The fall of the Novogeorgievskaya fortress was one of the most serious failures of the Russian army in the entire history of the Russian Empire. On August 20, 1915, the first-class fortress, equipped with the best artillery, ammunition, fodder, fell under the onslaught of a group of opponents half as much as its own garrison. The unprecedented defeat and surrender of the fortress still causes ardent indignation in the hearts of all who are familiar with its history.
History
Until 1915, the Novogeorgievskaya Fortress lived a long and difficult life. More than once she passed from one country under the command of another, more than once she defended herself, but she never surrendered without a fight. It was built in 1807-1812. by order of Napoleon to cross the river. Vistula and was named Modlin, after the name of a nearby village. Novogeorgievskaya fortress received its Russian name only 20 years agolater, when, after the defeat of Napoleon, the Duchy of Warsaw joined Russia. Together with the new name, at the direction of Nicholas I, the fortification received a "green light" for modernization - in a short time, Modlin was expanded and received a new line of defensive forts.
Status
Updated, the Novogeorgievskaya fortress has become one of the strongest in Europe. Military engineers from different countries emphasized her youthful superiority over existing ones, comparing her with Verdun.
By 1915, the Novogeorgievskaya fortress only increased its military power. Before the start of the First World War, it was again improved, and although the work was not completed, the new fortifications made it possible to withstand blows from heavy guns, including howitzers.
For the modernization of the fortification in 1912-1914. Huge sums were spent at that time. In just two years, more than 30 million rubles were spent on the needs of the Novogeorgievskaya fortress. The year 1915 showed that the waste did not justify itself: the fortification was commissioned by order of the authorities. At the same time, the fortress was better equipped with artillery, its walls were ready to withstand a long attack, and its soldiers were distinguished by discipline and training.
Strategic importance
Novogeorgievskaya Fortress was an important strategic point. It was located at the crossing point of the Vistula River. The fortification became the main base point during the mobilization and played the role of a railway junction. The best officers were taken from the walls of the building to the war, supplies were transported through it andartillery. In addition, the fortress was perhaps the only defensive fortification on the border of the Russian Empire.
Because of its extreme importance, it has been nicknamed Land Port Arthur.
Fortress Challenge
Increased funding did not come by chance. The government has prepared for the Novogeorgievskaya fortress a difficult fate. At the direction of Minister of War Sukhomlinov, it was decided to move the western line of defense inland so that Modlin was the only outpost. The plan involved the construction of new fortresses, while the old ones were dismantled.
Europe already "smelled of gunpowder", and in Russia the construction of a new defense line was just beginning. It was decided to blow up all the old fortresses stubbornly erected by Nicholas I, and after him by Alexander II and Alexander III and their brilliant associates. The fortifications were abolished, but by a happy coincidence, not destroyed: historians are still scratching their heads whether it was sabotage by local authorities or a simple lack of funding.
Sukhomlinov's grandiose plan was not implemented - the fortresses were not built. For this, he was removed from his post and put on trial as the culprit in the defeats of the Russian army. Unfortunately, the government realized its mistake too late. German troops had already approached the borders and were preparing the siege of the Novogeorgievskaya fortress. In Modlin, everything was ready for a long defense.
Role of personality
Sometimes money alone is not enough to do great things. History has proven more than once that it is possible to defeat the enemy not only with the best weapons.and numerical advantage, but also willpower, courage and courage. A huge role in the war is played by the leadership and the decisions they make. Unfortunately, the Novogeorgievskaya fortress was poor in outstanding heroes. It was led by Nikolai Pavlovich Bobyr, a man more of a statesman than a military man, who spent his whole life on scientific expeditions and had almost no combat experience. He was probably a good scientist, but he was not able to manage the fortress with talent. There were no assistants next to him, ready to lead people to a feat. The chief of staff was N. I. Globachev, who proved himself an inept leader back in the Russo-Japanese war, and A. A. Svechin, a bureaucrat who was not familiar with military affairs.
