Omsk
23rd February 2011, 12:40
I saw some threads about he GDR on the forum board,but most of them were either thread's regarding the wall or threads in which people expresed their thought on the GDR,these thought's were mostly negative,so i planned to open a thread about the GDR,the NVA and generaly about the life in these parts,and i would like to say that this is not a hate thread,devoted to trashing Erich Honecker,or the GDR,this is a thread that could bring back the nostalgia toward the GDR in some of the members who lived in it.And i repeat,if you dont want to post information and possible articles,pictures,about the GDR,or the NVA,dont,this could serve as a summ-up of all interesting content about the GDR,and i hope many people will find it interesting enough.
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gifs/gdr.gif
*An article about the GDR,you might want to take a peak:
http://marxistleninist.wordpress.com/2009/11/07/democracy-east-germany-and-the-berlin-wall/
http://www.eastgermany.info/
Feel free to post your own information and start a posible discussion about the GDR.
NVA part-
Nationalen Volksarmee
The Warsaw Pact, which included the Soviet Union and all its satellite states in Eastern Europe, was created on May 14, 1955, just days after the FRG joined NATO. Like NATO, its Western counterpart, the Warsaw Pact guaranteed mutual military assistance to its members in the event of an attack and coordination of all member forces in a unified command. The existence of this command, which was situated in Moscow, allowed the Soviet Union to station troops on its allies' territories. Each member state was also obligated to establish its own armed forces. In the GDR, the People's Police (Volkspolizei, or Vopo) had created paramilitary units in 1952. The Soviet Union had unofficially helped form East German naval and air force units beginning in 1950.
On March 1, 1956, the National People's Army (Nationale Volksarmee--NVA) was officially created by transferring the existing paramilitary units of the People's Police to the NVA. The new army was officially under the leadership of the SED and under the direction of the newly created Ministry for National Defense. Initially, the NVA was to be staffed by volunteers only, but in 1962, when recruitment presented increasing difficulties for the SED and its support organizations, conscription was introduced. Before the construction of the Berlin Wall, conscription had been seen as impossible to enforce.
As early as the 1950s, the NVA became the most effective and best-equipped fighting force in the Warsaw Pact aside from the Soviet army. By the early 1980s, the NVA had an active strength of 167,000, of which approximately 60,000 were professional soldiers; there were approximately 3 million reservists. Most weapons were of Soviet origin.
The NVA was a professional volunteer army until 1962, when conscription was introduced. In 1987, at the peak of its power, the NVA numbered 175,300 troops. Approximately 50% of this number were career soldiers, while the others were short-term conscripts. The armed forces were controlled by the National Defense Council, but the mobile forces were under the Warsaw Pact Unified Command. Political control of the armed forces was through close integration with the SED (Communist Party), which vetted all the officers. Popular support for the military establishment was bolstered by military training provided by the school system and through the growing militarization of society. From a Leninist perspective, the NVA stood as a symbol of Soviet-East German solidarity and became the model Communist institution--ideological, hierarchical, and disciplined.The NVA synthesized Communist and Germanic symbolism, naming its officers' academy after Karl Marx's coauthor Friedrich Engels, and its highest medal after Prussian General Gerhard von Scharnhorst.
Fighting fist~
T-72 Main Battle Tank
Specifications
Crew: 3
Weight: 41,000 kg
Length: 9.24 m (including gun)
6.95 m (hull)
Width: 3.6 m (without skirts)
Height: 2.37 m
Max speed: 60 km/h (on road)
Max range: 480 km (on road)
Engine: V-12 diesel
(582 kW)
Power-to-weight ratio: 14.20 kW/tonne
Vertical obstacle climb: 0.915 m
Gradient: 60 %
Trench crossing: 2.90 m
Fording depth: 1.40 m
Main armament: 125-mm gun
Secondary armament: One 7.62-mm PKT machine-gun (mounted co-axially with the main armament)
One 12.7-mm machine-gun (mounted on the commander's cupola)
Small Arms:
Mauser Kar98k. In use by the Combat Groups of the Working Class and remained standard use until the 1960s and continued its service in limited circumstances
Mosin-Nagant. In use by the Combat Groups of the Working Class and remained standard use until the 1960s and continued its service in limited circumstances
SKS semi-automatic carbine
Makarov PM semi-automatic pistol
AKM Assault Rifle. Manufactured by the state arsenal as the MPi-KM (fixed stock, later variants were distinctive stippled plastic) and MPi-KMS-72 (AKMS) with a single strut "coathanger" side-folding stock.
