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Battle Of Tannenberg Line
The Battle of Tannenberg Line (; ) or the Battle of the Blue Hills () was a military engagement between the German Army Detachment Narwa and the Soviet Leningrad Front. They fought for the strategically important Narva Isthmus from 25 July–10 August 1944. The battle was fought on the Eastern Front during World War II. The strategic aim of the Soviet Estonian Operation was to reoccupy Estonia as a favorable base for the invasions of Finland and East Prussia. Waffen-SS forces included 24 volunteer infantry battalions from the SS Division Nordland, the SS Division Langemarck, the SS Division Nederland, and the Walloon Legion. Roughly half of the infantry consisted of the personnel of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian). The German force of 22,250 men held off 136,830 Soviet troops. As the Soviet forces were constantly reinforced, their overall casualties are estimated by Estonian historian Mart Laar to be 170,000 dead and wounded. Background ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Narva (1944)
The Battle of Narva was a World War II military campaign, lasting from 2 February to 10 August 1944, in which the German Army Detachment "Narwa" and the Soviet Leningrad Front fought for possession of the strategically important Narva Isthmus. The battle took place in the northern section of the Eastern Front and consisted of two major phases: the Battle for Narva Bridgehead (February to July 1944), and the Battle of Tannenberg Line (July–August 1944). The Soviet Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive and Narva Offensives ( 15–28 February, 1–4 March and 18–24 March) were part of the Red Army Winter Spring Campaign of 1944. Following Joseph Stalin's "broad front" strategy, these battles coincided with the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive (December 1943 – April 1944) and the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive (July–August 1944). A number of foreign volunteers and local Estonian conscripts participated in the battle as part of the German forces with Army Group North. By giving it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waffen-SS
The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both German-occupied Europe and unoccupied lands. With the start of World War II, tactical control was exercised by the (OKW, "High Command of the Armed Forces"), with some units being subordinated to the (Command Staff ''Reichsführer-SS'') directly under Himmler's control. It was disbanded in May 1945. The grew from three regiments to over 38 division (military), divisions during World War II. Combining combat and police functions, it served alongside the German Army (1935–1945), German Army (''Heer''), ''Ordnungspolizei'' (Order Police), and other security units. Originally, it was under the control of the (SS operational command office) beneath Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS. Initially, in keeping with the raci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
III SS (Germanic) Panzer Corps
The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (''III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps'') was a ''Waffen-SS'' armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The ''(Germanische)'' (lit. Germanic) part of its designation was granted as it was composed primarily of foreign volunteer formations. History The corps was formed in April 1943 as a headquarters for the 5th SS Panzergrenadier Division "Wiking" and the 11th SS Panzergrenadier Division "Nordland". The corps was placed under the control of former ''Wiking'' commander ''SS- Obergruppenführer'' Felix Steiner. After training, the corps took part in operations against the Yugoslav Partisans. The corps was then sent to a quiet sector in Army Group North, now made up of the ''Nordland'' Division and the 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade "Nederland". By this stage, ''Wiking'' had been sent south and came under the control of Army Group South's 8th Army. Forced back by the 1944 Soviet winter offensive, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gruppenführer
__NOTOC__ ''Gruppenführer'' (, ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. Since then, the term ''Gruppenführer'' is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire departments, military and several other organizations. History In 1930, ''Gruppenführer'' became an SS rank and was originally bestowed upon those officers who commanded '' SS-Gruppen'' and also upon senior officers of the SS command staff. In 1932, the SS was reorganized and the ''SS-Gruppen'' were reformed into '' SS-Abschnitte''. A ''Gruppenführer'' commanded an ''SS-Abschnitt'' while a new rank, that of ''Obergruppenführer'', oversaw the '' SS-Oberabschnitte'' which were the largest SS units in Germany. Initially in the SA, NSKK, and SS, the rank of ''Gruppenführer'' was considered equivalent to a full general, but became regarded as equivalent to ''Generalleutnant'' after 1934. During the Second World War, when the Waffen-SS ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Estonians
Estonians or Estonian people () are a Finnic ethnic group native to the Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe, primarily their nation state of Estonia. Estonians primarily speak the Estonian language, a language closely related to other Finnic languages, e.g. Finnish, Karelian and Livonian. The Finnic languages are a subgroup of the larger Uralic family of languages, which also includes e.g. the Sami languages. These languages are markedly different from most other native languages spoken in Europe, most of which have been assigned to the Indo-European family of languages. Estonians can also be classified into subgroups according to dialects (e.g. Võros, Setos), although such divisions have become less pronounced due to internal migration and rapid urbanisation in Estonia in the 20th century. There are approximately 1 million ethnic Estonians worldwide, with the vast majority of them residing in their native Estonia. Estonian diaspora communities formed primarily in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle For Narva Bridgehead