The officers of the fortress, selected from really strong and experienced people, could compensate for the inexperience of the leadership. Unfortunately, almost all experienced soldiers were transferred from the fortress to the active army at the beginning of the war.
The morale of the Russian army
Novogeorgievskaya Fortress was not completed and fully equipped for the First World War, but this did not play a decisive role in its fall. In addition to unprepared generals, the fortification was defended by soldiers who had a very vague idea of the goals of the upcoming war. The First World War was incomprehensible to a simple Russian person, the soldiers did not see the point in the war, because nothing threatened their home and family. A simple soldier was far from politics and therefore did not want to die in fierce battles that did not make sense to him. The command was not too worried about deserter moods in the ranks of the soldiers and did not seekexplain to them the purpose of the war.
The morale of the Novogeorgievsk soldiers was hit by the death of the chief engineer of the fortress, Colonel Korotkevich, who was killed during an inspection of forward positions. There was a rumor that they killed him in order to steal documents with a plan for strengthening the fortress and the location of the batteries, and this was done by the head of defense Krenke. And although the rumor was wrong - Krenke at that moment could not be near the murdered engineer, he was not groundless. After all, the plan for the fortification of the structure really got to the enemy.
The state of the German army
The enemy was already close enough to manage to get hold of the plan of the fortress. Yes, and things with command and attitude in the German army were better than in the Russian one. The siege of the Novogeorgievskaya fortress was led by an experienced general Hans von Bezeler. He had at his disposal 45 battalions and 84 guns. The location of such a large number of people and equipment required time, and at first von Beseler moved towards the fortress with the utmost caution. But the command of Novogeorgievsk, knowing about this, did nothing.
Start of the siege
The Germans surrounded the fortress in a ring, gradually subjugating the outposts. By August 10, the enemy closed the encirclement and began shelling from heavy guns and aircraft. The defense of the Novogeorgievskaya fortress took place due to numerous fortifications around and thick fortress walls. Return fire was not fired from all the guns. The command of the fortification maintained the status quo, the defense was carried out by the soldiers themselves without instructions from their superiors.
Climax
In three daysattacks, the Germans managed to subjugate two of the thirty-three forts. The fortress held. But then ten more forts fell in a short time, and General Bobyr lost faith that the fortification could be preserved. On August 19, he made a difficult decision - to surrender the fortress. It is difficult to say what explains his act. Perhaps the general cannot be accused of treason - he was a patriot, but he was not a military man. Being an educated and learned man, but not versed in war, he decided in this way to stop further bloodshed. At night, Bobyr surrendered, was taken to von Bezeler's headquarters, where he signed the order to surrender the fortress. Before surrendering himself, Bobyr gave the last order to the garrison of the New George Cross: to gather in the square and surrender their weapons.
The pacifism of General Bobyr was not understood by soldiers and officers. Despite the fact that the order to surrender the Novogeorgievskaya fortress was signed, the blood continued to flow, and the fortification kept the defense even with a vengeance. It was headed by the most enterprising soldiers and officers. Now the war made sense for them: they defended the approaches to the borders of their country.
Solemn Surrender
On August 20, Kaiser Wilhelm II, in a solemn atmosphere, surrounded by the highest command ranks of the German army, accompanied by the Minister of War, entered Modlin. He counted on a solemn meeting and celebration, but a completely different picture appeared to his eyes: dilapidated buildings littered with the bodies of Russian and German soldiers, the corpses of horses killed by Russian soldiers so that they could not get to the enemy, and evena small fresh cemetery with the graves of the defenders - the soldiers buried the fallen fighters while they had the opportunity. Despite the heroic defense, the fate of the soldiers and officers of the Novogeorgievskaya fortress was sad: some of them died during the defense, and most were captured. The loss of prisoners in the fortress exceeded the number of prisoners during the Russo-Japanese War.