AK-74 Assault Rifle MPi-AK-74N, MPi-AKS-74N, MPi-AKS-74NK variants made by the state arsenal for a short period of time starting in 1983 (withdrawn from service after German reunification)
RPD Light Machine Gun
RPK Light Machine Gun
PPSh 41 Submachine gun
PKM Medium Machine Gun
Dragunov SVD Semi-automatic sniper rifle
RPG-7D light AT-weapon
RPG-18 light AT-weapon
Armored Vehicles:
BMP-1
BMP-2 (tracked IFVs in first-line Panzergrenadier units)
BRDM-1
BRDM-2
BTR-40
BTR-50
BTR-60
BTR-70 (wheeled APCs in mechanized and motorized units)
BTR-152
PT-76
T-34 (only in modified recovery/engineering versions)
T-54 (reserve)
T-55 (upgraded to T-55AM standard)
T-72 (in first-line Panzer units)
T-55 tank
T-54-1 production was slow at first as only 3 vehicles were built in 1946 and 22 in 1947. 285 T-54-1 tanks were built in 1948 by Stalin Ural Tank Factory No. 183 (Uralvagonzavod), located in Nizhny Tagil. By that time it completely replaced T-44 in production at Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) in Nizhny Tagil, and Kharkov Diesel Factory No. 75 (KhPZ). Production was stopped because of a low level of production quality and frequent breakdowns. The T-54-2 entered production overall in 1949 (at Stalin Ural Tank Factory No. 183 (Uralvagonzavod) the production started in 1950 and until the end of the year it produced 423 tanks). It replaced the T-34 in production at the Omsk Factory No. 183 in 1950. In 1951 over 800 T-54-2 tanks were produced. The T-54-2 remained in production until 1952. The T-54A was produced between 1955 and 1957. The T-54B was produced between 1957 and April 1959. The T-55 was produced by Uralvagonzavod between 1958 and 1962. The T-55K command tank was produced from 1959. The TO-55 (Ob'yekt 482) flamethrower tank was produced until 1962.
Overall 35,000 T-54-1, T-54-2, T-54 (T-54-3), T-54A, T-54B, T-54AK1, T-54AK2, T-54BK1 and T-54BK2 tanks were produced between 1946 and 1958 and 27,500 T-55, T-55A, T-55K1, T-55K2, T-55K3, T-55AK1, T-55AK2 and T-55AK3 tanks were produced between 1955 and 1981.
Specifications
Crew: 4
Weight: 36,000 kg
Length: 9.00 m (including gun)
Width: 3.14 m
Height: 2.20 m
Max speed: 50 km/h (on road)
Max range: 500 km (on road)
Engine: One V12 Diesel
(580hp)
Fuel capacity: 960 litres
Trench crossing: 2.70 m
Main armament: 105mm or 100mm Cannon
Armour Protection: Hull 99 mm
Turret 203 mm
NBC protection: PAZ radiation detection system
Introduced: 1958
Ammunition (types): Frag-HE, HEAT, HVAP-T, AP-T, APDS, APC-T
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gifs/gdr.gif
*An article about the GDR,you might want to take a peak:
http://marxistleninist.wordpress.com/2009/11/07/democracy-east-germany-and-the-berlin-wall/
http://www.eastgermany.info/
Feel free to post your own information and start a posible discussion about the GDR.
NVA part-
Nationalen Volksarmee
The Warsaw Pact, which included the Soviet Union and all its satellite states in Eastern Europe, was created on May 14, 1955, just days after the FRG joined NATO. Like NATO, its Western counterpart, the Warsaw Pact guaranteed mutual military assistance to its members in the event of an attack and coordination of all member forces in a unified command. The existence of this command, which was situated in Moscow, allowed the Soviet Union to station troops on its allies' territories. Each member state was also obligated to establish its own armed forces. In the GDR, the People's Police (Volkspolizei, or Vopo) had created paramilitary units in 1952. The Soviet Union had unofficially helped form East German naval and air force units beginning in 1950.
On March 1, 1956, the National People's Army (Nationale Volksarmee--NVA) was officially created by transferring the existing paramilitary units of the People's Police to the NVA. The new army was officially under the leadership of the SED and under the direction of the newly created Ministry for National Defense. Initially, the NVA was to be staffed by volunteers only, but in 1962, when recruitment presented increasing difficulties for the SED and its support organizations, conscription was introduced. Before the construction of the Berlin Wall, conscription had been seen as impossible to enforce.
As early as the 1950s, the NVA became the most effective and best-equipped fighting force in the Warsaw Pact aside from the Soviet army. By the early 1980s, the NVA had an active strength of 167,000, of which approximately 60,000 were professional soldiers; there were approximately 3 million reservists. Most weapons were of Soviet origin.
