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Osovets Fortress
Osowiec Fortress (; ) is a 19th-century fortress built by the Russian Empire, located in what is now north-eastern Poland. It saw heavy fighting during World War I when it was defended for several months by its Russian garrison against German attacks. The fortress was built in the years 1882–1892 as one of the defensive works to protect the western borders of Russia against Germany, and continuously modernised afterwards to cope with advances in heavy siege artillery. In 1889–1893, military engineer Nestor Buinitsky took an important part in the creation of the fortress. It was located on the river Biebrza about 50 km from the border with the German province of East Prussia, in the one place where the marshlands of the river could be crossed, hence controlling a vital chokepoint. The extensive marshlands and bogs that surrounded it made attacks upon it difficult. The strategic Belostok– Lyck–Königsberg rail line also ran through the fortress and crossed the B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twierdza Osowiec
Twierdza is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Frysztak, within Strzyżów County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It lies approximately east of Frysztak, south-west of Strzyżów, and south-west of the regional capital Rzeszów. References Villages in Strzyżów County {{Strzyżów-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osowiec-Twierdza
Osowiec-Twierdza is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Goniądz, in Mońki County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately south of Goniądz, north-west of Mońki, and north-west of the regional capital Białystok. Osowiec-Twierdza is home to Biebrza National Park. History Excavations have revealed settlements in Osowiec from prehistoric times. Okrasa existed as a village since before AD 1444. From 1743 to 1827, Osowiec (as Marcinpol) was a city. In the nineteenth century, a railway line was built from Białystok to Ełk, Königsberg, and passing through Osowiec. From 1882 to 1892, the Russian army built a regional military defense strategy. Further work built fortifications at the outbreak of World War I. From 1914 to 6 August 1915, the German 8th Army futilely struggled to break the defensive belt represented by Osowiec Fortress, which successfully defended the Russian troops. During the fighting, the German army used gas (chlo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invasion Of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovak Republic, and the Soviet Union, which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, and one day after the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union had approved the pact. The Soviet invasion of Poland, Soviets invaded Poland on 17 September. The campaign ended on 6 October with Germany and the Soviet Union dividing and annexing the whole of Poland under the terms of the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty. The aim of the invasion was to disestablish Poland as a sovereign country, with its citizens destined for The Holocaust, extermination. German and Field Army Bernolák, Slovak forces ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Border Protection Corps
The Border Protection Corps () was a military formation of the Second Polish Republic that was created in 1924 to defend the country's eastern borders against armed Soviet incursions and local bandits. Other borders were under the jurisdiction of a separate, regular Border Guard state security agency. Though the corps was part of the Polish Army, it was commanded directly by the Ministry of Internal Affairs rather than the Ministry of Military Affairs. It consisted of elite soldiers from all parts of Poland. Initially ''KOP'' comprised 6 brigades and 5 regiments, each guarding part of the borders with the Soviet Union. ''KOP'' ceased to exist with the fall of Poland in September 1939. In 1940, some of its former officers formed an underground armed resistance organization fighting against the German occupiers, the Komenda Obrońców Polski. History Founding After the Polish–Soviet War, the Polish eastern frontier was stretched from the border with Latvia to the north, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I. The Second Republic was taken over in 1939, after it was invaded by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Slovak Republic, marking the beginning of the European theatre of the Second World War. The Polish government-in-exile was established in Paris and later London after the fall of France in 1940. When, after several regional conflicts, most importantly the victorious Polish-Soviet war, the borders of the state were finalized in 1922, Poland's neighbours were Czechoslovakia, Germany, the Free City of Danzig, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, and the Soviet Union. It had access to the Baltic Sea via a short strip of coastline known as the Polish Corridor on either side of the city of Gdynia. Between March and August 1939, Poland a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Novogeorgievsk
