History of the Kaliningrad region

The Kaliningrad region is the westernmost part of the territory of the Russian Federation , located in the Baltic states ( semi-exclave ).

History of Brandenburg and Prussia
North mark 936-1157		Prussians Until the thirteenth century
Margrave Brandenburg 1157-1618 (1806) Elector Brandenburg 1356-1806		Warband 1224-1525
		Duchy of Prussia 1525-1618	Royal prussia (Poland) 1466-1772
Brandenburg-Prussia 1618-1701
Kingdom of Prussia King in Prussia 1701-1772
Kingdom of Prussia King of Prussia 1772-1918
Free State of Prussia 1918-1947			Klaipeda region (Lithuania) 1920-1939 Since 1945
Brandenburg (East Germany, Germany) 1947-1952 Since 1990	Returned lands (Poland) 1918-1939 Since 1945	Kaliningrad region (USSR, Russia) Since 1945

The Mesolithic (12 thousand years ago) in the Kaliningrad region may include artifacts found during excavations on the Vishtynetsk Upland in the southeast of the region ^[1] . The multilayer settlement of Zedmar (Serovo) located at the foot of the island of Zedmar peat belongs to the Neolithic - Iron Age ^[2] . The tribes of the Neolithic Zedmar culture (the sites of Zedmar A, Zedmar D, Utino Boloto, 5600–4800 years ago) basically contained elements of the Narva and Neman cultures with separate features associated with the circle of more developed Central European cultures. In the Kaliningrad region, weak traces of the presence of funnel-shaped cup culture were recorded (in the settlements of the Zedmar peat bog, in the layer of the Schloss-Kazern site in Koenigsberg). The Masurian culture group of cord ceramics in the eastern part of the Kaliningrad region begins to develop no later than 2700 BC ^[3] .

Starting from the 5th century , the Prussian tribes lived on the territory of the present Kaliningrad region ( Salmon , Natangi , Warmians , Skalvs, Barts , Pogezans from Pogezanei, Yatvyagi), a people related to the current Lithuanians and Latvians . By the XI century, the Prussians lived in communities , engaged in agriculture, hunting, fishing and river (coastal) trade. Prussians settled by descent, erecting fortified settlements. Confessed paganism . In the 9th-10th centuries, the Prussian trade and craft center Kaup existed in northern Sambia .

Prussians among other Baltic tribes (circa 1200).

After Poland adopted Christianity ( 966 ), active attempts were made to Christianize the Prussians. In 1206, Pope Innocent III issued a bull on the Christianization of the Prussians, and in 1217, Pope Honorius III declared a campaign against the Prussian pagans , which became part of the campaigns in East Prussia, known as the “ Prussian Crusade ”, to which the Teutonic Order joined in 1226 . In 1230, the Pope gives the Teutonic Order the right to baptize the Prussians. The German crusaders, who had interests in eastern Europe, began to colonize new territories, which soon formed the State of the Teutonic Order . Colonization did not pass peacefully - a considerable part of the Prussian leaders fought an active war with the crusaders, while some of the leaders adopted Christianity. The Teutonic Order gave certain privileges to the loyal Prussians, incorporating them into the feudal system of their state. In the main phase of colonization (XIII-XIV centuries), two major Prussian uprisings occurred - the first Prussian uprising (1242–1249) and the second Prussian uprising (1260–1274) . During the uprisings, the Prussians remained divided, and, despite significant difficulties, the crusaders managed to turn the tide of both revolts and gain a foothold in the conquered territories.

During the colonization, the knights founded castles, which were their strongholds. Initially, the castle of the order was a fortified house that served as the residence of the brothers of the order. Such a house was built of wood and fortified with a picket fence. In the XIV century, the construction of castles in stone begins. The first of them in the Kaliningrad region was Balga Castle , founded in 1239 on the shores of the Gulf of Vistula and preserved to this day in ruins.

Balga Castle in 1931.

Prussian culture and the Prussian language gradually lost their significance - new feudal relations supplanted the traditional way of Prussian society, German became the language of trade and diplomacy. Most of the Prussians gradually assimilated, mingling with the mass of German colonists. Prussian language was preserved as the language of rural communities until the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries . Most of the non-Germanized Prussians switched to Lithuanian , having received the name Lietuvniki (Prussian Lithuanians).

