This auxiliary party militia was 210,000 strong and can be mobilized rapidly in case of war, along with three mobilization divisions and two reserve divisions in D+2. The East German Army (Nationale Volksarmee or NVA) indeed, established in 1956 was disbanded in 1990, but still strong of 767 aircraft (helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft of which 24 were MiG-29s), 208 ships, 2,761 tanks, 133,900 wheeled vehicles, and 2,199 artillery pieces among others.Ī Compulsory service 18 of month had been established in 1961, and faithful to the Soviet tactics of the time, relied on large numbers of these conscripts for operations, among these the Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse (militia of workers) that a bit like a reserve army received little training in a regular basis after being draft in compulsory service. Due to NATO standard, most have been simply put in storage pending scrapping, but some vehicles were kept only for local security purposes pending replacement. Integration of the NVAĪs a side note for what we are concerned for, the Bundeswehr inherited large stockpiles of obsolete/worn-out soviet or locally-built armored vehicles.
Economically, East Germany was in shambles, and Bonn saw rapidly the “cost” of the whole “operation” of reunification not in a pleasing way. However, the reunion of 1/3 of the territory and people was just one side of the problem.
The wall was erected in 1961, and only the peaceful Revolution 13 October 1989, followed by a final Settlement on 12 September 1990 and reunification 3 October 1990 ended this still very vivid and utterly sensitive part of the German memory and one of the most compelling situations provoked by the iron curtain and the cold war. BMP-1A1 Ost and BMP-1 in Reunified German ServiceĪ source of immense relief in particular for the Berliners and separated families was the reunification that followed the destruction of the infamous wall and the dissolution of the GDR.
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