The siege of Novogeorgievsk was a battle of World War I fought after the Germans broke the Russian defenses in Paul von Hindenburg's Bug-Narew Offensive. In terms of the ratio of casualties and trophies, the German victory at Novogeorgievsk surpassed the victory at Tannenberg in 1914. It is also one of the most brilliant victories in world military history in capturing a heavily fortified fortress defended by superior enemy forces. Numerous Russian sources call the fall of Novogeorgievsk the most shameful page in the history of the Russian Imperial army. Background As a result of the retreat of the Russian 1st and 2nd armies during the German Bug-Narew offensive, the fortress of Novogeorgievsk was blocked from the south by the division of Lieutenant General Thilo von Westernhagen from the German 9th Army. The chief of staff of the Supreme Commander of All German Forces in the East E. Ludendorff sent M. von Gallwitz an order for a "parallel pursuit" of Russian troops along ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Kaunas (1915)
The siege of Kaunas took place from 12 August to 18 August 1915 and with a quick German victory against Russia. The Imperial German Army launched the Riga–Šiauliai offensive in summer 1915, quickly advancing through Lithuania towards Kaunas, which the Germans reached in July. The Kaunas Fortress garrison had 66,629 men with 1,370 guns, commanded by Vladimir Grigoriev ().С.Г. Нелипович, Русский фронт Первой мировой войны. Потери сторон 1915, 2022, p. 512 The attacking Germans had four division (military), divisions under the command of Karl Litzmann. Battle To support this attack, the Germans constructed a railroad to transport their Gamma-Gerät howitzer. The howitzer's shell weighed about 1 ton with a range of . Several days into the siege more guns of various calibers were deployed. The German army concentrated its attack on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Forts, which were the oldest structures of the Kaunas Fortress. The army did ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Attack Of The Dead Men
The Attack of the Dead Men, or the Battle of Osowiec Fortress, was a battle of World War I that took place at Osowiec Fortress (now northeastern Poland), on August 6, 1915. The incident received its grim name from the bloodied, corpse-like appearance of the Russian combatants after they were bombarded with a mixture of poison gases, chlorine and bromine by the Germans. While coughing up blood and often pieces of their inner organs, the Russians covered their faces with cloths and managed to rout the German troops. Background The Osowiec Fortress, located 23 kilometers from the border with East Prussia, was strategically positioned to protect the vital corridor between the Nemen and Vistula- Bug rivers. Initially penned for seizure by German forces in September 1914, the fortress was again attacked in February and March 1915. In early July 1915, under the command of Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, a third attempt to capture the fortress was undertaken as part of a wider Ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German military and political leader who led the Imperial German Army during the First World War and later became President of Germany (1919–1945), President of Germany from 1925 until his death in 1934. He played a key role in the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 when he appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany. Hindenburg was born to a family of minor Prussian nobility in the Grand Duchy of Posen. Upon completing his education as a cadet, he enlisted in the Third Regiment of Foot Guards as a second lieutenant. He saw combat during the Austro-Prussian War, Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian War, Franco-Prussian wars. In 1873, he was admitted to the prestigious Preußische Hauptkadettenanstalt, War Academy in Berlin, where he studied before being appointed to the General Staff Corps. In 1885, he was promoted to major and became a member of the German General Staff. After ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Generalfeldmarschall
''Generalfeldmarschall'' (; from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire, (''Reichsgeneralfeldmarschall''); in the Habsburg monarchy, the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, the rank ''Feldmarschall'' was used. The rank was the equivalent to ''Großadmiral'' () in the '' Kaiserliche Marine'' and ''Kriegsmarine'', a five-star rank, comparable to OF-10 in today's NATO naval forces. Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary Paroli (uniform) The rank existed in the Austrian Empire as ''Kaiserlicher Feldmarschall'' ("imperial field marshal") and in Austria-Hungary as '' Kaiserlicher und königlicher Feldmarschall'' - ''Császári és királyi tábornagy'' ("imperial and royal field marshal"). Both were based on prior usage during the Holy Roman Empire. The Emperor-King held the rank ''ex officio'', other officers were promoted as required. Betw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Bertha (howitzer)
The 42 centimeter 14 L/12 (short naval cannon), or ''Minenwerfer-Gerät'' (M-Gerät), popularly known by the name of Big Bertha, was a German Empire, German List of siege artillery, siege howitzer built by Krupp AG in Essen, Germany and fielded by the Imperial German Army from 1914 to 1918. The had a Caliber (artillery), calibre barrel, making it one of the List of the largest cannon by caliber, largest artillery pieces ever fielded. The designed in 1911 as an iteration of earlier super-heavy German siege guns intended to break modern fortresses in France and Belgium and entered production in 1912. Test firing began in early 1914 and the gun was estimated to be finished by October 1914. When the First World War broke out, the two guns, still prototypes, were sent to Liège, Belgium, and destroyed Forts Fort de Pontisse, Pontisse and Fort de Loncin, Loncin. German soldiers bestowed the gun with the nickname "Big Bertha", which then spread through German newspapers to the Alli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