For security reasons, German colonists settled at the castle walls, forming the so-called excess . Thus, many cities and towns of the Kaliningrad region, including Koenigsberg , arose. Currently, in the Kaliningrad region there are a significant number of historical monuments of the Prussian and Order periods, which are mainly the ruins of castles and churches, the remains of ramparts and fortifications.

The state of the Teutonic Order waged constant wars with Poland and Lithuania , expanding its influence in the Baltic region. In 1370, the Battle of Rudau took place between the troops of the Teutonic Order and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After the adoption of Christianity by Jagiello in 1387, Lithuania exhausted the legal foundations of the Teutonic Order in the lands of Prussia, the flow of crusaders and funding from Germany began to gradually dry up. After the defeat at Tannenberg ( Battle of Grunwald ) in 1410 and the Thirteen Years War (1454–1466) that followed, the state of the Teutonic Order lost a significant part of its territories and was in a deplorable economic condition.

In 1525, by order of the great master Albrecht , the Teutonic Order was secularized , and the state of the Crusaders was transformed into the secular Prussian Duchy . The last great master of the Teutonic Order, Duke Albrecht, became the first Duke of Prussia. Lutheran Protestantism became the state religion of the new Prussian state - thus, Prussia became the first state in the world to recognize Protestantism as its state religion.

In 1657, Prussia became part of the united Brandenburg-Prussian state and freed from vassal dependence on Poland.

During the Seven Years War , between 1758 and 1762, East Prussia was part of the Russian Empire . In German historiography, this period was called the "first Russian time."

On November 15, 1901, the Königsberg Sea Shipping Canal was opened (since 1946, the Kaliningrad Sea Shipping Canal ).

In accordance with the Potsdam Agreement , concluded from July 17 to August 2, 1945 at the Potsdam Conference by the leaders of the three largest powers of the anti-Hitler coalition in World War II , the northern part of East Prussia (approximately one third of its entire territory) was transferred to the Soviet Union , the remaining two thirds - The Republic of Poland .

Administrative map of East Prussia in 1944.

Immediately after the victory of the Red Army and the Soviet people over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 , the Königsberg Special Military District was organized on the territory transferred to the Soviet Union, which also dealt with civil affairs.

On April 7, 1946, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR , the Königsberg Region was formed as part of the RSFSR on the territory of the okrug.

On July 4, 1946, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Konigsberg Region was renamed the Kaliningrad Region , the city of Konigsberg was renamed Kaliningrad ^[4] .

The mass resettlement to the region of families of collective farmers and agricultural workers was initiated by I.V. Stalin, Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 1522 of July 9, 1946. The document prescribed to resettle “on a voluntary basis” in the Kaliningrad region for permanent residence in August-October 1946, 12 thousand families of collective farmers from 20 regions and three autonomous republics of the RSFSR and from the Byelorussian SSR . As a criterion for the selection of immigrants, a government decree established the presence in each resettlement family of at least two able-bodied members ^[5] . The first echelon of collective farmers arrived in the Gusevsky district on August 23, 1946. The pioneers of large-scale migration were 715 residents of the Bryansk region, severely damaged during the war ^[6] . During the resettlement campaign of 1946-1948, the inhabitants of 27 regions of the RSFSR, four union republics , and two autonomous republics became actually migrants. The “trustworthiness” of the migrants was also taken into account, which was carefully monitored by the bodies of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs ^[7] .

The first native inhabitant of the Kaliningrad region was Alexander Anatolyevich Dorofeev , who was born on July 4, 1946 at 0 hours 01 minute in Tapiau ( Guards ) in the family of the guard Major Dorofeev A.V. , the hero of the battles for Königsberg and Pillau .

On October 11, 1947, the USSR Council of Ministers adopted secret resolution No. 3547-1169c “On the resettlement of Germans from the Kaliningrad region of the RSFSR to the Soviet zone of German occupation”. According to the memorandum of the Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR S. N. Kruglov dated November 30, 1948 to I. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov and L. P. Beria on the completion of the resettlement of Germans from the Kaliningrad region to the Soviet zone of German occupation , from October 1947 years to October 1948, 102 125 Germans were resettled. The entire German and Lithuanian ( Letvininki - Prussian Lithuanians) population was deported to Germany in 1947-1949 .

After the Great Patriotic War, the Kaliningrad region became one of the most militarized territories of the Soviet Union . The headquarters of the Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet of the Navy of the Russian Federation is located in Kaliningrad , after 1991 the city ​​of Baltiysk (formerly Pillau) remained the largest base of this fleet.