The Battle of Narva Bridgehead (, , ; 2 February – 26 July 1944) was the campaign that stalled the Soviet Estonian operation in the surroundings of the town of Narva for six months. It was the first phase of the Battle of Narva campaign fought at the Eastern Front during World War II, the second phase being the Battle of Tannenberg Line. A number of volunteer Waffen SS units from Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium fought on the German side. Several Western authors dealing with the foreign national units nickname the campaign as the "Battle of the European SS". The Estonian conscripts fought to defend their country against the looming Soviet reoccupation. The Soviet Estonian offensive was a follow-on of the Leningrad–Novgorod offensive. Its aim was to reconquer Estonia, which was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. Although Narva was not the main direction of the Soviet offensives on the Eastern Front in 1944, the Baltic Sea seemed the quickest way to Jos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaivara Sinimäed 2007
Vaivara was the largest of the 22 concentration and labor camps established in occupied Estonia by the Nazi regime during World War II. Some 20,000 Jewish prisoners passed through its gates, mostly from the Vilna and Kovno Ghettos, but also from Latvia, Poland, Hungary and the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Vaivara was one of the last camps established. It existed from August 1943 to February 1944. Creation On 21 June 1943, Heinrich Himmler ordered the liquidation of the remaining ghettos in the Baltic states. Subsequently, German occupation authorities met under the auspices of the Commander of the Security Police and SD in Reval (the German name for the Estonian capital Tallinn) to plan the establishment of forced labor camps for the oil-shale extraction operations of Baltöl, an IG Farben subsidiary. Beginning in August 1943, a series of concentration camps was established all over Estonia by Organisation Todt. The administrative center of the camp complex was in Vaiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mart Laar
Mart Laar (born 22 April 1960) is an Estonian politician and historian. He served as the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2002. Laar is credited with having helped bring about Estonia's Economy_of_Estonia#Restoration_of_independence,_modernisation_and_liberalisation, rapid economic development during the 1990s. He is a member of the centre-right Isamaa party. In April 2011, Mart Laar became Minister of Defence (Estonia), Minister of Defence in the cabinet of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and served until his resignation for reasons of health in May 2012. In April 2013, Riigikogu appointed Laar as chairman of the supervisory board of the Bank of Estonia, his term beginning on 12 June 2013. Career Mart Laar was born in Viljandi. He studied history at the University of Tartu, graduating in 1983; he received his master's degree in philosophy and his doctorate in history in 2005. Laar taught history in Tallinn, and served as president of the Council of Hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
20th Waffen Grenadier Division Of The SS (1st Estonian)
The 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) was a foreign infantry division of the Waffen-SS that served alongside the ''Wehrmacht'' during World War II. According to some sources, the division was under ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himmler's overall command but was not an integral part of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). It was officially activated on 24 January 1944, and many of its soldiers had been members of the Estonian Legion and/or the 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade, which had been fighting as part of German forces since August 1942 and October 1943 respectively. Both of the preceding formations drew their personnel from German-occupied Estonia. Shortly after its official activation, widespread conscription within Estonia was announced by the German occupying authorities. The division was formed in Estonia around a cadre comprising the 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade, and was initially known as the 20th Estonian SS Volunteer Division. By 1944, a total ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walloon Legion
The Walloon Legion (, , ) was a unit of the German Army (''Wehrmacht'') and later of the Waffen-SS recruited among French-speaking collaborationists in German-occupied Belgium during World War II. It was formed in the aftermath of the German invasion of the Soviet Union and fought on the Eastern Front alongside similar formations from other parts of German-occupied Western Europe. Established in July 1941, the Walloon Legion was envisaged by Léon Degrelle's Rexist Party as a means of demonstrating its loyalty and political indispensability in German-occupied Belgium where it had been largely ignored since the German invasion of May 1940. A similar formation had already been created by Flemish collaborators as the Flemish Legion, preventing Degrelle from being able to establish the "Belgian Legion" he had originally intended. The formation, initially part of the German Army, was officially designated Infantry Battalion 373 (''Infanterie Bataillon 373''). Degrelle himsel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
