratic politician Rainer Eppelmann, Admiral Hoffmann served as Assistant Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the National People's Army of the GDR until September 1990 ... After the dissolution of the NPA, he was dismissed from military service.

The Ministry of Defense and Disarmament was created after reforms began in the GDR, under pressure from the Soviet Union, where Mikhail Gorbachev had been in power for a long time, which also affected the military sphere. On March 18, 1990, the Minister of Defense and Disarmament was appointed - 47-year-old Rainer Eppelmann, 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 religious 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.

On October 3, 1990, a historic event took place - the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic were reunited. However, in fact, this was not a reunification, but simply the inclusion of the territories of the GDR in 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 FRG authorities feared that the generals and officers of the NPA retain communist sentiments, so a decision was made to de facto disband the National People's Army of the GDR. Only privates and non-commissioned officers of conscript service were sent to serve in the Bundeswehr. Professional soldiers were much less fortunate. All generals, admirals, officers, fenrichs and non-commissioned officers of the regular staff were dismissed from military service. The total number of dismissed is 23,155 officers and 22,549 non-commissioned officers. Almost none of them managed to recover in the service in the Bundeswehr, the overwhelming majority were simply fired - and military service was not counted by them either in military service, or even in civilian service. Only 2.7% of officers and non-commissioned officers of the NPA were able to continue serving in the Bundeswehr (mainly, 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 service, were forced to look for low-paid and low-skilled jobs. 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. As for military equipment, the overwhelming majority was either disposed of or sold to third countries. Thus, combat boats and ships "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 the FRG, and the Bundeswehr units are now taking part in armed conflicts around the world - ostensibly as a peacekeeping force, but in reality - protecting the interests of the United States.

Currently, many former soldiers of the National People's Army of the GDR are part of public veteran organizations that protect the rights of former officers and non-commissioned officers of the NPA, as well as 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 the modern world and confrontation with Russia ... “We do not need military agitation against Russia, but mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence. We do not need military dependence on the United States, but our own responsibility for peace, ”the appeal says. The appeal was among the first to be signed by the last ministers of national defense of the GDR - General of the Army Heinz Kessler and Admiral Theodor Hoffmann.

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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 embedded 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 should be noted that Berlin was not included in any of the 6 states and had a special status.

Creation of the army of the GDR

The Army of the GDR was created in 1956. It consisted of 3 types of troops: ground, navy, and on November 12, 1955, the government announced the creation of the Bundeswehr - armed forces 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 divisions of the NPA took the military oath. In 1959, the F. Engels Military Academy was opened, in which young people were trained for future service. She played an important role in the formation of a strong and efficient army, since the training system was thought out to the smallest detail. It should be noted, however, that up to 1962, the GDR army was replenished for hire.

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

Activity

The army of the GDR began its active activity 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 took part. The year 1963 was marked by a large-scale one called "Quartet", in which the NPA, Polish, Czechoslovak and Soviet troops participated.

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

Doctrine

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

Despite the government’s tremendous commitment, the GDR National People’s Army was unable to completely sever all ties with the classic military traditions of Germany. The army partially practiced the old customs of the proletariat and the era of the Napoleonic wars.

The 1968 Constitution 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 from 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.

Numerical expression

By 1987, the national army of the GDR numbered 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, conquered the enemy with the ability to handle its resources, cohesion and thoughtful tactical approach.

Preparation

The training of soldiers took place in the higher officers' schools, which were attended by almost all young people. The previously mentioned Academy of F. Engels, which graduated professionals in their field, enjoyed particular popularity. 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 "canaries". The Soviet army served at the GB building. Soon the question arose about creating your own form. It was invented, but it very much resembled the uniform of the Nazis. The government's excuses consisted in the fact that the warehouses had the necessary amount of such uniforms that its production was established and did 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 made on the fact that if the army is popular, then its form should be associated with the proletarian folk tradition.

The form of the GDR army inspired a kind of 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 braided shoulder straps.

The GDR army, whose uniform was not very original, had a pronounced color differentiation. Members of the navy wore blue clothing. The air force of the Air Force wore light blue, while the air defense and anti-aircraft missile forces wore light gray uniforms. clothing of a bright green color should be worn.

Strongest of all, the color differentiation of the military was manifested in the uniform of the ground forces. Artillery, air defense and missile troops wore brick-colored clothing, motorized rifle clothing in white, landing troops in orange, and military construction in olive. The rear services of the army (medicine, military justice and financial services) 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. Sniper rifles were quite developed and widespread in the GDR. The ministry itself state security The GDR made an order for 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 aim was the occupation of the territory of the state, and the reason was the reaction to a series of reforms, which were called "Prague Spring". It is difficult to know the exact death toll as many archives remain closed.

The army of the GDR in Czechoslovakia was distinguished by its coolness and some cruelty. Eyewitnesses of those events recalled that the soldiers treated the population without sentimentality, not paying attention to the sick, wounded and children. Mass terror and unreasonable harshness - this is how the activities of the people's army can be characterized. 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 by order of the high command.

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

The composition of the GDR navy

The army of the GDR was the most powerful of all the allied countries of the USSR. He owned modern ships, which entered service in 1970-1980. At the time of the unification of Germany, the navy had 110 ships and 69 auxiliary ships. They had different purposes, while they were modern and equipped. Ships were built at national shipyards in the USSR and Poland. The Air Force had 24 equipped helicopters at its disposal. The personnel of the Navy was equal to about 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 the unification of Germany

On October 3, 1990, the unification of Germany took place. By this time, the strength of the GDR army was equal to almost 90 thousand people. For some political reasons, the powerful and large enough army was disbanded. Officers and ordinary soldiers were not recognized as military, and their seniority was canceled. The personnel were gradually dismissed. 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 a logical explanation can still be found. They were brought up in a certain way, their focus was the opposite of the goals of a unified Germany. Oddly enough, the new government has decided to sell or dispose of most of the military equipment. The German leadership was actively looking for wealthy sellers in order to sell still modern equipment at a higher price. Some of the ships were transferred to the Indonesian fleet.

The US government was very interested in the Soviet technology of the FRG and hastened to acquire some of it for itself. Of the greatest interest was the boat, which was taken to the US Navy Research Center in the city of Solomon. A lot of research was carried out on it, and at the same time it was highly praised by American shipbuilders. As a result, it was recognized that such RCA posed a great threat to the US Navy.

Interestingly, not a single ship of the National People's Army was included in the navy of the united Germany. This was the end of the history of the GDR navy, whose ships can be found in 8 different states.

Disappointment

After the unification of Germany, the country rejoiced, but thousands of officers of the former people's army were left to fend for themselves. The army of the GDR, the photo of which is presented in the article, was confused, disappointed and angry. Only recently did the soldiers represent the elite of society, and now they have become scum that they did not want to recruit. Pretty soon, the country's population itself realized that it was not the unification of Germany that had taken place, but the actual absorption by its 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 the employees (with higher and lower ranks) of the GDR after unification received was discrimination and humiliation in all spheres of life.

Rank system

In the NNA, the rank system consisted of Ranks and the insignia 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. Generals were divided into 4 ranks: Marshal of the GDR, General of the Army, Colonel General and Lieutenant General. The officer corps consisted of colonels, lieutenant colonels, majors, captains and senior lieutenants. Further there was a 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 around the world. The fate was such 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.