Brest Fortress ' onMouseout='HidePop("62381")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/ISO_9">ISO 9
The international standard ISO 9 establishes a system for the transliteration into Latin characters of Cyrillic characters constituting the alphabets of many Slavic and some non-Slavic languages....
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ISO 9The international standard ISO 9 establishes a system for the transliteration into Latin characters of Cyrillic characters constituting the alphabets of many Slavic and some non-Slavic languages....
:
, ), formerly known as
Brest-Litovsk Fortress (the
PolishPolish is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions...
name of the city was Brześć Litewski), was the 19th century Russian fortress in
Brest, BelarusBrest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Western Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet...
. It is one of the most important Soviet
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
war monuments commemorating the Soviet resistance against the German invasion on June 22, 1941 (
Operation BarbarossaOperation Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 km front...
). Following the war, in 1965 the title
Hero-FortressHero-Fortress is the honorary title awarded to the Soviet Brest Fortress, now in Brest, Belarus in 1965 for the heroic defence of the frontier stronghold during the very first weeks of the Great Patriotic War of 1941 to 1945...
was given to the Fortress to commemorate the heroic defence of the frontier stronghold during the very first weeks of the
Great Patriotic WarThe term Great Patriotic War is used in Russia and some other states of the former Soviet Union to describe their portion of the Second World War from June 22, 1941, to May 9, 1945, against Nazi Germany and its allies...
. It was then part of the
Byelorussian SSRThe Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was one of fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union...
. The title Hero-Fortress corresponds to the title
Hero CityHero City is a Soviet honorary title awarded for outstanding heroism during the Great Patriotic War of 1941 to 1945. It was awarded to twelve cities of the Soviet Union. In addition the Brest Fortress was awarded an equivalent title of Hero-Fortress...
, that has been awarded to the total of twelve Soviet cities.
History
Originally it was the largest 19th century fortress of
Russian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, one of the
western Russian fortressesDuring the 19th century, the Russian Empire built a system of permanent fortifications along its Western border, consisting of a chain of fortresses controlling strategic locations...
. It is located at the confluence of the Mukhavets and
Western BugThe Bug or Buh River , sometimes called the Western Bug to distinguish it from the Southern Bug, flows from central Ukraine to the west, forming part of the boundary between Ukraine and Poland, passes along the Polish-Belarusian border and into Poland, and empties into the Narew river near Serock...
rivers with total area 4 km². Its plan was developed by Russian general K.I.Opperman in 1830. The initial phase of the construction lasted from 1836 until 1842. The fortifications were then progressively modernized and expanded throughout the 19th century, with forts added around the original fortress. The final works were carried out in 1914, the first year of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, resulting in a fortified area 30 km in circumference.
During World War I the fortress was captured by the
KaiserKaiser is the German title meaning "Emperor", with Kaiserin being the female equivalent, "Empress". Like the Russian Czar it is directly derived from the Latin Emperors' title of Caesar, which in turn is derived from the name of Julius Caesar...
German army in August, 1915, after the Russian army abandoned it during its general withdrawal from
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
that summer. The fortress changed hands twice during the
Polish-Soviet WarThe Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine against the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic, four states in post-World War I Europe. The war was the result of the belligerents' desire to expand their territories and their influence...
and eventually stayed within Polish borders, a development that was formally recognised by the Treaty of Riga in 1921. In 1930 the fortress became infamous in Poland as a prison in the aftermath of the so-called
"Brest elections"Polish legislative election, 1930, also known as the Brest elections , were the elections to the Sejm on 16 November 1930. The pro-Sanacja Bezpartyjny Blok Współpracy z Rządem party took 56% of the votes...
and the Brest trial. During the
Invasion of PolandThe Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II...
in 1939 the fortress was defended for 4 days by a small garrison of four infantry battalions and two tank companies under Gen.
Konstanty PlisowskiKonstanty Plisowski was a Polish general and military commander. He is known as the commander in the Battles of Jazłowiec and Brześć. He was murdered by the Soviets in the Katyn Massacre.- Biography :...
against the XIX Panzer Corps of Gen.
Heinz GuderianHeinz Wilhelm Guderian was a military theorist and innovative General of the German Army during the Second World War. Germany's panzer forces were raised and fought according to his works, best-known among them Achtung - Panzer!...
. After four days of
heavy fightingBattle of Brześć Litewski was a World War II battle involving German and Polish forces that took place between 14 and 17 September 1939, near the town of Brześć Litewski...
the Polish forces withdrew southwards on September 17.
