Скачать или смотреть How Königsberg Became Kaliningrad

After World War II, the city of Königsberg underwent a significant transformation due to settlements made by the Allies. Following Germany's defeat, the Allies, particularly the Soviet Union, decided to redraw national borders in Eastern Europe. Königsberg, a historic German city, was located in East Prussia, which became part of the Soviet occupation zone. Not much of the historical buildings were left as the city had undergone a British bombing and Soviet assault. In 1946, the city was renamed Kaliningrad in honor of Mikhail Kalinin, a Soviet political figure. Simultaneously, the region underwent a demographic change, as the German population was expelled, and Soviet citizens were resettled in the newly named Kaliningrad. The renaming and repopulation were part of broader post-war territorial changes and political restructuring, reflecting the Soviet Union's influence in shaping the post-war order and its strategic interests in the Baltic region. Kaliningrad remained a Russian exclave, separated from the rest of the country by newly established national borders.