As we all know, after World War II, the world formed a Cold War pattern dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union. The expansion of their global interests, coupled with the confrontation of social systems and ideologies, led to the division of many countries into two camps after World War II. For example, the Korean Peninsula now, or China from 1945 to 1949.
Even Japan was almost divided into two countries by the United States and the Soviet Union, but because the United States unilaterally supported Japan and refused the Soviet Invasion of Hokkaido under the threat of dropping atomic bombs, it eventually prevented the emergence of the two camps on Japanese territory.
But Germany, also a fascist Axis, did not have such good luck, and in view of the trauma they inflicted on the Soviet Union in the Soviet-German war, even if the United States still threatened the Soviet Union with atomic bombs, the Soviets had to desperately get a piece of it. In the end, Germany was occupied by Britain, the United States, France and the Soviet Union. As the interests of these four countries in Germany were tugged, they eventually split into East and West Germany.
In order to strengthen control over East German territory, Stalin even sent 35,000 elite troops to Germany that year. As a result, Germany has become a bridgehead for the two camps to wrestle with each other under the Cold War.
According to the situation of that year, if the United States and the Soviet Union were to go to war, Germany would surely bear the brunt of it and become the most fierce main battlefield in Europe. Therefore, in order to prepare for the rainy day, both countries frantically built military fortifications and stationed additional troops in Germany during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall is the best example, while the Soviet garrison in Germany, which was 35,000 after World War II, had soared to 338,000 by the 1980s.
In addition to this, the Soviet Union built 777 barracks, 47 airfields and 116 training grounds in Germany. About 4,200 tanks, 8,200 armored vehicles, 3,600 artillery pieces, and 1,370 aircraft were laid out. It is no exaggeration to say that these military deployments could almost conquer two countries the size of Germany.
However, although the suffocation of the war lasted for half a century, the war was not fought. Finally, on December 25, 1991, the collapse of the Soviet Union was announced as the complete collapse of the Cold War.
Although the Collapse of the Soviet Union was in 1991, the upheavals in Eastern Europe began as early as 1989. The same is true in Germany, where in October 1989 large-scale demonstrations began in many German cities, with the sole purpose of hoping for German reunification.
Then, on the 18th of that month, East German President Honecker announced his resignation. Half a month later, the Berlin Wall collapsed. By 24 September 1990, East Germany had completely withdrawn from Warsaw and the two germanys were officially reunified.
Since the confrontation was finally won by West Germany, the situation of the 300,000 Soviet troops stationed in Germany that year was extremely embarrassing. At the end of 1989, they received orders from the Soviet Union to withdraw from Germany in batches.
Logically, the withdrawal of 300,000 elite troops is at most half a year. But at that time, the Soviet Union was on the eve of its collapse, and the domestic political situation was in turmoil and there was a shortage of materials. As a result, even if the 300,000 Soviet troops in Germany retreated, there was no place to resettle in the country. As a result, the withdrawal was repeatedly delayed, and these Soviet troops had to wander on the German road to the Soviet Union.
It was not until 1994 that the stalemate had been held for a full 5 years. Germany eventually decided to spend $11 billion to help resettle the Soviet troops, so they were able to return to their haunted hometowns.
However, the home is still that home, but the motherland is not the motherland. The Soviet Union had been broken up for three years in 1994, and the 300,000 soldiers were dazed in the face of this strange Russian Federation.
In fact, this phenomenon did not only occur in the Soviet army stationed in Germany. There was also a Soviet astronaut named Krikalev, who flew to the space station for a one-year mission in the first half of 1991.
As a result, a year later, because of the collapse of the Soviet Union, no one took him down. In this way, he has been wandering in space for a whole year before he was finally rescued. And when he landed again, the Soviet Union under his feet had ceased to exist.