The territory was assigned to the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
in 1939 in accordance with the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact.
In the summer of 1941 it was defended by Soviet soldiers against the German
WehrmachtWehrmacht was the name of the unified armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe ....
in the first days of
Operation BarbarossaOperation Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 km front...
, earning it the title of Hero Fortress. The fortress had become a symbol of the Soviet resistance during the Great Patriotic War along with Stalingrad and
KurskKursk is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym Rivers. Kursk was a key turning point of the Russian-German war during World War II and the site of the largest tank battle in World War II...
.
Fortress layout
The Brest fortress belonged is a
star shaped fortificationA star fort or trace italienne is a fortification in the style that evolved during the age of black powder, when cannons came to dominate the battlefield, and was first seen in the mid-15th century in Italy...
. The core of the fortress, the
CitadelA citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....
, was a red-brick two-storied ring-shaped barrack (rondo), 1.8 km long, with 500 rooms, that was to accommodate 12,000 soldiers. It had originally 4 gates, 4 semi-towers. Today only
Kholm GateThe Kholm Gate was one of the 4 gates leading into the Citadel of the Russian Brest Fortress. It was designed in a classic style in the early 19th century. It faces the southern branch of the Mukhavets River...
and
Terespol GateThe Terespol Gate was one of the 4 gates leading into the Citadel of the Russian Brest Fortress. It was designed in a classic style in the early 19th century. It faces the Bug River. Before the war outbreak in 1941 the gate used to be a 3-storey structure with small turrets above.Inside there were...
can be seen.
The Citadel was on the island formed by the
Western BugThe Bug or Buh River , sometimes called the Western Bug to distinguish it from the Southern Bug, flows from central Ukraine to the west, forming part of the boundary between Ukraine and Poland, passes along the Polish-Belarusian border and into Poland, and empties into the Narew river near Serock...
river and the two branches of the
Mukhavets riverMukhavets is a river in western Belarus, a tributary of the Western Bug.The river rises by Pruzhany, Belarus by the confluence of the Mukha river and the Viets canal, flows in the south-western Belarus and empties into the Western Bug in Brest.The river is 113 km long...
. The Citadel was surrounded by 3
bridgeheadA bridgehead is a military fortification that protects the end of a bridge that is closest to the enemy...
s, made up by the branches of the Mukhavets River and ditches, fortified by earthworks that were 10 m high with redbrick
casemateA casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired, originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s inside. Those 3 fortifications were named after the towns:Kobrin,
TerespolTerespol is a town in eastern Poland on the border with Belarus. It lies on the border river Bug, directly opposite the city of Brest, Belarus...
and Volyn. The Kobrin Fortification, the northeastern biggest
bridgeheadA bridgehead is a military fortification that protects the end of a bridge that is closest to the enemy...
, shaped like a horseshoe, featured 4 fortification curtains, 3 detached
ravelinA ravelin is a triangular fortification or detached outwork in front of the bastions of a fortress. Originally called a demi-lune, after lunette, the ravelin is placed outside a castle opposite a fortification curtain. The edges of the ravelin are placed so that the guns there can sweep fire upon...
s and a
lunetteIn architecture, a lunette is a half-moon shaped space, either masonry or void. A lunette is formed when a horizontal cornice transects a round-headed arch at the level of the imposts, where the arch springs. If a door is set within a round-headed arch, the space within the arch above the door,...
in the western part. The Terespol Fortification was the western
bridgeheadA bridgehead is a military fortification that protects the end of a bridge that is closest to the enemy...
, featuring 4 detached
lunetteIn architecture, a lunette is a half-moon shaped space, either masonry or void. A lunette is formed when a horizontal cornice transects a round-headed arch at the level of the imposts, where the arch springs. If a door is set within a round-headed arch, the space within the arch above the door,...
s. The Volyn Fortification was the southeastern
bridgeheadA bridgehead is a military fortification that protects the end of a bridge that is closest to the enemy...
, featuring 2 fortification curtains with 2 detached
ravelinA ravelin is a triangular fortification or detached outwork in front of the bastions of a fortress. Originally called a demi-lune, after lunette, the ravelin is placed outside a castle opposite a fortification curtain. The edges of the ravelin are placed so that the guns there can sweep fire upon...
s.
The outer ring of fortifications built later surrounds the old citadel. As the post-1945 border along the Bug river runs through the fortress area, many of the fortification works are now in
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, around the town of Terespol.
External links
- Main fortress
- External forts