Military Of East Germany
The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Border Troops). The NVA belonged to the Ministry of National Defence and commanded by the National Defense Council of East Germany, headquartered in Strausberg east of East Berlin. From 1962, conscription was mandatory for all GDR males aged between 18 and 60 requiring an 18-month service, and it was the only Warsaw Pact military to offer non-combat roles to conscientious objectors, known as "construction soldiers" (). The NVA reached 175,300 personnel at its peak in 1987. The NVA was formed on 1 March 1956 to succeed the (Barracked People's Police) and under the influence of the Soviet Army became one of the Warsaw Pact militaries opposing NATO during the Cold War. The majority of NATO officers rated the NVA the best military in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Emblem Of The Ground Forces Of NVA (East Germany)
An emblem is an abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a king or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and '' symbol'' are often used interchangeably, an emblem is a pattern that is used to represent an idea or an individual. An emblem develops in concrete, visual terms some abstraction: a deity, a tribe or nation, or a virtue or vice. An emblem may be worn or otherwise used as an identifying badge or patch. For example, in America, police officers' badges refer to their personal metal emblem whereas their woven emblems on uniforms identify members of a particular unit. A real or metal cockle shell, the emblem of St. James the Apostle, sewn onto the hat or clothes, identified a medieval pilgrim to his shrine at Santiago de Compostela. In the Middle Ages, many saints were given emblems, which served to identify them in paintings and other images: St. Cather ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Heinz Hoffmann
Heinz Hoffmann (28 November 1910 – 2 December 1985) was Minister of National Defense in the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic, and since 2 October 1973 member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party (SED). Youth Born in Mannheim, Grand Duchy of Baden, Hoffmann came from a working-class family. After attending school in Mannheim, he spent the 1925 – 1930 period learning to be an engine fitter at MWM (Motoren Werke Mannheim AG). From 1926 to 1930 he was a member of the Young Communist League of Germany, followed by membership in the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). During this time Hoffman served several short prison sentences for participating in demonstrations and fights. Immigration After the rise of the Nazi Party in 1933, he was faced with a warrant for his arrest. Hoffmann fled Germany and immigrated to the Soviet Union by the way of Switzerland and Czechoslovakia. Until 1945 he used the alias “Heinz Roth,” wh ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Armed Forces
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct military uniform. It may consist of one or more military branches such as an army, navy, air force, space force, marines, or coast guard. The main task of the military is usually defined as defence of the state and its interests against external armed threats. In broad usage, the terms ''armed forces'' and ''military'' are often treated as synonymous, although in technical usage a distinction is sometimes made in which a country's armed forces may include both its military and other paramilitary forces. There are various forms of irregular military forces, not belonging to a recognized state; though they share many attributes with regular military forces, they are less often referred to as simply ''military''. A nation's military may ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ranks Of The National People's Army
The Ranks of the National People's Army were the military insignia used by the National People's Army, the army of the German Democratic Republic, from 1956 to 1990. Design The design of the rank insignias followed the tradition of the German Army () with some modifications. For example, the cuff titles (chevron insignias) of the were replaced by Soviet-styled shoulder straps with cross-stripes. Shoulder strap rank insignias Commissioned officer ranks up to featured four-pointed golden stars in increasing number according to seniority, and arranged following the Soviet pattern. Junior officer (lieutenant and captain ranks) shoulder straps were made of silver satin string (german: Silberplattschnur). had a single golden star, two side-by-side stars, and three stars in a triangle. rank had a fourth star above the triangular formation. Senior officer shoulder straps were twisted silver cords, had a single star, two stars, and three stars, again arranged following the So ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers, but they each supported major regional conflicts known as proxy wars. The conflict was based around the ideological and geopolitical struggle for global influence by these two superpowers, following their temporary alliance and victory against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in 1945. Aside from the nuclear arsenal development and conventional military deployment, the struggle for dominance was expressed via indirect means such as psychological warfare, propaganda campaigns, espionage, far-reaching embargoes, rivalry at sports events, and technological competitions such as the Space Race. The Western Bloc was led by the United States as well as a number of other First W ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national republics; in practice, both its government and its economy were highly centralized until its final years. It was a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with the city of Moscow serving