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The Northern Group of Forces (; ) was the military formation of the
Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...
stationed in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
from the end of
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
in 1945 until 1993 when they were withdrawn in the aftermath of the
fall of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
. Although officially considered Polish allies under the
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republi ...
treaty, they were seen by some Poles as a Soviet occupation force.


History


Early years

Soviet forces entered
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
as they were advancing towards
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
in the course of the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
's
Operation Bagration Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп ...
in the summer of 1944. Following the Vistula-Oder Offensive in early 1945, all of Poland was liberated from Nazi occupation by Soviet forces. While formal Polish sovereignty was almost immediately restored, the territory of Poland fell under ''de facto'' Soviet control as the Soviet military and security forces acted to ensure that Poland would be ruled by the Soviet-installed communist puppet government of Poland. As the war ended, the structure of the Soviet military was reorganized from a war-time to a peace-time mode. Directive No. 11097 of 10 June 1945 created several new formations, known as ''Groups of Forces'', equivalent to
military district Military districts (also called military regions) are formations of a state's armed forces (often of the Army) which are responsible for a certain area of territory. They are often more responsible for administrative than operational matters, and ...
s, but used for command and administration of Soviet forces outside the Soviet Union itself. One of those new formations, at that time 300,000-400,000 strong, was to be stationed in Poland. It was mostly based on the
2nd Belorussian Front The 2nd Belorussian Front ( Russian: Второй Белорусский фронт, alternative spellings are 2nd Byelorussian Front) was a military formation, of Army group size, of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. Soviet army g ...
of General
Konstantin Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich (Xaverevich) Rokossovsky ( Russian: Константин Константинович Рокоссовский; pl, Konstanty Rokossowski; 21 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish officer who bec ...
(formerly stationed around
Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...
and
Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...
).Jerzy Domagała,
Bratnia straż
', Rzeczpospolita, 28.04.04 Nr 100. Retrieved on 15 June 2008
With the exception of
Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...
(Stettin), which fell under the operational territory of the Western Group of Forces, the Northern Group of Forces was located entirely within the territory of Poland. The
Polish communist Communism in Poland can trace its origins to the late 19th century: the Marxist First Proletariat party was founded in 1882. Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (''Socjaldemokracja Króles ...
government, which largely owed its existence to the Soviets (see
Polish Committee of National Liberation The Polish Committee of National Liberation (Polish: ''Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego'', ''PKWN''), also known as the Lublin Committee, was an executive governing authority established by the Soviet-backed communists in Poland at the la ...
, 1946 Polish people's referendum, 1947 Polish legislative election), signed several agreements with the Soviet Union regulating the status and purpose of the Soviet troops. In the early years, the Soviet forces aided the Polish communists in establishing their government and combating anti-communist resistance, such as the Polish '' cursed soldiers'' or the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (see Operation Vistula). Another major task of the Northern Group was to organize and transport
war reparations War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war. History Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common practice with a long history. ...
from the
former eastern territories of Germany The former eastern territories of Germany (german: Ehemalige deutsche Ostgebiete) refer in present-day Germany to those territories east of the current eastern border of Germany i.e. Oder–Neisse line which historically had been considered Ger ...
attached to Poland after World War II (the so-called Recovered Territories) to the Soviet Union. These actions, often involving the complete stripping down of industrial facilities, sometimes also took place in traditionally Polish territories. This caused tensions between the Soviets and the Polish government, which intended to use the resources of those territories to rebuild Poland.


Cold War

By 1949 the Soviet Union had concluded twenty-year bilateral treaties of friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance with Poland and several other countries, which usually granted the Soviet Union rights to a continued military presence on their territory. The Polish government, however, had no operational control over the Soviet forces. On December 17, 1956, as one of the agreements of the Polish October period, the Polish and Soviet governments signed the dedicated treaty that would finally fully regulate the Soviet military presence in Poland, the "Agreement on Legal Status of Soviet Troops Temporarily Stationed in Poland"."The Polish-Soviet Treaty of December 17, 1956 formalized for the first time a situation which had existed in fact since World War II.".
Nish Jamgotch,''Soviet-East European Dialogue: International Relations of a New Type?'', Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University
Google Print, p.64
/ref> David B. Michaels, ''International Privileges And Immunities: A Case for a Universal Statute'', Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1971,
Google Print, p.144
/ref> According to the 1956 treaty (which was further developed by later, more specific amendments), the Soviet military in Poland was limited to 66,000 troops, although the Soviets never fully disclosed the actual number of personnel of the Northern Group to the Polish government, and the Polish government had no right to inspect the Soviet bases. The treaty also limited the number of Soviet bases in Poland to 39, while the actual number of bases reached 79.
(history). Official municipal website of the town.
The Soviets also installed nuclear weapons in Poland, without informing the Polish government of that fact. The treaty's name declared the Soviet military presence to be temporary, while in fact the treaty did not contain any limitations to the duration of their stay, nor any provisions on their withdrawal.Jaromír Navrátil, ''The Prague Spring 1968: a national security archive documents reader'', Central European University Press, 1998,
Google Print, p.533
/ref> Until the 1956 agreement, the Soviet troops stationed in Poland were seen by some Poles as occupying Polish territory; even afterwards they were ''de facto'' exempt from any Polish oversight and their role of an 'allied force' stationed in the territory was viewed by many as a mere
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
claim. Mirosław Golon
Północna Grupa Wojsk Armii Radzieckiej w Polsce w latach 1945-1956. Okupant w roli sojusznika
(Northern Group of Soviet Army Forces in Poland in the years 1945-1956. Occupant in the role of an ally), 2004, Historicus - Portal Historyczny (Historical Portal). An online initiative of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and
Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne Polish Historical Society ( pl, Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne, PTH) is a Polish professional scientific society for historians. History Founded in 1886 in Lwów by Ksawery Liske as a local society, in 1926 it became the Poland-wide organizatio ...
. Last accessed on 30 May 2007.
The issue of Polish-Soviet military cooperation was further regulated the next year, and in the 1965 Polish-Soviet friendship treaty that reflected the Soviet domination of Polish military policy. The Northern Group of Forces had several objectives. With the beginning of the
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 t ...
, it was to act, together with other Groups of Forces, as a counterpart to the Western Allies (particularly the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
) forces in Europe. Later, in that regard it represented part of the
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republi ...
forces, countering the
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
troops. Its second objective was much less stressed in public Soviet sources, but nonetheless crucial: it was to ensure the loyalty of the
Polish communist Communism in Poland can trace its origins to the late 19th century: the Marxist First Proletariat party was founded in 1882. Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (''Socjaldemokracja Króles ...
government, and its Polish People's Army; a policy consistent with that of the Brezhnev Doctrine, and enforced during events such as the
Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...
or the
Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First ...
of 1968.APPENDIX C: THE WARSAW PACT -- Soviet Union
US Library of Congress study.

at globalsecurity.org
Soviet forces were mobilized and actually advanced on
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...
during Polish October in 1956, and there were threats that they could be similarly used before the martial law in Poland was introduced to stem the progress of the
Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti ...
movement in 1980. All of the objectives of the Northern Group were shared with the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany in the
German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...
and to a lesser extent with the two Groups with a shorter history: the Central Group of Forces in
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
(from 1968 on) and the Southern Group of Forces in
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
and (only until 1958)
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. The presence of Soviet forces on Polish territory caused several problems, in addition to the war reparations issue. Although not supported by the Soviet High Command, excesses by individual soldiers of the Red Army led to mounting tensions between Soviet forces and the Polish population.
Norman Davies Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a Welsh-Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Professor a ...
, '' God's Playground, a History of Poland'', Columbia University Press, 2005,
Google Print, p.359
/ref> Richard C. Raack, ''Stalin's Drive to the West, 1938-1945: the origins of the Cold War'', Stanford University Press, 1995,
Google Print, p.90
/ref> Contemporary archives contained many reports of mugging, burglary, rape and murder attributed to Soviet soldiers in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War; Padraic Kenney, ''Rebuilding Poland: Workers and Communists, 1945-1950'', Cornell University Press, 1997,
Google Print, p.155
/ref> even Polish Communists were uneasy, as in 1945 the future Chairman of the
Polish Council of State The Council of State of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Rada Państwa) was introduced by the Small Constitution of 1947 as an organ of executive power. The Council of State consisted of the President of the Republic of Poland as chairman, the Marsha ...
,
Aleksander Zawadzki Aleksander Zawadzki, alias Kazik, Wacek, Bronek, One (; 16 December 1899 – 7 August 1964) was a Polish communist politician, first Chairman of the Council of State of the People's Republic of Poland, divisional general of the Polish Ar ...
, worried that "raping and looting of the Soviet army would provoke a civil war".
Norman Davies Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a Welsh-Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Professor a ...
, '' God's Playground, a History of Poland'', Columbia University Press, 1982,
Google Print, p.558
/ref> In the early years, the Red Army appropriated any resources it needed from the Polish government with no thought of compensation, or treating Poles as their allies. For example, when the Northern Group commander,
Konstantin Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich (Xaverevich) Rokossovsky ( Russian: Константин Константинович Рокоссовский; pl, Konstanty Rokossowski; 21 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish officer who bec ...
, decided that it should be headquartered in
Legnica Legnica (Polish: ; german: Liegnitz, szl, Lignica, cz, Lehnice, la, Lignitium) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River (left tributary of the Oder) and the Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 197 ...
, he ordered all Poles, including communist officials who were organizing the city and provincial government, to vacate one third of the city within 24 hours, later requisitioning any of their private belongings (like furniture) left behind. This incident was perceived by contemporaries as a particularly brutal action, and rumors circulated exaggerating its severity.Paweł Piotrowski of the
Institute of National Remembrance The Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation ( pl, Instytut Pamięci Narodowej – Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu, abbreviated IPN) is a Polish state resea ...
, Wrocław, writes that the report of Polish Secret Police notes that "in certain aspects" the resettlement brought about the associations with the Nazis' forced resettlement of Jews into
ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished ...
s; and for a time a rumour spread through Poland that the Soviets were massacring Polish population around Legnica; though no evidence of anyone being killed in the course of it has come to light. Se
cited article
Later, Polish settlements in which Soviet garrisons were placed were inconvenienced in other ways, for example by being removed from all official maps or by the low flying Soviet jets, training at night. Approximately 600 Polish citizens died over the years 1945–1993 in crimes or accidents for which the Soviet soldiers were responsible. The Soviet army, which was subject to many financial privileges (reduced taxation, import tariffs, etc.), often refused to pay for municipal resources it consumed, particularly water, gas or electricity. On the other hand, Soviet units did also aid the locals with infrastructure projects, harvests, or during environmental disasters. After the
fall of communism in Poland Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...
in 1989, and with the signs of the
fall of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
, the new Polish government wanted the Soviet troops to leave Poland. By that time the Northern Group had already shrunk to 58,000 troops, but its military installations were still spread over about 700 square kilometres of Polish territory. After a new treaty in late 1991 and May 1992, and Poland's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet agreed to withdraw military units by 1992 and support units by 1993. Soviet troops had already begun leaving Poland, with the first group exiting in 1991. All troops left Poland by the end of 1993, the last leaving on 18 September.Wyjście Sowietów
Polityka ''Polityka'' (, ''Politics'') is a centre-left weekly news magazine in Poland. With a circulation of 200,050 (as of April 2011), it was the country's biggest selling weekly, ahead of ''Newsweek''s Polish edition, '' Newsweek Polska'', and '' W ...
, 'Rok 1993', 27 stycznia 2007
Symbolically,
Polish President The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Pol ...
Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the President of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democrati ...
saw them off on 17 September, the anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939.


Structure


Post War

The Group was headquartered in
Legnica Legnica (Polish: ; german: Liegnitz, szl, Lignica, cz, Lehnice, la, Lignitium) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River (left tributary of the Oder) and the Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 197 ...
,
Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...
, where Soviet military took over a third of the city as their extraterritorial enclave (although for six years the operational headquarters was in Świdnica). Other major Soviet military bases were located in Bagicz,
Białogard Białogard (pronounced , german: Belgard, ; Pomeranian: ''Biôłogard'') is a historic town in Middle Pomerania, northwestern Poland, with 23,614 inhabitants as of December 2021. The capital of Białogard County in the West Pomeranian Voivod ...
,
Brzeg Brzeg (; Latin: ''Alta Ripa'', German: ''Brieg'', Silesian German: ''Brigg'', , ) is a town in southwestern Poland with 34,778 inhabitants (December 2021) and the capital of Brzeg County. It is situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on t ...
, Borne Sulinowo (one of the two largest), Burzykowo,
Chojna Chojna (german: Königsberg in der Neumark; csb, Czińsbarg; la, Regiomontanus Neomarchicus "King's Mountain in the New March") is a small town in northwestern Poland in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It lies approximately south of Szcz ...
, Dębice, Kęszyca Leśna, Kluczewo, Kłomino, Nowa Sól,
Oława Oława (pronounced , , szl, Oława) is a historic town in south-western Poland with 33,029 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship (from 1975–1998 it was in the former Wrocław Voivodeship), within the Wrocław m ...
, Przemków- Trzebień (may refer to the same base as Strachów/Pstrąże), Strachów (now - deserted town shown as Pstrąże on maps), Świdnica, Świętoszów,
Świnoujście Świnoujście (; german: Swinemünde ; nds, Swienemünn; all three meaning "Świna ivermouth"; csb, Swina) is a city and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, located in the extreme north-west of Poland. Situated mainly on the islands ...
(military harbor), Szprotawa, Wschowa, Żagań. Those bases included 15 airfields, 1 large and 11 smaller ports, In the late 1940s the NGF's forces included: * 43rd Army was stationed in the region
Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...
-
Świnoujście Świnoujście (; german: Swinemünde ; nds, Swienemünn; all three meaning "Świna ivermouth"; csb, Swina) is a city and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, located in the extreme north-west of Poland. Situated mainly on the islands ...
- Szczecinek; one of its corps was stationed on the Danish island of
Bornholm Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...
. However, it was disbanded in the summer of 1946. * 65th Army was stationed in the region
Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of ca ...
-
Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
-
Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, r ...
. 7th Red Banner Tank Army was created in 1946 from HQ, 65th Army and in 1947 was transferred to the
Belorussian Military District The Byelorussian Military District (russian: Белорусский военный округ, translit=Belorusskiy Voyenyi Okrug; alternatively Belarusian; ) was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces. Originally formed just before Wor ...
. After the creation of 7th Tank Army, 18th Rifle Corps was transferred to the control of the Northern Group of Forces, where it remained from 12 June 1946 until it was disbanded in July 1952. * 52nd Army was stationed in the region
Kielce Kielce (, yi, קעלץ, Keltz) is a city in southern Poland, and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the ban ...
-
Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ; german: Tschenstochau, Czenstochau; la, Czanstochova) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta River with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (adm ...
-
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...
. * 96th Rifle Corps was stationed in the region
Łomża Łomża (), in English known as Lomza, is a city in north-eastern Poland, approximately 150 kilometers (90 miles) to the north-east of Warsaw and west of Białystok. It is situated alongside the Narew river as part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship ...
- Mława -
Pułtusk Pułtusk (pronounced ) is a town in northeast Poland, by the river Narew. Located north of Warsaw in the Masovian Voivodeship, it had a population of about 19,000 . Known for its historic architecture and Europe's longest paved marketplace ( ...
. * 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps was stationed in
Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of ...
. * 3rd Guards Tank Corps was stationed in
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...
. * 5th Tank Corps was stationed in
Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Białystok is located in the Białystok U ...
. * 10th Tank Corps was stationed in Krotoszyn. * 20th Tank Corps was stationed in
Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, r ...
. This formation became the 20th Tank Division later in 1945. * Elements of the Soviet 4th Air Army were also stationed in Poland: 8th Fighter Corps, Soviet 4th Air Assault Corps and Soviet 5th Bomber Corps. Altogether the Northern Group of Forces had three ground and one air army, four tank corps (from July 1945 reorganized into tank divisions), 30 rifle divisions, 12 air divisions, one cavalry corps and 10 artillery divisions. The formation had a strength of around 300,000-400,000 soldiers stationed in Poland. This large number of formations was quickly reduced as the post war demobilisation took place.


Mid 1950s

By 1955 the force had been reduced to the
18th 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect numb ...
, 26th, and 27th Rifle Divisions, the 20th Tank Division, and the 26th Mechanised Division - probably numbering no more than 100,000 troops.


1980s and Early 1990s

The 83rd Separate Air Assault Brigade was formed at
Białogard Białogard (pronounced , german: Belgard, ; Pomeranian: ''Biôłogard'') is a historic town in Middle Pomerania, northwestern Poland, with 23,614 inhabitants as of December 2021. The capital of Białogard County in the West Pomeranian Voivod ...
in 1986. The 6th Guards Motor Rifle Division (1982-) and 20th Tank Division were the principal Soviet formations stationed in the Group in the 1980s and early 1990s. Air support was provided by the 4th Air Army. In the 1990s, when the Group was preparing to leave Poland, it had the strength of approximately 56,000 soldiers, with 600 tanks, 400 artillery pieces and 200 planes. The Northern Group had its own newspaper, the ''Znamia Pobiedy'' (Flag of Victory). The Northern Group had
nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
deployed in at least three bases in Poland with some 178 nuclear assets, growing to 250 in the late 1980s.


