Some sources claim that the history of the Brest Fortress began a century before its heroic feat in 1941. This is somewhat untrue. The fortress has existed since ancient times. The complete reconstruction of the medieval citadel in the town of Berestye (the historical name of Brest) began in 1836 and lasted 6 years.
Immediately after the fire of 1835, the tsarist government decided to modernize the fortress in order to give it the status of a western outpost of national importance in the future.
Medieval Brest
The fortress arose in the 11th century, references to it can be found in the well-known "Tale of Bygone Years", where the chronicle captures episodes of the struggle for the throne between the two great princes - Svyatopolk and Yaroslav.
Having a very favorable location - on the cape between two rivers, the Western Bug and the Mukhavets, Berestye soon gained the status of a large shopping center.
In ancient times, the main routes of merchant movement were rivers. And here, two whole waterways made it possible to move goods from east to west and vice versa. By the Bug it was possible to get to Poland, Lithuania and Europe, and by the Mukhavets, via Pripyat and the Dnieper, to the Black Sea steppes and the Middle East.
One can only guess how picturesque the medieval Brest fortress was. Photo illustrations and drawings of the fortress of an early period - a rarity, you can meet them only as museum exhibits.
Due to the constant transition of the Brest Fortress to the jurisdiction of a particular state and the arrangement of the town in its own way, the plan of both the outpost and the settlement underwent minor changes. Some of them were inspired by the requirements of the time, but for more than five hundred years the Brest Fortress managed to maintain its pristine medieval color and the corresponding atmosphere.
1812 year. French in the citadel
Brest border geography has always been the cause of the struggle for the town: for 800 years History of the Brest Fortress captured the dominion of the Turov and Lithuanian principalities, the Commonwealth (Poland), and only in 1795 Brest became an integral part of Russian lands.
But before the invasion of Napoleon, the Russian government did not attach much importance to the ancient fortress. Only during the Russian-French war of 1812 did the Brest Fortress confirm its status as a reliable outpost, which, as the people said, helps its own, but destroys enemies.
The French also decided to leave Brest behind them, but the Russian troops recaptured the fortress, gaining an unconditional victory over the French cavalry units.
Historical decision
This victory served as the starting point for the decision of the tsarist government to erect a new and powerful fortification on the site of a rather flimsy medieval fortress, corresponding to the spirit of the time in architectural style and military significance.
But what about the heroes of the Brest Fortress during the Patriotic War of 1812 ? After all, any military action involves the appearance of desperate daredevils and patriots. Their names remained unknown to the general public of the then public, but it is possible that they received their awards for courage from the hands of Emperor Alexander himself.
Fire in Brest
The fire that engulfed the ancient settlement in 1835 accelerated the process of general reconstruction of the Brest Fortress. The plans of the then engineers and architects were to destroy the medieval buildings in order to erect completely new structures in their place in terms of architectural character and strategic importance.
The fire destroyed about 300 buildings in the settlement, and paradoxically, it came to the advantage of the tsarist government, and the builders, and the population of the town.
Reconstruction
Having issued compensation to the victims of the fire in the form of cash and building materials, the state persuaded them to settle not in the fortress itself, but separately - two kilometers from the outpost, thus providing the fortress with a single function - protective.
The history of the Brest Fortress did not know such a grand restructuring before: the medieval settlement was demolished to its foundations, and in its place grew a powerful citadel with thick walls, a whole system of drawbridges connecting three artificially created islands, bastion forts equipped with ravelins, and impregnable ten-meter earthen rampart, with narrow embrasures, allowing defenders to remain as protected as possible during the shelling.
19th century fortress defenses
In addition to defensive structures, which, of course, play a leading role in repelling enemy attacks, the number and well-trained soldiers serving in the border fortress are also important.