as its capital as well as that of its largest and most populous republic: the Russian SFSR. Other major cities included Leningrad (Russian SFSR), Kiev (Ukrainian SSR), Minsk ( Byelorussian SSR), Tashkent (Uzbek SSR), Alma-Ata (Kazakh SSR), and Novosibirsk (Russian SFSR). It was the largest country in the world, covering over and spanning eleven time zones. The country's roots lay in the October Revolution of 1917, when the Bolsheviks, under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the Russian Provisional Government ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 = , s1 = Czech Republic , flag_s1 = Flag of the Czech Republic.svg , s2 = Slovakia , flag_s2 = Flag of Slovakia.svg , image_flag = Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg , flag = Flag of Czechoslovakia , flag_type = Flag(1920–1992) , flag_border = Flag of Czechoslovakia , image_coat = Middle coat of arms of Czechoslovakia.svg , symbol_type = Middle coat of arms(1918–1938 and 1945–1961) , image_map = Czechoslovakia location map.svg , image_map_caption = Czechoslovakia during the interwar period and the Cold War , national_motto = , anthems = ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Manfred Grätz
''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction. Byron commenced this work in late 1816, a few months after the famous ghost-story sessions with Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley that provided the initial impetus for '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus ''. The supernatural references are made clear throughout the poem. ''Manfred'' was adapted musically by Robert Schumann in 1852, in a composition entitled '' Manfred: Dramatic Poem with Music in Three Parts'', and in 1885 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in his ''Manfred Symphony''. Friedrich Nietzsche was inspired by the poem's depiction of a super-human being to compose a piano score in 1872 based on it, "Manfred Meditation". Background Byron wrote this "metaphysical drama", as he called it, after his marriage to Annabella Millbanke ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fritz Streletz
Fritz Streletz (born 28 September 1926) is a German former army general of the GDR. In 1944 he entered the ''Wehrmacht'' as a noncommissioned officer after graduating from military school in Deggendorf. He was captured by Soviet forces in February 1945 and released in October 1948, whereupon he joined the ''Volkspolizei''. In 1956 he joined the precursor to the National People's Army, the ''Kasernierte Volkspolizei'', as an officer. In 1991, after the re-unification of Germany German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ..., Streletz was arrested. He was charged in February 1992 for the incitement to kill German civilians fleeing East Germany and was found guilty. He was sentenced to five years and six months in prison but was released in October 1997. Streletz remained comm ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sigfrid Riedel
Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid'' (hypocorisms ''Sigge, Siffer''), Danish/Norwegian ''Sigfred''. In Norway, ''Sigfrid'' is given as a feminine name. official statistics at Statistisk Sentralbyrå, National statistics office of Norway, http://www.ssb.no; Statistiska Centralbyrån, National statistics office of Sweden, http://www.scb.se/ The name is medieval and was borne by the legendary dragon-slayer also known as . It did survive in marginal use into the modern period, but after 1876 it enjoyed renewed popularity d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vincenz Müller
Vincenz Müller (5 November 1894 – 12 May 1961) was a military officer and general who served in the Imperial German army, the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany, and after the war in the National People's Army of the (East) German Democratic Republic, where he was also a politician. Müller eventually became a member of the East German parliament, the ''Volkskammer'', and served as chief of staff of the National People's Army. Early career Müller was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria into a non-military family, being the son of a tanner. He completed high school at the Metten Abbey gymnasium and joined the Württemberg Army's pioneer force. As a lieutenant he spent much of World War I with the German military mission to the Ottoman Empire. He was wounded by a grenade fragment at Gallipoli, and was then transferred to Baghdad and the Persian Front, returning to Germany after contracting malaria and typhus. In 1917 he returned to Turkey as a tactics instructor for Turkish officers. Af ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ministry Of National Defence (East Germany)
The Ministry of National Defense (German: ''Ministerium für Nationale Verteidigung - MfNV'') was the chief administrative arm of the East German National People's Army. The MND was modeled on the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union. The headquarters of the Ministry was in Strausberg near East Berlin. The Guard Regiment Hugo Eberlein provided security and guard services to the Ministry. The Ministry also had its own publishing house, . Minister of Defence The NVA was administered through the Ministry of National Defense, one of the principal branches of the national government. The ministers of National Defense were: Hierarchy The Minister of National Defence was assisted by a colloquium of deputy ministers who were also chiefs of certain key administrations within the ministry. In 1987 the deputy ministers and their assignments were as follows: * Chief of the Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic; * Chief of the Volksmarine (People's Navy); * Chief of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |