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Soviet Military Administration In Germany
The Soviet Military Administration in Germany (; ''Sovyetskaya Voyennaya Administratsiya v Germanii'', SVAG; , SMAD) was the Soviet military government, headquartered in Berlin- Karlshorst, that directly ruled the Soviet occupation zone in Germany from the German surrender in May 1945 until after the establishment of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in October 1949. According to the Potsdam Agreement in 1945, the SMAD was assigned the eastern portion of present-day Germany, consisting mostly of central Prussia. Prussia was dissolved by the Allies in 1947 and this area was divided between several German states ''(Länder)''. German lands east of the Oder-Neisse line were annexed by Soviet Union or granted to Poland, and Germans living in these areas were forcibly expelled, having had their property expropriated and been robbed of most of their belongings whilst in transit to the American, British, and Soviet zones. Notable SVAG officials * Marshal of the Soviet Union Geo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet Union, it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country by area, extending across Time in Russia, eleven time zones and sharing Geography of the Soviet Union#Borders and neighbors, borders with twelve countries, and the List of countries and dependencies by population, third-most populous country. An overall successor to the Russian Empire, it was nominally organized as a federal union of Republics of the Soviet Union, national republics, the largest and most populous of which was the Russian SFSR. In practice, Government of the Soviet Union, its government and Economy of the Soviet Union, economy were Soviet-type economic planning, highly centralized. As a one-party state go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liberal Democratic Party Of Germany
The Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (, LDPD) was a political party in East Germany. Like the other allied bloc parties of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in the National Front, it had 52 representatives in the People's Chamber. Foundation The history of the party dates back to 16 June 1945, when a Berlin-based group led by Waldemar Koch and his father-in-law Eugen Schiffer took the initiative in refounding the Weimar-era ''German Democratic Party''. Koch was elected chair of the founding committee, with Wilhelm Külz as his deputy; the writer Franz Xaver Kappus joined the board as well. At first there were some conversations about forming a united centre-right democratic party with the Christian Democrats, but the idea was abandoned soon and the name was changed to Liberal Democratic Party ("Liberal-Demokratische Partei", LDP) before the party's official founding on 5 July 1946. It was first of all aimed at uniting Weimar Republic-era members of the German De ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Democratic Party Of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together with Lars Klingbeil, who joined her in December 2021. After losing the 2025 federal election, the party is part of the Merz government as the junior coalition partner. The SPD is a member of 12 of the 16 German state governments and is a leading partner in seven of them. The SPD was founded in 1875 from a merger of smaller socialist parties, and grew rapidly after the lifting of Germany's repressive Anti-Socialist Laws in 1890 to become the largest socialist party in Western Europe until 1933. In 1891, it adopted its Marxist-influenced Erfurt Program, though in practice it was moderate and focused on building working-class organizations. In the 1912 federal election, the SPD won 34.8 percent of votes and became the largest party in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-S90341, Berlin, DDR-Gründung, Regierung Bei Tschuikow
The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv (BArch) (, lit. "Federal Archive") are the national archives of Germany. They were established at the current location in Koblenz in 1952. They are subordinated to the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media ( Claudia Roth since 2021) under the German Chancellery, and before 1998, to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. On 6 December 2008, the Archives donated 100,000 photos to the public, by making them accessible via Wikimedia Commons. History The federal archive for institutions and authorities in Germany, the first precursor to the present-day Federal Archives, was established in Potsdam, Brandenburg in 1919, a later date than in other European countries. This national archive documented German government dating from the founding of the North German Confederation in 1867. It also included material from the older German Confederation and the Imperial Chamber Court. The oldest documents in this collection dated back to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nazi Concentration Camps
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. Following the Night of Long Knives, 1934 purge of the Sturmabteilung, SA, the concentration camps were run exclusively by the Schutzstaffel, SS via the Concentration Camps Inspectorate and later the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Initially, most prisoners were members of the Communist Party of Germany, but as time went on different groups were arrested, including "habitual criminals", "Black triangle (badge), asocials", and Jews. After the beginning of World War II, people from German-occupied Europe were imprisoned in the concentration camps. About 1.65 million people were registered prisoners in the camps, of whom about Holocaust victims, a million died during their imprisonment. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NKVD Special Camps In Germany 1945–1950
