The Military Role of the Kaliningrad Region in Security Concepts of the USSR and the Russian Federation

Andrzej Paradowski Military University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland The Military Role of the Kaliningrad Region in Security Concepts of the USSR and the Russian Federation Summary Vladimir Putin’s Russia is a country with strong aspirations to rebuild its super‑ power position in the world. In this process, the Kaliningrad Region and its military strength play a significant role. At the same time, this region is an important element of the foreign policy and security of the Russian Federation, and due to its geographical location, it is a key element of Russia’s political and military influence on the Western countries. The region also plays an important economic role, and the Russian Baltic Fleet oftenarried out activities sup‑ porting the economic development of the region and the country. After the takeover of power by Vladimir Putin, the significance of Kaliningrad increased even more, and the area itself plays an important role in the New Defense Doctrine of the Russian Federation. A tendency visible for years, relating to the region, is to increase the military position of the Kaliningrad Region together with increasing aspirations of imperial power by the Kremlin. Keywords: Kaliningrad, Central‍‑Eastern Europe, European security, Western policy of the Russian Federation Russia has been directly controlling the largest part of the World for sev‑ eral hundred years. Its enormous expanses and potential for wealth, as well as the way in which authority uses these strengths, is very important in today’s glo‑ balizing world. Interest in the Russian Federation is particularly stimulating the changes that have been made in the political scene in recent years, especially now after the annexation of Crimea, the Donbas War, as well as engaging in conflicts in the Middle East. Since the time of Peter I, tsarist Russia has played the role of the World Empire, which after a revolutionary cataclysm tried to change the world to its likeness, being a superpower already. This intention failed on the threshold of the last decade of the past century. The inefficient empire collapsed and the Rus‑ sian Federation emerged in 1991. Studia Administracji i Bezpieczeństwa nr 5/2018 After the dissolution of the USSR, Russia was faced with the need to answer a number of fundamental questions, especially about its future as a state and super‑ power, about the way of the future social and economic development, and finally about their relationship towards former allies from Central and Eastern Europe. In Poland, the topic of Russia aroused many emotions, which is natural and fully understandable primarily because of the proximity of both countries and the complex history of their bilateral relations1. After 1989, Poland set a path to normalize its European status. This path leads through historical reconcilia‑ tion with Germany and uses favorable geopolitical changes in the East2. Although there are still layers of misunderstandings accumulated through the years, mutual claims of injustice and accusations, the important thing for Poland is its place it in the hierarchy of Russian interests. The conviction that friendly Polish‍‑Russian relations depend on good will and resignation from “teasing Russia” is a danger‑ ous illusion. Communist propaganda has persuaded us for decades that Russia and the Russians were the Polish allies throughout our history. Meanwhile, even a cursory analysis points to something quite different. It is difficult to find a period of good cooperation with Russiain Polish history (unless we consider the period 1944‍‑1994 as such). There has always been a conflict of interests between our countries throughout history. The invitation for Polish politicians to Moscow more often resembled a call than a proposal3. The whole Polish history of the twentieth century is the history of the invitation to Moscow and the dilemma of “To go or not to go?” Some politicians were coming back, showered with flowers, others with disgrace. What really vary them is a relationship to one’s own people. Some of them rode in the feeling that they represent their nation, their dignity and their good name, others went there on their own account and, as the history teaches, they always had to pay this bill. Russia’s foreign and security policy is constantly raising discussions and controversies in the world. It changed dramatically after the takeover of power by Władimir Putin in 2000. The President’s goal is the reconstruction of the super‑ power position of Russia from the Soviet era, mainly based on military strength. By taking advantage of the good times on oil and gas prices, the Russsian Federa‑ tion allocates enormous financial resources for reinforcement. A specific increase in activity occurred after the events of 11 September 2001 in the United States, as well as after the enlargement of the European Union and NATO. There are extremely important processes within Russia that will affect the fate of Europe A. Stępień‍‑Kuczyńska and J. Adamowski, Szkice o Rosji, Łódź–Warszawa 2000, p. 5. P. Grudziński, Polska – Rosja. Niezgoda i współpraca, Warszawa 1997, p. 51. D. Baliszewski, Prigłaszenieje in Moskwu, „Wprost”, 1 maja 2005, pp. 82‍‑84. 1 2 3 34 Andrzej Paradowski, The Military Role of the Kaliningrad Reion... and the world. The West is fascinated by Russia, but it is also fearful. It is always ready to come with help, even in the interest of its own peace. “The West refuses others, but will always help Russia”, says Professor W. Roszkowski. One of the very important elements in the reconstruction of Russia’s spur power position is to enhance the military strength of the Kaliningrad Region. Kaliningrad, which after the World War II was incorporated into the Soviet Union, played and plays a very important role in the foreign policy and security of the USSR and the Russian Federation. It is the western most part of the Russian Federation, thanks to which Russia has not only an access to the Baltic Sea with the only non‍‑freezing Russian seaport in the Baltic, but also a border with the bulk of European Union, thereby exerting a significant influence on the geopolitical situation in Europe and the entire Western world. After the Second World War, Kaliningrad was an unknown land. The Kaliningrad Region, the northern part of the former German enclave of Ostpreus‑ sen (East Prussia), by the decision of the Potsdam Conference was transferred to the Soviet Union in 1945. “In 1946, Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad in honor of Kalinin, a faithful colleague of Stalin, known to the Poles forhis acceptance of Stalin decisions to kill Polish military officers who were later assassinated in Katyń and other places”4. “The decisions to incorporate the city of Königsberg to the Soviet Union were the realization of Stalin’s direct ideas, and their unfavourable effects on peace and economic development in this part of Europe are still visible today”5. After the collapse of the Soviet Union (...truncated)