⭐ In the context of Odesa, what role did the city primarily fulfill during the Soviet period, alongside its function as a trading port?
The provided text explicitly states that during the Soviet period, Odesa was both an important trading port and a naval base, highlighting its dual function within the Soviet system.
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⭐ Core Definition: Naval base
A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usually stay on ships but are undergoing maintenance while the ship is in port.
In the United States, the United States Department of the Navy's General Order No. 135 issued in 1911 as a formal guide to naval terminology described a naval station as "any establishment for building, manufacturing, docking, repair, supply, or training under control of the Navy. It may also include several establishments". A naval base, by contrast, was "a point from which naval operations may be conducted".
In classical antiquity a large Greek settlement existed at its location no later than the middle of the 6th century BC. It has been researched as a possible site of the ancient Greek settlement of Histria. The first chronicle mention of the Slavic settlement-port of Kotsiubijiv, which was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, dates back to 1415, when a ship was sent from here to Constantinople by sea. After the Grand Duchy lost control, the port and its surroundings became part of the domain of the Ottoman Empire in 1529, under the name Hacibey, and remained in it until the Ottomans' defeat in the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792). In 1794, a decree of the Russian empressCatherine II was issued to establish a navy harbor and trading place in Khadjibey, which was named Odessa soon after. From 1819 to 1858, Odesa was a free port. During the Soviet period, it was an important trading port and a naval base. During the 19th century, Odesa was the fourth largest city of the Russian Empire, after Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Warsaw. Its historical architecture is more Mediterranean than Russian, having been heavily influenced by French and Italian styles. Some buildings are built in a mixture of different styles, including Art Nouveau, Renaissance and Classicist.
Casablanca (/ˌkæsəˈblæŋkə/, US also /ˌkɑːsəˈblɑːŋkə/; Arabic: الدار البيضاء, romanized: ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, lit.'the White House', IPA:[adˈdaːrɫbajdˤaːʔ]) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic coast of the Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a population of about 3.22 million in the urban area, and over 4.27 million in Greater Casablanca, making it the most populous city in the Maghreb region, and the ninth-largest in the Arab world.
The port had previously been under the sovereignty of Ukraine following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and a formal partition treaty was signed by Ukraine and Russia in 1997. Portions of the port were owned by the private sector.. The port came under full Russian control when Russia occupied the Crimean peninsula in early 2014 after a highly criticized referendum known as the 2014 Crimean status referendum.
Naval base in the context of Sevastopol Naval Base
The Sevastopol Naval Base (Russian: Севастопольская военно-морская база; Ukrainian: Севастопольська військово-морська база) is a naval base located in Sevastopol, in the disputedCrimean Peninsula. The base is used by the Russian Navy, and it is the main base of the Black Sea Fleet. Internationally, the base is recognised as part of Ukrainian territory under Russian occupation.
Brest (French pronunciation:[bʁɛst]; Breton:[bʀest]) is a port city in the Finistère department, Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of a peninsula and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second largest French military port after Toulon. The city is located on the western edge of continental France. With 139,456 inhabitants (2020), Brest forms Western Brittany's largest metropolitan area (with a population of 370,000 in total), ranking third behind only Nantes and Rennes in the whole of historic Brittany, and the 25th most populous city in France (2019); moreover, Brest provides services to the one million inhabitants of Western Brittany. Although Brest is by far the largest city in Finistère, the préfecture (administrative seat) of the department is in the much smaller town of Quimper.
During the Middle Ages, the history of Brest was the history of its castle. Then Richelieu made it a military harbour in 1631. Brest grew around its arsenal until the second part of the 20th century. Heavily damaged by the Allies' bombing raids during World War II, the city centre was completely rebuilt after the war. At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, the deindustrialization of the city was followed by the development of the service sector. Nowadays, Brest is an important university town with 23,000 students. Besides a multidisciplinary university, the University of Western Brittany, Brest and its surrounding area possess several prestigious French elite schools such as École Navale (the French Naval Academy), Télécom Bretagne and the Superior National School of Advanced Techniques of Brittany (ENSTA Bretagne, formerly ENSIETA). Brest is also an important research centre, mainly focused on the sea, with among others the largest Ifremer (French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea) centre, le Cedre (Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution) and the French Polar Institute.
The "island chain" concept did not become a major theme in American foreign policy during the Cold War, but after the dissolution of the Soviet Union has remained a major focus of both American and Chinese geopolitical and military analysts to this day. For the United States, the island chain strategy is a significant part of the force projection of the U.S. military in the Far East. For the People's Republic of China (PRC), the concept is integral to its maritime security and fears of strategic encirclement by the U.S. and its allies. For both the U.S. and the PRC, the island chain strategy emphasizes the geographical and strategic importance of Taiwan.
A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a command center, training ground or proving ground. In most cases, military bases rely on outside help to operate. However, certain complex bases are able to endure on their own for long periods because they are able to provide food, drinking water, and other necessities for their inhabitants while under siege. Bases for military aviation are called air bases. Bases for military ships are called naval bases.
The Fusiliers marins (lit. "Sailor Riflemen") are specialized sailors of the Marine nationale (French Navy). The Fusiliers marins serve primarily as the Navy’s security forces, providing protection for naval vessels and naval installations on land. Created in 1856 and with a modern strength of about 1,800 personnel, the Fusiliers marins should not be confused with the larger Troupes de Marine of the Armée de terre (French Army) who are often referred to as the French ‘marines.’