The defensive strategy of the citadel was thought out by the architects to the finer points. Otherwise, why attach importance to the main soldier’s barracks to the main fortification? Living in rooms with walls two meters thick, each of the servicemen was subconsciously ready to repel possible attacks of the enemy, literally, jumping out of bed - at any time of the day.
500 casemates of the fortress easily fit 12,000 soldiers with a full set of weapons and provisions for several days. The barracks were so well camouflaged from prying eyes that the uninitiated could hardly have guessed about their presence - they were in the thickness of the same ten-meter earthen rampart.
A feature of the architectural solution of the fortress was the inextricable link of its structures: the towering towers shielded the main citadel from the fire, and targeted forts could be fired from the forts located on the islands, protecting the front line.
When the fortress was fortified with a ring of 9 forts, it became almost invulnerable: each of them could fit in a whole soldier's garrison (and this is 250 servicemen), plus 20 guns.
Brest Fortress in Peacetime
In a period of calm at the state borders, Brest lived a measured unhurried life. An enviable measure reigned both in the city and in the fortress, services were performed in the temples. There were several churches on the territory of the fortress - nevertheless, a temple could not fit a huge number of soldiers.
One of the local monasteries was rebuilt into a building for the assembly of officer ranks and was named the White Palace.
But even in calm periods of time, it was not so easy to get to the fortress. The entrance to the "heart" of the citadel consisted of four gates. Three of them, as a symbol of their impregnability, have preserved the modern Brest Fortress. Museum begins with the old gates: Kholmsky, Terespolsky, Northern ... Each of them was ordered to become gates to paradise for many of their defenders in future wars.
Equipping the fortress on the eve of the First World War
During the time of turmoil in Europe, the Brest-Litovsk fortress remained one of the most reliable fortifications on the Russian-Polish border. The main task of the citadel is to “facilitate the freedom of action of the army and navy,” which did not have modern weapons and equipment.
Of the 871 weapons, only 34% met the requirements of combat in modern conditions, the rest of the guns were outdated. Among the guns, old samples prevailed, capable of firing at a distance of no more than 3 versts. At this time, the potential enemy had mortars and artillery systems of the 45th caliber.
In 1910, the aeronautical battalion of the fortress received its first airship, and in 1911 the Brest-Litovsk fortress was equipped with its own radio station with a special royal decree.
First war of the 20th century
The First World War found the Brest Fortress for a rather peaceful occupation - construction. Attracted villagers from nearby and distant villages actively built additional forts.
The fortress would have been perfectly protected if military reform had not struck the day before, as a result of which the infantry was disbanded, and the outpost lost its combat-ready garrison. At the beginning of the First World War, only militias remained in the Brest-Litovsk fortress, who during the retreat forced to burn the strongest and most modern outposts.
But the main event of the first war of the twentieth century for the fortress was not connected with military operations - the Brest Peace Treaty was signed within its walls.
Monuments of the Brest Fortress have a different look and character, and one of those remains this agreement, which is significant for those times.
How people learned about the feat of Brest
Most contemporaries know the Brest Citadel by the events of the first day of the treacherous attack of fascist Germany on the Soviet Union. Information about this did not appear immediately, it was disclosed by the Germans themselves in a completely unexpected way: having expressed restrained admiration for the heroism of the defenders of Brest in personal diaries, which were later found and published by military journalists.
This happened in the years 1943-1944. Until that time, the feat of the citadel was unknown to a wide audience, and the heroes of the Brest Fortress who survived in the meat grinder according to the highest military ranks, they were considered ordinary prisoners of war who surrendered to the enemy from cowardice.
The information that local battles were sharpened in the citadel both in July and even in August 1941 did not immediately become public. But, now historians can say for sure: the Brest Fortress, which the enemy expected to take in 8 hours, lasted a very long time.
Hell start date: June 22, 1941
Before the war, which was not expected, the Brest Fortress looked completely threatening: the old earthen rampart was donkey, covered with grass, in the territory there were flowers and sports grounds. In early June, the main regiments stationed in the fortress left it and went to summer training camps.
