The siege of Leningrad

During World War II, German forces begin their siege of Leningrad, a major industrial center and the USSR’s second-largest city. The German armies were later joined by Finnish forces (as well as the soldiers of the Division Azul, Spanish volunteers) that advanced against Leningrad down the Karelian Isthmus.

The siege of Leningrad is a key episode in the Second World War on Soviet territory. Lasting 900 days between September 1941 and January 1944, the siege of Leningrad claimed the lives of 800,000 of the city’s inhabitants, mainly through cold and hunger.

Leningrad, formerly St. Petersburg, capital of the Russian Empire, was one of the initial targets of the German invasion of June 1941. By the end of July, German forces had cut the Moscow-Leningrad railway and were penetrating the outer belt of the fortifications around Leningrad.

The siege began officially on September 8, 1941. German armies approached Leningrad from the west and south while their Finnish allies approached to the north down the Karelian Isthmus.

The people of Leningrad began building antitank fortifications and succeeded in creating a stable defense of the city, but as a result were cut off from all access to vital resources in the Soviet interior, Moscow specifically. B y early November it had been almost completely encircled, with all its vital rail and other supply lines to the Soviet interior cut off.

According to official data, some 2.8 million people, including 400,000 children, were trapped in the city at the outset of the Siege. On January 27, 1944, Soviet forces permanently break the Leningrad siege line, ending the almost 900-day German-enforced containment of the city, which cost hundreds of thousands of Russian lives.
The siege of Leningrad

History of Berlin as a Prussia capital city

In 1244 Berlin was founded as a trading post. It was merged with Colln in 1307, into a single town for reason of power and security.

Berlin comes under the rule of the Hohenzollern dynasty, the ruling house of Brandenburg in 1415. In the beginning, Brandenburg was one of seven electoral states of the Holy Roman Empire.

There was a territory encompassing some 40,000 square kilometers and centered on the city of Berlin.

This was the heartland of the state that would later known as Prussia.

Prussia did not become a kingdom till the year 1701. Previous to that time it was governed by dukes. Its ancient inhabitants were called Borussi, from whom the country took the name of Prussia.

Frederick Wilhelm ruled Brandenburg form 1640 to 1688 and he took several steps that help chart Brandenburg’s rise to the status of a European powerhouse.

His first order of business was to increase Berlin’s safety by turning it into a garrison town encircled by fortifications with 13 bastions. He also levied a new sales tax using, the money to build new neighborhood.

In 1701, his son Freidrich III, crowned himself as Friedrich I, King in Prussia. He made Berlin a royal residence and the capital of the new state of Prussia.

The capital Berlin situated on the river Spree, a river by the way, with a very merry name. It has a splendid palace, where the king resides, a fine University, where a great many young men are educated, and several places of public amusement.

Friedrich I was succeeded by Friedrich William, who reigned until 1740. Under these rulers Berlin city became a city of increasing importance and Prussia began its rise, culminating in its dominance of Germany. 

In 1740, Freidrich II, known as Frederick the Great came to power. Berlin became, under the rule of ‘philosopher on the throne’, a center of Enlightment thinkers like Moses Mendelssohn.

On September 1806, Berlin was occupied by French troops. French occupation was uneventful, interrupted only by a minor and unsuccessful military rebellion and ending with the collapse of Napoleon’s empire.

On March 18, 1848 citizens gathered outside his place to present their demands. The soldiers who dispersed them accidentally fired two shots and the demonstration became a revolution.

In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire.
History of Berlin as a Prussia capital city