The NVA was a professional volunteer army until 1962, when conscription was introduced. In 1987, at the peak of its power, the NVA numbered 175,300 troops. Approximately 50% of this number were career soldiers, while the others were short-term conscripts. The armed forces were controlled by the National Defense Council, but the mobile forces were under the Warsaw Pact Unified Command. Political control of the armed forces was through close integration with the SED (Communist Party), which vetted all the officers. Popular support for the military establishment was bolstered by military training provided by the school system and through the growing militarization of society. From a Leninist perspective, the NVA stood as a symbol of Soviet-East German solidarity and became the model Communist institution--ideological, hierarchical, and disciplined.The NVA synthesized Communist and Germanic symbolism, naming its officers' academy after Karl Marx's coauthor Friedrich Engels, and its highest medal after Prussian General Gerhard von Scharnhorst.
Fighting fist~
T-72 Main Battle Tank
Specifications
Crew: 3
Weight: 41,000 kg
Length: 9.24 m (including gun)
6.95 m (hull)
Width: 3.6 m (without skirts)
Height: 2.37 m
Max speed: 60 km/h (on road)
Max range: 480 km (on road)
Engine: V-12 diesel
(582 kW)
Power-to-weight ratio: 14.20 kW/tonne
Vertical obstacle climb: 0.915 m
Gradient: 60 %
Trench crossing: 2.90 m
Fording depth: 1.40 m
Main armament: 125-mm gun
Secondary armament: One 7.62-mm PKT machine-gun (mounted co-axially with the main armament)
One 12.7-mm machine-gun (mounted on the commander's cupola)
Small Arms:
Mauser Kar98k. In use by the Combat Groups of the Working Class and remained standard use until the 1960s and continued its service in limited circumstances
Mosin-Nagant. In use by the Combat Groups of the Working Class and remained standard use until the 1960s and continued its service in limited circumstances
SKS semi-automatic carbine
Makarov PM semi-automatic pistol
AKM Assault Rifle. Manufactured by the state arsenal as the MPi-KM (fixed stock, later variants were distinctive stippled plastic) and MPi-KMS-72 (AKMS) with a single strut "coathanger" side-folding stock.
AK-74 Assault Rifle MPi-AK-74N, MPi-AKS-74N, MPi-AKS-74NK variants made by the state arsenal for a short period of time starting in 1983 (withdrawn from service after German reunification)
RPD Light Machine Gun
RPK Light Machine Gun
PPSh 41 Submachine gun
PKM Medium Machine Gun
Dragunov SVD Semi-automatic sniper rifle
RPG-7D light AT-weapon
RPG-18 light AT-weapon
Armored Vehicles:
BMP-1
BMP-2 (tracked IFVs in first-line Panzergrenadier units)
BRDM-1
BRDM-2
BTR-40
BTR-50
BTR-60
BTR-70 (wheeled APCs in mechanized and motorized units)
BTR-152
PT-76
T-34 (only in modified recovery/engineering versions)
T-54 (reserve)
T-55 (upgraded to T-55AM standard)
T-72 (in first-line Panzer units)
T-55 tank
T-54-1 production was slow at first as only 3 vehicles were built in 1946 and 22 in 1947. 285 T-54-1 tanks were built in 1948 by Stalin Ural Tank Factory No. 183 (Uralvagonzavod), located in Nizhny Tagil. By that time it completely replaced T-44 in production at Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) in Nizhny Tagil, and Kharkov Diesel Factory No. 75 (KhPZ). Production was stopped because of a low level of production quality and frequent breakdowns. The T-54-2 entered production overall in 1949 (at Stalin Ural Tank Factory No. 183 (Uralvagonzavod) the production started in 1950 and until the end of the year it produced 423 tanks). It replaced the T-34 in production at the Omsk Factory No. 183 in 1950. In 1951 over 800 T-54-2 tanks were produced. The T-54-2 remained in production until 1952. The T-54A was produced between 1955 and 1957. The T-54B was produced between 1957 and April 1959. The T-55 was produced by Uralvagonzavod between 1958 and 1962. The T-55K command tank was produced from 1959. The TO-55 (Ob'yekt 482) flamethrower tank was produced until 1962.
Overall 35,000 T-54-1, T-54-2, T-54 (T-54-3), T-54A, T-54B, T-54AK1, T-54AK2, T-54BK1 and T-54BK2 tanks were produced between 1946 and 1958 and 27,500 T-55, T-55A, T-55K1, T-55K2, T-55K3, T-55AK1, T-55AK2 and T-55AK3 tanks were produced between 1955 and 1981.
Specifications
Crew: 4
Weight: 36,000 kg
Length: 9.00 m (including gun)
Width: 3.14 m
Height: 2.20 m
Max speed: 50 km/h (on road)
Max range: 500 km (on road)
Engine: One V12 Diesel
(580hp)
Fuel capacity: 960 litres
Trench crossing: 2.70 m
Main armament: 105mm or 100mm Cannon
Armour Protection: Hull 99 mm
Turret 203 mm
NBC protection: PAZ radiation detection system
Introduced: 1958
Ammunition (types): Frag-HE, HEAT, HVAP-T, AP-T, APDS, APC-T