On the night of June 22, the outpost was almost defenseless.
The history of the Brest Fortress for all centuries has not yet known such treachery: the predawn hours of a short summer night became an absolute hell for its inhabitants . Suddenly, out of nowhere, in the fortress, artillery fire was opened, taking everyone in it by surprise, and 17,000 ruthless "fellows" from the Wehrmacht burst into the territory of the outpost.
But neither blood, nor horror, nor the death of comrades could break and stop the heroic defenders of Brest. They fought eight days according to official figures. And another two months - according to unofficial ones.
It was not so simple and not so fast that the Brest Fortress was losing ground . 1941 defense became an omen of the whole further course of the war and showed the enemy the inefficiency of its cold calculations and superweapon, which is defeated by the unpredictable heroism of the poorly armed, but passionately loving the Slavs fatherland.
"Talking" stones
What is Brest Fortress shouting about now silently? The museum has preserved numerous exhibits and stones, on which you can read the records of its defenders. Short phrases in one or two lines are taken for life, they touch representatives of all generations to tears, although they sound sparingly, manly, dry and businesslike.
Muscovites: Ivanov, Stepanchikov and Zhuntyaev kept a chronicle of this terrible period - with a nail on the stone, tears in the heart. Two of them died, the remaining Ivanov also knew that he did not have long, promised: “The last grenade remained. I will not surrender to the living, ”and immediately asked:“ Avenge us, comrades. ”
Among the evidence that the fortress lasted longer than eight days, there are dates on the stone: July 20, 1941 - the most distinct of them.
To comprehend the importance of heroism and stamina of the defenders of the fortress for the whole country, you just need to remember the place and date: Brest Fortress, 1941.
Memorial Creation
For the first time after occupation, representatives of the Soviet Union (official and from the people) were able to enter the territory of the fortress in 1943. Just at that time, publications of excerpts from the diaries of German soldiers and officers appeared.
Before that, Brest was a legend passed from mouth to mouth on all fronts and in the rear. In order to give events to formality, stop all kinds of fabrications (even positive ones) and capture the feat of the Brest Fortress for centuries, it was decided to re-qualify the western outpost as a memorial.
Implementation of the idea took place several decades after the end of the war - in 1971. Ruins, burnt and shelled walls - all this has become an integral element of the exhibition. Wounded buildings are unique, they make up the bulk of the certificate of courage of their defenders.
In addition, the Brest Fortress memorial over the years of peace, he gained several thematic monuments and obelisks of a later origin, which harmoniously fit into the original ensemble of the fortress-museum and emphasized the tragedy that occurred within these walls with their rigor and laconicism.
Brest Fortress in Literature
The most famous and even somewhat scandalous work about the Brest Fortress was the book by S. S. Smirnov. Having met with eyewitnesses and surviving participants in the defense of the citadel, the author decided to restore justice and whitewash the names of real heroes, who were blamed by the then government for being in German captivity.
And he succeeded, although times were not the most democratic - the middle of the 50s of the last century.
The book “Brest Fortress” helped many to return to a normal life that was not despised by their fellow citizens. Photos of some of these lucky ones were widely published in the press, names sounded on the radio. Even a cycle of radio programs dedicated to the search for defenders of the Brest stronghold was established.
The work of Smirnov became that saving thread, according to which, like a mythological heroine, other heroes emerged from the darkness of oblivion - the defenders of Brest, privates and commanders. Among them: Major Gavrilov, Commissar Fomin, Lieutenant Semenenko, Captain Zubachev.
Brest Fortress - Monument valor and glory of the people, quite tangible and material. Many mysterious legends about his fearless defenders live among the people to this day. We know them in the form of literary and musical works, sometimes we meet them in oral folk art.
And to live these legends for centuries, because the feat of the Brest Fortress is worthy of being remembered in the 21st, 22nd and subsequent centuries.