Personnel


Soviet

;Commanders of Northern Group of Forces * June 1945 - October 1949:
Marshal of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Soviet Union (russian: Маршал Советского Союза, Marshal sovetskogo soyuza, ) was the highest military rank of the Soviet Union. The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935 and abolished in 19 ...
Konstantin Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich (Xaverevich) Rokossovsky ( Russian: Константин Константинович Рокоссовский; pl, Konstanty Rokossowski; 21 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish officer who bec ...
* October 1949 - August 1950: colonel general Kuzma Trubnikov * September 1950 - July 1952: lieutenant general Alexei Radziyevsky * July 1952 - June 1955: lieutenant general Mikhail Konstantinov * June 1955 - February 1958: army general Kuzma Galitsky * February 1958 - March 1963: colonel general Georgy Khetagurov * March 1963 - June 1964: colonel general Sergei Maryakhin * June 1964 - October 1964: lieutenant general Alexander Rudakov * October 1964 - June 1967: colonel general Gleb Baklanov * June 1967 - November 1968: army general Ivan Shkadov * December 1968 - May 1973: colonel general Magomed Tankayev * June 1973 - July 1975: colonel general Ivan Gerasimov * July 1975 - January 1978: colonel general Oleg Kulishev * February 1978 - August 1984: colonel general
Yuri Zarudin Yuri may refer to: People and fictional characters Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. * Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Ja ...
* August 1984 - February 1987: colonel general Alexander Kovtunov * February 1987 - June 1989: colonel general Ivan Korbutov * July 1989 - June 1992: colonel general Viktor Dubynin * June 1992 - September 1993: colonel general Leonid Kovalyov


Polish

;Representative of Polish Council of Ministers * June 1945 - 1946: colonel Antoni Alster ;Delegates of Economical Committee of Council of Ministers * December 1946 - July 1947: colonel Julian Tokarski * July 1947 - May 1949: colonel Wojciech Wilkoński * May 1949 - 1952: colonel Teodor Kusznierek * 1952 - 1957: colonel Jan Kogut ;Representatives of the Polish People's Army in the matter of stay of Soviet forces in Poland * April 1957 - April 1968: brigadier general Leszek Krzemień (also known as Maks Wolf) * April 1968 - November 1972: major general Czesław Jan Czubryt-Borkowski * November 1972 - March 1977: major general Józef Stebelski * April 1977 - 1986: major general Michał Stryga * 1986 - December 1988: major general Zbigniew Ohanowicz * January 1989 - October 1990: brigadier general Mieczysław Dębicki * October 1990 - February 1995: brigadier general Zdzisław Ostrowski


Aftermath

The Soviet Army was stationed in Poland for 48 years; it is estimated that its stay cost the Polish state 62.6 billion złoty (in 1993 prices, approx. 3.5 billion
US dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...
s, not counting items removed from Polish territory after World War II); however, the Polish government decided to waive any claims to ensure a quicker evacuation of Soviet troops.Drodzy towarzysze. Koszty pobytu Armii Radzieckiej w PRL
Polityka. Pomocnik historyczny. Nr 1(6) - nr 4 (2589) z dnia 27-01-2007; s. 15

(official Polish government estimate from 1995)
The Soviets also claimed that any costs Poland incurred were balanced by the various aid (ex. infrastructure construction) provided over the years by the Soviet troops, as well as by the liberation from the Nazi occupation and later security. In 1994 the Polish government passed legislation covering the use of the territories formerly used by the Soviet forces.
Retrieved on 15 June 2008
Most of those territories have been put on sale by the Polish government. Some of the Soviet administered areas were subject to ecological contamination and pollution (by oil products, heavy metals, unexploded ordnance).International Experience and Expertise in Registration Investigation, Assessment, and Clean-Up of Contaminated Military Sites: Poland
by Karl Wolfram Schäfer a.o. Retrieved on 15 June 2008
They were also damaged by years of disrepair and poor maintenance.


See also

* Central Group of Forces * Southern Group of Forces * Western Group of Forces


References


External links


Group of Soviet Forces in Poland Northern Group of Forces (NGF)


* Mirosław Golon
Północna Grupa Wojsk Armii Radzieckiej w Polsce w latach 1945-1956. Okupant w roli sojusznika
2004, Historicus - Portal Historyczny


Further reading

*''Północna Grupa Wojsk Armii Radzieckiej w Polsce w latach 1945-1956. Okupant w roli sojusznika'', Czasy Nowożytne, t. VI, Wyd. Fundacja "Pomerania" i Fundacja Uniwersytecka KUL, Toruń 1999, p. 37-115 *Mariusz Lesław Krogulski, ''Okupacja w imię sojuszu'', VON BOROWIECKY, 2001, {{Soviet Groups of Forces Military units and formations established in 1945
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
Polish People's Republic Cold War military history of the Soviet Union Poland–Soviet Union relations Stalinism in Poland Military units and formations disestablished in 1993