German commanders, recalling their first appearance in the fortress, noted the incredible courage of Russian soldiers.
Army losses
Together with the capture of the Novogeorgievskaya fortress, Russia lost not only the last line of defense on the borders of the empire, but also an important strategic point. Lost confidence in the authorities and military commanders. To avoid unrest, Nicholas II was forced to remove Sukhomlinov from his post and put him on trial as an indirect culprit in this situation.
In addition to the huge number of prisoners (83 thousand people were taken prisoner!), the Russian army lost a large number of soldiers killed. Along with the fortress, advanced guns, shells, provisions fell into the hands of the enemy. In total, thanks to the capture of Novogeorgievsk, the German army received more than a thousand guns.
Causes of defeat
Why did the fortress fall? To answer the question, you need to look into her history. The defeat cannot be explained by a single cause, it was a multitude of factors that arose long before the start of the siege.
Couldcan the fortress withstand the defense? It is impossible to answer this question unambiguously. But noteworthy is the fact that Novogeorgievsk continued to defend itself even after the order of General Bobyr to surrender to the enemy.
The following reasons for the fall of the fortress can be distinguished:
- Mistakes of the top leadership, the unpreparedness of the fortress for the position assigned to it - to be the only deterrent post on the outskirts of the Russian border.
- Lack of a strong command staff. General Bobyr himself surrendered the fortress to the enemy, part of the military command fled after him. Apart from the personal morale of some of the military commanders, a strong command staff could not be formed due to the constant rotation of personnel.
- Shortly before the start of the defense, several garrisons were taken from the fortress to the front, replacing them with exhausted fighters who returned from the front lines.
- The fortress was not fully completed and equipped.
- There were no lines of communication and communication between the fortress and the command headquarters, which prevented the timely supply of weapons and food.
- The soldiers at the initial stage of the defense of the fortress were disoriented and demotivated, they did not receive orders from the command and did not know when to start defending.
- The fortress ran out of ammunition! A typical problem for Russia - the lack of shells also affected the Novogeorgievskaya fortress. Because of this, it was not possible to defend for a long time.
Memory
On an August morning in 1915, the chieftelegraph station Captain Kastner received a message from the besieged Modlin. According to an eyewitness, after listening to the radiogram, Kastner, with an expression of sorrow and barely holding back tears, silently approached the map and put an end to Novogeorgievsk. It is not known who sent the telegram, but it said that the fighters could no longer fight under continuous fire, did not have time to fix the breakdowns and stopped the defense, having fulfilled their duty. At the end was a request. "Please don't forget us," the radio message said.
Unfortunately, the cross drawn by the head of the telegraph office has become symbolic for Novogeorgievsk. The defense of the fortress became a taboo subject for discussion for many decades, as if disappearing from Russian history. Even military historians preferred to bypass the tragic history of the defense of Novogeorgievsk.
The request of the fighters was not fulfilled. Only after more than a hundred years, people began to remember the tragic history of the fortress. It turned out that there is very little information about the soldiers who defended the fortress. Among the outstanding officers of the imperial army involved in the defense of the fortress, four names are named: Fedorenko, Stefanov, Ber and Berg. These names are known thanks to the story of the former tsarist and then Soviet officer V. M. Dogadin. They did not obey the commandant's order and did not surrender, but hid from the fortress and went to catch up with the far-gone Russian army. For 18 days they made their way through the rear of the Germans, covered 400 kilometers during this time, and only near Minsk they reached the location of our units.
Today, the preserved part of the fortress is a memorialcomplex located in Nowy Dwur Mazowiecki (Poland).
A certain contribution to the restoration of historical justice and historical memory of the Modlin fortress is made by relatives of soldiers and officers who served in the Novogeorgievskaya fortress. Fyodor Vorobyov is one of the servicemen whose relatives, looking for information about their family, are helping to restore information about the heroic and tragic pages of Russian history.
