The Latvian National Armed Forces, or NBS, are the armed forces of Latvia. Latvia's defense concept is based on a mobile professional rapid response force and reserve segment that can be called upon relatively fast for mobilization should the need arise. The National Armed Forces consists of Land Forces, Naval Forces, Air Force and National Guard. Its main tasks are to protect the territory of the State; participate in international military operations; and to prevent threats to national security.
The military occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany was completed on July 10, 1941, by Germany's armed forces. Initially, the territory of Latvia was under the military administration of Army Group North, but on 25 July 1941, Latvia was incorporated as Generalbezirk Lettland, subordinated to Reichskommissariat Ostland, an administrative subdivision of Nazi Germany. Anyone not racially acceptable or who opposed the German occupation, as well as those who had cooperated with the Soviet Union, was killed or sent to concentration camps in accordance with the Nazi Generalplan Ost.
After the occupation of Latvia by the USSR in June 1940, much of the previous Latvian army was disbanded and many of its soldiers and officers were arrested and imprisoned or executed. The following year Nazi Germany occupied Latvia during the offensive of Army Group North. The German Einsatzgruppen were aided by a group known as Arajs Kommando in the killing of Latvian Jews as part of the Holocaust. Latvian soldiers fought on both sides of the conflict against their will, and in 1943 180,000 Latvian men were drafted into the Latvian Legion of the Waffen-SS and other German auxiliary forces.
The 110th Rifle Division was a formation of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the course of World War II, which was formed, dissolved, and re-formed three times throughout the war.
The Baltic Military District was a military district of the Soviet armed forces in the Baltic states, formed shortly before the German invasion during World War II. After the end of the war the Kaliningrad Oblast was added to the District's control in 1946, and the territory of Estonia was transferred back to the Baltic Military District from the Leningrad Military District in 1956. The Baltic Military District was disbanded after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and reorganised into the North Western Group of Forces, which ceased to exist following the withdrawal of all Russian troops from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on 1 September 1994.
The 24th Mechanized Brigade is a mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, based at Yavoriv in the west of Ukraine.
A rifle corps was a Soviet corps-level military formation during the mid-twentieth century. Rifle corps were made up of a varying number of rifle divisions, although the allocation of three rifle divisions to a rifle corps was common during the latter part of World War II.
The 16th Rifle Division was a formation in the Red Army created during World War II. The division was formed twice, and was given the title 'Lithuanian' during its second formation.
The Baltic strategic defensive operation encompassed the operations of the Red Army from 22 June to 9 July 1941 conducted over the territories of the occupied Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in response to the offensive launched by the Wehrmacht in Operation Barbarossa.
Latvian Riflemen Soviet Divisions were military formations of the Red Army during World War II created in 1941 and consisting primarily of ethnic Latvians.
The 308th Rifle Division was a rifle division of the Soviet Red Army during World War II. The division was formed three separate times during the course of the war.
It was a division of the Red army active from 1940 to at least 1945.
The 36th Rifle Division was a division of the Red Army and then the Soviet Army. The division was formed in 1919 as the 36th Rifle Division and fought in the Russian Civil War and the Sino-Soviet conflict of 1929. In 1937 it became the 36th Motorized Division. The division fought in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol. It was converted into a motor rifle division in 1940 and fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in World War II. Postwar, it became a rifle division again before its disbandment in 1956. The division spent almost its entire service in the Soviet Far East.
The 49th Rifle Division was a Soviet Army infantry division, formed three times. First formed as a territorial division in 1931, the 49th Rifle Division's first formation became a regular division by 1939 and fought in the Winter War. For its actions during the war, it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. However, the 49th Rifle Division was wiped out during the first ten days of Operation Barbarossa. Its second formation occurred in December 1941 and fought at Stalingrad, Kursk, the Vistula-Oder Offensive and the Battle of Berlin. The second formation was disbanded in 1946. The division was reformed in 1955 by renaming the 295th Rifle Division and became the 49th Motor Rifle Division in 1957.
The 11th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army, formed twice.
Ivan Vasilievich Galanin was a Red Army lieutenant general during World War II.
The 172nd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II, formed thrice.
Alexander Stepanovich Kostitsyn was a Red Army major general killed during World War II.
The Lithuanian People's Army were short-lived armed forces of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic following the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940. The army was formed by the Act of 3 July 1940 of the People's Government of Lithuania and replaced the Lithuanian Armed Forces of independent Lithuania. According to data from 1 June 1940, the army had 28,115 persons – 26,084 soldiers, 2,031 civil servants, and with the announcement of the mobilization it was possible to call 120,400 reserve troops. The army existed until 30 August 1940 before being transformed into the 29th Rifle Corps of the Red Army. Many Lithuanian soldiers and officers were repressed by arrests or executions for their anti-Soviet attitude.
The 183rd Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army following the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states, based on the shtat of September 13, 1939 and utilizing the personnel of two divisions of the People's Army of Latvia. At the outbreak of war with Germany it was still in Latvia, part of the 24th Rifle Corps of Northwestern Front's 27th Army. It quickly lost strength, both due to combat losses and to the release of some Latvians who were believed to be politically unreliable.
