Kaliningrad Oblast (Russian: Калининградская область, romanized: Kaliningradskaya oblastʹ) is the westernmost federal subject of Russia.[7] It is a semi-exclave on the Baltic Sea within the historical Baltic region of Prussia, bordered by Poland to the south, Lithuania to the north and east, and the Baltic Sea to the west. The largest city and administrative centre is Kaliningrad. The port town of Baltiysk is Russia's only port on the Baltic Sea that remains ice-free in winter. Kaliningrad Oblast had a population of roughly one million in the 2021 Russian census.[8] It has an area of 15,125 square kilometres (5,840 sq mi).
The territory that is now Kaliningrad was formerly the northern part of East Prussia and overwhelmingly inhabited by Germans. Following the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, the Soviet Union annexed the region into the Russian SFSR. In the post-war era, the flight and expulsion of Germans left the area largely unpopulated until it was resettled by Soviet citizens, mostly ethnic Russians, who make up the area's dominant demographic today.
History
The territory of what is now the Kaliningrad Oblast used to be inhabited by the Old Prussians and other Western Balts, prior to the Teutonic conquest in the early Late Middle Ages.[9] Afterwards, it was settled extensively by Germans, with settlement initially concentrated more heavily in the west and later spreading eastward. Lithuanian settlement was particularly significant in the northeast, while Masurians and other Polish-speaking settlers were present in smaller numbers, especially in Königsberg and along the southern fringe. The Old Prussians became extinct due to Germanisation in the first half of the 18th century.[10] The Lithuanian-inhabited areas of the Teutonic State were known as Lithuania Minor, which encompassed all of modern Kaliningrad Oblast until the 18th century.[10]
n the 13th century, the Teutonic Order conquered the region and established the State of the Teutonic Order, a theocracy.[11] In 1255, on the foundations of a destroyed Sambian settlement known as Tvanksta, the Teutonic Order founded the city of Königsberg (modern Kaliningrad), naming it in honour of Ottokar II of Bohemia.[12]
20th century
World War I and II
World War I destruction in Stallupönen, modern Nesterov
In September 1914, after hostilities began between the German Empire on the one hand and France and Russia on the other, the Imperial German Army was about to seize Paris, and the French urged Russia to attack East Prussia. Nicholas II launched a major attack, resulting in a Russian victory in the Battle of Gumbinnen. The Russian army arrived at the outskirts of the city of Königsberg but did not take it and settled at Insterburg. This Russian victory and East Prussia's occupation by Russia saved Paris by forcing the Germans to send many troops to their East provinces.[38] Later, Hindenburg and Ludendorff pushed Russia back at the battle of Tannenberg, thereby liberating East Prussia from Russian troops. Yet Russian troops remained in the easternmost part of the region until early 1915.[39]
During World War II, the Hohenbruch concentration camp [de] was operated at modern Gromovo mostly interring Polish prisoners, as well as several subcamps of the Stutthof concentration camp, the Oflag 52, Oflag 60 and Dulag Luft prisoner-of-war camps,[40] and a camp interring Romani people in Königsberg (see Romani Holocaust).[41]
On 29 August 1944, Soviet troops reached the border of East Prussia. By January 1945, they had taken all of East Prussia except for the area around Königsberg. Many inhabitants fled west at this time. During the last days of the war, over two million people fled, anticipating imminent Red Army conquest, and were evacuated by sea.
Soviet annexation
Initially, at the end of World War II in 1945, the current southern border strip passed under Polish control with Polish administration organized in the towns of Gierdawy and Iławka, however, the area was eventually annexed by the Soviet Union and included within the Kaliningrad Oblast.[42]
Under the Potsdam Agreement of 1 August 1945, Königsberg became part of the Soviet Union pending the final determination of territorial borders at an anticipated peace settlement. This final determination eventually took place on 12 September 1990 when the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany was signed. The excerpt from the initial agreement pertaining to the partition of East Prussia, including the area surrounding Königsberg, is as follows (note that Königsberg is spelt "Koenigsberg" in the original document):
In the Soviet era, the city was
completely closed and, with the exception of rare visits of friendship from neighboring Poland, it was practically not visited by foreigners.
[50][51] In 1950, there were 1,165,000 inhabitants, which was only half the number of the pre-war population. The old city was not restored, and the ruins of the
Königsberg Castle were demolished in the late 1960s,
[52] on
Leonid Brezhnev's personal orders,
[52][53] despite the protests of architects, historians and residents of t