NKVD special camps () were NKVD-run late and post-World War II internment camps in the Soviet-occupied parts of Germany from May 1945 to January 6, 1950. They were set up by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SMAD) and run by the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD).Kai Cornelius, ''Vom spurlosen Verschwindenlassen zur Benachrichtigungspflicht bei Festnahmen'', BWV Verlag, 2004, p.126, On 8 August 1948, the camps were made subordinate to the Gulag. Because the camp inmates were permitted no contact with the outside world, the special camps were also known as silence camps ().Kai Cornelius, ''Vom spurlosen Verschwindenlassen zur Benachrichtigungspflicht bei Festnahmen'', BWV Verlag, 2004, pp.126,133-134, The Soviet occupation authorities did not admit to the existence of the camps until the Western press led the Soviet Union to respond with a moderate propaganda campaign of their own admitting and defending the camps' existence. No inmates were released before ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nazi War Criminal
The following is a list of people who were formally indicted for committing war crimes or crimes against humanity on behalf of the Axis powers during World War II, including those who were acquitted or never received judgement. It does not include people who may have committed war crimes but were never formally indicted, or who were indicted only for other types of crimes. The Nuremberg trials * Martin Bormann – Guilty, sentenced ''in absentia'' to death by hanging. Later proven he committed suicide to avoid capture at the end of World War II in Europe, and remains discovered in 1972 were conclusively proven to be Bormann by forensic tests on the skull in 1998. Nonetheless, Simon Wiesenthal, Hugh Thomas and Reinhard Gehlen refused to accept this. Gehlen further argued Bormann was the secret Russian double agent 'Sasha'. * Karl Dönitz – Guilty, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. * Hans Frank – Guilty, sentenced to death by hanging * Wilhelm Frick – Guilty, sentence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Junker (Prussia)
The Junkers ( ; ) were members of the landed nobility in Prussia. They owned great estates that were maintained and worked by peasants with few rights. These estates often lay in the countryside outside of major cities or towns. They were an important factor in Prussian and, after 1871, German military, political and diplomatic leadership. The most famous Junker was Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck held power in Germany from 1871 to 1890 as Chancellor of the German Empire. He was removed from power by Kaiser Wilhelm II. Many Junkers lived in the eastern provinces that were annexed by either Poland or the Soviet Union after World War II. Junkers fled or were expelled alongside other German-speaking populations by the incoming Polish and Soviet administrations, and their lands were confiscated. In western and southern Germany, the land was often owned by small independent farmers or a mixture of small farmers and estate owners, and this system was often contrasted with th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Nobility
The German nobility () and Royal family, royalty were status groups of the Estates of the realm, medieval society in Central Europe, which enjoyed certain Privilege (law), privileges relative to other people under the laws and customs in the German-speaking area, until the beginning of the 20th century. Historically, German entities that recognized or conferred nobility included the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806), the German Confederation (1814–1866), and the German Empire (1871–1918). Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in the German Empire had a policy of expanding his political base by ennobling nouveau riche industrialists and businessmen who had no noble ancestors. The nobility flourished during the dramatic industrialization and urbanization of Germany after 1850. Landowners modernized their estates, and oriented their business to an international market. Many younger sons were positioned in the rapidly growing national and regional civil service bureaucracies, as well as in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vladimir Kurasov
Vladimir Vasilyevich Kurasov (; July 7(19), 1897 – November 30, 1973) was a Soviet military leader, Chief of Staff of Kalinin Front (renamed as 1st Baltic Front) during World War II, reaching service rank of Army General, Hero of the Soviet Union. Early life and World War I Kurasov was born on July 19, 1897, in Saint Petersburg, the son of an office worker. He graduated from an eight-year technical school and became a factory worker before being drafted into the Imperial Russian Army in 1915 during World War I. In 1916 he graduated from Telavi School of Praporshchiks and was sent to the front. Kurasov served on the Western Front as a platoon commander, and reached the rank of podporuchik by time the Imperial Army disintegrated. Civil War and the interwar period Since 1918 joined the Red Army. During the Russian Civil War he commanded a company and a detachment of sea-mans. Took the defense of Petrograd against the troops of Northwestern Front White Army headed by General Nikol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colonel General
Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a rank above full , but below . The rank of colonel general also exists in the armed forces organized along the lines of the Soviet model, where it is comparable to that of a lieutenant general. Austria-Hungary In the Austro-Hungarian Army, the second-highest rank was colonel general (, ). The rank was introduced in 1915, following the German model. The rank was not used after World War I in the Austrian Federal Army, Austrian Army of the Republic. Kuk ColGen 1918.svg, Insignia of an Austro-Hungarian Army colonel general Hungary The rank of () is still used in Hungary. The rank replaced the ranks of (general of infantry), (general of cavalry), and (general of artillery) in the early 1940s. Since 1991, has been the hig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
