impregnable and withstand any defense.
During the First World War, during the rapid offensive of the Kaiser's army in 1915, and given the unsuccessful examples of the defense of other fortresses, the government decided to evacuate the Brest Fortress. So, the fortress did not take on the functions for which it was prepared.
On March 3, 1918, when the Bolsheviks who seized power in Russia were no longer up to the war with the Kaiser, the shameful Treaty of Brest was concluded in the White Palace of the Brest Fortress, according to which Russia lost 780 thousand square kilometers of its territory and 56 million citizens. History did not spare the White Palace. Now in its place there are only ruins of cellars.
In 1918 Poland declared its independence. The Brest Fortress also became part of the young state. The fortress housed Polish military units. On September 1, 1939, World War II began. The troops of Nazi Germany attacked Poland. On September 17, units of the 76th Infantry Regiment of the German Army captured the Brest Fortress. On September 22, 1939, the Brest Fortress was transferred to the Soviet Union.
On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the USSR. The Brest Fortress was the first to come under heavy artillery fire. However, despite a carefully developed plan, the Nazis ran into desperate resistance from the defenders of the Brest Fortress. In the Brest Fortress, water supply, ammunition and food depots were destroyed. The defenders were divided, there was no communication, there was no single command. Legends were born about the resilience and courage of Soviet soldiers that supported the morale of those who fought on the fronts of the war.