Group of Soviet Forces in Germany

History

The Group of Soviet Occupation Forces, Germany was formed after the end of World War II in Europe from formations of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts, commanded by Georgy Zhukov. On its creation on 9 June 1945 it included:

• 1st Guards Tank Army (HQ Radebeul)
  • 8th Guards Mechanised Corps
  • 11th Guards Tank Corps
• 2nd Guards Tank Army (HQ Fürstenberg)
  • Soviet 1st Mechanized Corps
  • 9th Tank Corps
  • 12th Guards Tank Corps
• 4th Guards Tank Army (HQ Eberswalde)
  • 5th Guards Mechanised Corps
  • 6th Guards Mechanised Corps
  • 10th Guards Tank Corps
• 2nd Shock Army (HQ Goldberg, then Schwerin)
  • 109th Rifle Corps (46th, 90th, 372nd Rifle Divisions)
  • 116th Rifle Corps (86th, 321st, 326th Rifle Division)
  • 40th Guards Rifle Corps (101st Guards, 102nd Guards, 272nd Rifle Division)
• 3rd Shock Army (HQ Stendal)
  • 7th Rifle Corps (146th, 265th, 364th Rifle Divisions)
  • 12th Guards Rifle Corps (23rd Guards, 52nd Guards, 33rd Rifle Divisions)
  • 79th Rifle Corps (150th, 171st, 207th Rifle Divisions)
  • 9th Tank Corps
• 5th Shock Army (HQ Nauen, then Potsdam)
  • 9th Rifle Corps (248th, 301st Rifle Divisions)
  • 26th Guards Rifle Corps (89th Guards, 94th Guards, 266th Rifle Divisions)
  • 32nd Rifle Corps (60th Guards, 295th, 416th Rifle Divisions)
  • 230th Rifle Division
  • three independent tank brigades
• 8th Guards Army (HQ Jena, then Nohra)
  • 4th Guards Rifle Corps (35th, 47th, 57th Guard Rifle Divisions)
  • 28th Guards Rifle Corps (39th, 79th, 88th Guards Rifle Divisions)
  • 29th Guards Rifle Corps (27th, 74th, 82nd Guards Rifle Divisions)
  • 11th Tank Corps
• 47th Army (HQ Eisleben, then Halle)
  • 77th Rifle Corps (185th, 260th, 328th Rifle Division)
  • 125th Rifle Corps (60th, 76th, 175th Rifle Divisions)
  • 129th Rifle Corps (82nd, 132nd, 143rd Rifle Divisions)
  • 1st Guards Tank Corps
  • 25th Tank Corps
• 49th Army (HQ Wittenberg)
• 70th Army (HQ Rostock)
• First Polish Army (two divisions)
• Dnieper Flotilla
• 16th Air Army (HQ Woltersdorf)

The 4th Artillery Corps also became part of the GSFG in 1945.

An order of 29 May 1945 had ordered the disestablishment of the 16th, 25th, 47th, 38th, 61st, 62nd, 70th, 77th, 80th, 89th, 91st, 114th Rifle Corps, and 121st Rifle Corps, and of the 71st, 136th, 162nd, 76th, 82nd, 212th, 356th, 234th, 23rd, 397th, 311th, 415th, 328th, 274th, 370th, 41st, 134th, 312th, 4th, 117th, 247th, 89th, 95th, 64th, 323rd, 362nd, 222nd, 49th, 339th, 383rd, 191st, 380th, 42nd, 139th, 238th, 385th, 200th, 330th, 199th, 1st, 369th, 165th, 169th, 158th, and 346th Rifle Divisions. The 89th Rifle Division was not disbanded and instead transferred to the Caucasus.

In January 1946, the 2nd Shock Army left the Soviet Zone. A month later, the 47th Army was disbanded, with its units withdrawn to the Soviet Union. In October the 5th Shock Army was disbanded. In 1947 the 3rd and 4th Guards Mechanized Divisions (Mobilization), former mechanized armies, arrived in the group from the Central Group of Forces. In 1954 the 3rd Shock Army became the 3rd Red Banner Combined Arms Army (Russian: 3-я краснознаменная общевойсковая армия). The 3rd Guards Mechanized Army became the 18th Guards Army on 29 April 1957. On the same day, the 4th Guards Mechanized Army became the 20th Guards Army.

After the abolition of the occupation functions in 1954, the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany became known as the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSVG) on 24 March. The legal basis for the GSVG's stay in East Germany was the Treaty on Relations between the USSR and the GDR of 1955.

Withdrawals from East Germany in 1956 and 1957/58 comprised more than 70,000 Soviet army personnel, including 18th Guards Army Staff.

The GSFG had the task to ensure for the adherence to the regulations of the Potsdam Agreement. Furthermore, they represented the political and military interests of the Soviet Union. In 1957 an agreement between the governments of the USSR and the GDR laid out the arrangements over the temporary stay of Soviet armed forces on the territory of the GDR, the numerical strength of the Soviet troops, and their assigned posts and exercise areas. It was specified that the Soviet armed forces were not to interfere into the internal affairs of the GDR, as they had done during the East German uprising of 1953.

Following a resolution of the government of the Soviet Union in 1979 and 1980, 20,000 army personnel, 1,000 tanks and much equipment were withdrawn from the territory of the GDR, among them the 6th Guards Tank Division, with headquarters at Wittenberg.

Until the last years of Perestroika the GSFG was in the process of realignment as a more offensive force regarding strength, structure and equipment, before a clear reduction of the tank forces in 1989. The GSFG was renamed the Western Group of Forces on 1 June 1989. The withdrawal of the GSFG was one of the largest peacetime troop transfers in military history. Despite the difficulties, which resulted from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the same period, the departure was carried out according to plan and punctually until August 1994. Between the years of 1992 and 1993, the Western Group of Forces in Germany (along with the Northern Group of Forces) halted military exercises.

The return of the troops and material took place particularly by the sea route by means of the ports in Rostock and the island of Rügen, as well as via Poland. The Russian Ground Forces left Germany on 25 June 1994 with a military parade of the 6th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade in Berlin. The parting ceremony in Wünsdorf on 11 June 1994 and in the Treptow Park in Berlin on 31 August 1994 marked the end of the Russian military presence on German soil.

In addition to German territories, the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany operational territory also included the region of town of Szczecin, part of the territories transferred from Germany to Poland following the end of the Second World War. The rest of Poland fell under the Northern Group of Forces, while the southern regions (Austria, Czechoslovakia) were under the Central Group of Forces.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the easing of Cold War tensions, discipline in the WGF began to break down. In response to charges of fatal recruit abuse, widespread desertion, and weapons smuggling among Soviet troops, the group Commander-in-Chief, General Boris Snetkov held a November 1990 press conference to deny the charges, in which he stated that only 84 soldiers had died in 1990, mostly in training or traffic accidents; that 83 soldiers had "left units without permission"; and denied allegations weapons smuggling, stating that only seven weapons were "missing". In response to German citizens' complaints, he also halted all training on weekends and holidays, and ended low-level flying over populated places.

Generals directing the withdrawals from Germany diverted arms, equipment, and foreign monies intended to build housing in Russia for the withdrawn troops. Several years later, the last GSFG commander, General Matvey Burlakov, and the Defence Minister, Pavel Grachev, had their involvement exposed. They were also accused of ordering the murder of reporter Dmitry Kholodov, who had been investigating the scandals.