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Hitler as the War began to go wrong for him developed the strategy of creating fortress cities--Festungen. The forces and civilians within these cities were ordered to stand and defend them at all costs, fighting to the death. It is unclear just how Hitler conceived this tactic. Stalin had used the tactic, often disastrously such as at Kiev (1941). But it had worked at the three key Soviet cities--Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Moscow. This aspect of the War is not as well known in the West as other aspects of the War, because it was primarily used in East in its more draconian implementation. And Hitler abhorred giving up territory lost. Some believe hat his World war I experience in which he believed that the German Army had never been defeated all played a role in his decision as well as his growing contempt for the generals advising tactical withdrawals. As a result, cities in both the East and West were selected as Festungen. The first Festugen were in the occupied area. The surrounded Stalingrad pocket was the first designated fortress city. The result of course was disastrous. Some Fortress Cities made sense. The best examples were the French ports which the Allies critically needed after D-Day. Most did not make sense. The best known fortress cities were those in eastern Germany during the last year of the War which Hitler ordered to resist the Red army drive west. Hitler had not yet accepted defeat, but was lucid enough to realize that desperate measures were needed. Here there were a range of motivation. He hoped that buying time could enable the deployment of secret weapons or allow the alliance between the Western Allies and the Soviets to unravel. And even if he only dreamed of these developments, anything to delay the inevitable--even at the cost of tens of thousands of lives. Some of the most important fortress cities were: Warsaw, Budapest, Kolberg, Königsberg, Küstrin, Danzig, and Breslau. Some actually held out until Hitler committed suicide and the NAZIs surrendered (Breslau and Alderney). The great German advantage in the opening years of the War was the mobility at the heart of Blitzkrieg tactics. This resulted in the encirclement of major elements of the opposing forces, most notably in the Soviet Union during Barbarossa (1941). The Wehrmacht gradually lost its mobility as vast numbers of vehicle were destroyed in the East and fuel supplies became increasingly short. At the same time the Red Army receiving American Lend Lease tactics became increasingly mobile. The Festungen were in part a reaction to these shifting fortunes of war. But they essentially played into the Russian encirclement operations. The Soviets were able to cut off important German formations, essentially creating vast self-imposed POW camps. This is what happened in Courland. The Germans were isolated and without supplied essentially neutralized. The Red army could thus press on west an deal with the defenders at their convenience. Hitler conceptualized the Festungen as an economy of force measure. Some were manned by second-rate or immobile troops who would might have been lost in a withdrawal, especially retreats that Hitler often delayed until the last minute. The Red Army would then have to beige the Festungen. Festung Posen, for example, was surrounded and assaulted by Chuikov's Eighth Guards Army. Most were less strategically placed and more easily bypassed by the Red Army. And many soldiers were lost that could have been more effectively used in the defense of Berlin which was to a substantial degree ws defend by youths and older men--the Volkstrum.
Hitler as the War began to go wrong for him developed the strategy of creating fortress cities--Festungen. The forces and civilians within these cities were ordered to stand and defend them at all costs, fighting to the death. It is unclear just how Hitler conceived this tactic. Stalin had used the tactic, often disastrously such as at Kiev (1941). But it had worked at the three key Soviet cities--Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Moscow. This aspect of the War is not as well known in the West as other aspects of the War, because it was primarily used in East in its more draconian implementation.
And Hitler abhorred giving up territory lost. Some believe hat his World war I experience in which he believed that the German Army had never been defeated all played a role in his decision as well as his growing contempt for the generals advising tactical withdrawals.
As a result, cities in both the East and West were selected as Festungen.
The first Festugen were in the occupied area. The surrounded Stalingrad pocket was the first designated fortress city. Others as the Red Army drove east became Warsaw and Budapest. The result of course was disastrous. Some Fortress Cities made sense. The best examples were the French ports which the Allies critically needed after D-Day. Most did not make sense.
The best known fortress cities were those in eastern Germany during the last year of the War which Hitler ordered to resist the Red army drive west. Hitler had not yet accepted defeat, but was lucid enough to realize that desperate measures were needed. He hoped that buying time could enable the deployment of secret weapons or allow the alliance between the Western Allies and the Soviets to unravel. Some of the most important fortress cities were: Breslau, Danzig, Kolberg, Königsberg, and Küstrin. The best known Fortress City was surely Breslau in Silesia. The Red Army launched its final major offensive, driving into the Reich (January 1945). The great cities of eastern Germany fell one by one. One city resisted fierce--Breslau, Hitler declared it a Fortress City. The Red Army encircled Breslau and essentially laid siege. Soviet artillery pummeled the city. The defenders erected impoverished defensive emplacements. What remained of the Luftwaffe flew in some supplies at night. The men and boys somehow held out for 3 months. Big fights occured in other eastern ciities like Pyritz. One author writes, "All manner of rumors circulated. Entire regiments had deserted. (They hadn't.) Hitler had visited the front and sacked several generals on the spot. (He didn't.) Some generals had not been killed in battle, but had been executed. (They had not been.) Officers had fled the battlefield with their Polish or Russian mistresses. (They had.) Weary soldiers struggled back to German lines barefoot, without belts, tattered, and torn, undisciplined. (They had.) 'This retreat,' one person was overheard to say, 'is one of the darkest chapters in German history.'" [Hargreaves] Some actually held out until Hitler committed suicide and the NAZIs surrendered (Breslau and Alderney). Bresalau finally surrendered (May 6), 4 days after Berlin surrendered. The death toll in the city exceeded 25,000 soldiers and civilians. The city was in ruins. The Germans after World War I lost several cities as a result of League of Nations supervised plebiscites, most historically Polish cities. Thanks to Hitler, after World War II, Germany would lose several historically German cities.
The great German advantage in the opening years of the War was the mobility at the heart of Blitzkrieg tactics. This resulted in the encirclement of major elements of the opposing forces, most notably in the Soviet Union during Barbarossa (1941). The Wehrmacht gradually lost its mobility as vast numbers of vehicle were destroyed in the East and fuel supplies became increasingly short. At the same time the Red Army receiving American Lend Lease tactics became increasingly mobile. The Festungen were in part a reaction to these shifting fortunes of war. But they essentially played into the Russian encirclement operations. The Soviets were able to cut off important German formations, essentially creating vast self-imposed POW camps. This is what happened in Courland. The Germans were isolated and without supplied essentially neutralized. The Red army could thus press on west an deal with the defenders at their convenience.
Hitler conceptualized the Festungen as an economy of force measure. Some were manned by second-rate or immobile troops who would might have been lost in a withdrawal, especially retreats that Hitler often delayed until the last minute. The Red Army would then have to beige the Festungen. Festung Posen, for example, was surrounded and assaulted by Chuikov's Eighth Guards Army. Most were less strategically placed and more easily bypassed by the Red Army. And many soldiers were lost that could have been more effectively used in the defense of Berlin which was to a substantial degree ws defend by youths and older men--the Volkstrum.
Hargreaves, Richard. Hitler's Final Firtress: Breslau 1945 (2012), 288p.
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