The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War (Polish Polish is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions. Polish-speakers use the language in a uniform manner throughout most of Poland: Kampania wrześniowa or Wojna obronna 1939 roku) in Poland The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland , officially known as the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska), was the independent Polish state that existed between the two world wars: from the creation of an independent Poland in the aftermath of World War I, to the invasion of Poland in 1939 by Nazi and the Poland Campaign (German German (Deutsch, [ˈdɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Globally, German is spoken by approximately 120 million native speakers and also by about 80 million non-native speakers: Polenfeldzug) in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the government of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party , from 1933 to 1945. Third Reich (German: Drittes Reich) denotes the Nazi state as the historical successor to the mediæval Holy Roman Empire (962–1806) and to the modern German Empire (1, the Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (help·info), tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, IPA [sɐˈjʊs sɐˈvʲeʦkʲɪx səʦɪ, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II Albania · Australia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Brazil · Bulgaria · Burma · Cambodia · Canada · Ceylon (Sri Lanka) · Channel Islands · China · Czechoslovakia · Denmark · Dutch East Indies · Egypt · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Greenland · Hong Kong · Hungary · Iceland ·. The invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and ended 6 October 1939 with Germany and the Soviet Union dividing and annexing the whole of Poland.

The day after the Gleiwitz incident The Gleiwitz incident was a staged attack by Nazi forces posing as Poles on 31 August 1939, against the German radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Germany on the eve of World War II in Europe, German forces invaded Poland from the north, south, and west. As the Germans advanced, Polish forces withdrew from their forward bases of operation close to the Polish-German border to more established lines of defence to the east. After the mid-September Polish defeat in the Battle of the Bzura The Battle of the Bzura was a battle in the opening campaign of World War II during the 1939 German Invasion of Poland, fought between 9 and 19 September, 1939, between Polish and German forces. Finally, the Germans outflanked the Polish forces and took all the west Poland, the Germans gained an undisputed advantage. Polish forces then withdrew to the southeast where they prepared for a long defence of the Romanian Bridgehead The Romanian Bridgehead was an area in southeastern Poland, now located in Ukraine. During the Polish Defensive War of 1939 (at the start of World War II), on September 14 the Polish Commander in Chief Marshal of Poland Edward Rydz-Śmigły ordered all Polish troops fighting east of the Vistula (approximately 20 divisions still retaining cohesion) and awaited expected French France (pronounced /ˈfrænts/ frantss or /ˈfrɑːnts/ frahnts; French pronunciation (help·info): [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française, pronounced: [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a state in Western Europe with several of its overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, and British The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land support and relief.[13]

The Soviet Red Army The Red Army (Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия, Raboche-Krest'yanskaya Krasnaya Armiya; RKKA was started out as the Soviet Union’s revolutionary militia beginning in the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest's invasion The 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland was a Soviet military operation that started without a formal declaration of war on 17 September 1939, during the early stages of World War II. Sixteen days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west, the Soviet Union did so from the east. The invasion ended on 6 October 1939 with the division and annexing of the Kresy The Polish term Kresy, meaning "Outskirts" or "Borderlands", was used to define the Polish eastern frontier. Polish name of today's western territories Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania, which once belonged to Poland. The term refers to the eastern frontiers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the period of the Second on 17 September, in accordance with a secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, rendered the Polish plan of defence obsolete.[14] Facing a second front, the Polish government concluded the defence of the Romanian Bridgehead was no longer feasible and ordered an emergency evacuation of all troops to neutral Romania Romania (pronounced /roʊˈmeɪniə/ roe-MAY-nee-ə; dated: Rumania, Roumania; Romanian: România [romɨˈni.a] ( listen)) is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, north of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta.[15] On 6 October, following the Polish defeat at the Battle of Kock The Battle of Kock, was the final battle in the Invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II. It took place between 2 October and 5 October, 1939, near the town of Kock, in Poland, German and Soviet Union forces gained full control over Poland. The success of the invasion marked the end of the Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland , officially known as the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska), was the independent Polish state that existed between the two world wars: from the creation of an independent Poland in the aftermath of World War I, to the invasion of Poland in 1939 by Nazi, though Poland never formally surrendered.

On 8 October, Germany directly annexed At the beginning of World War II, nearly a quarter of the pre-war Polish areas were annexed by Nazi Germany and placed under German civil administration. The annexation was part of the "fourth" partition of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, outlined months before in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact western Poland and the former Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous Baltic Sea port and city-state that was created on 10 January 1920, against the wishes of the local population but in accordance with the terms of Part III, Section XI of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. The Free City included the city of Danzig and over two hundred nearby towns, villages, and and placed the remaining block of territory under administration of the newly established General Government The General Government refers to a part of the territories of Poland under German military occupation during World War II and that were a separate part of "Greater Germany". In August 1941, former Polish voivodeships (districts) of Eastern Galicia (with a majority of Ukrainians), were added to the General Government by decree of Adolf. The Soviet Union immediately started a campaign of sovietization A notable wave of Sovietization occurred during and after World War II in Eastern Europe. In a broad sense, this included (mostly not voluntary) adoption of Soviet-like institutions, laws, customs, traditions and the Soviet way of life, both on a national level and in smaller communities. This was usually promoted and speeded up by propaganda of the newly acquired areas. This included staged elections, the results of which were used to legitimize the Soviet Union's annexation of eastern Poland. In the aftermath of the invasion, a collective of underground resistance organizations The Polish resistance movement fought against the occupation of Poland during World War II. The fight against the Nazi occupation of Poland was an important part of the European anti-fascist resistance movement and had the largest partisan army in occupied Europe. It is most notable for disrupting German supply lines to the Eastern Front, formed the Polish Underground State The Polish Underground State is a collective term for the underground resistance organizations in Poland, both military and civilian, that remained loyal to the Polish Government in Exile in London during World War II. The Underground State was perceived by supporters as a legal continuation of the pre-war Republic of Poland (and its institutions) within the territory of the former Polish state. Many of the military exiles that managed to escape Poland subsequently joined the Polish Armed Forces in the West, an armed force loyal to the Polish government in exile The Polish government-in-exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union at the start of World War II (September and October 1939). Thereafter, for the remainder of the war, it commanded Polish armed forces operating outside Poland.

Contents

Prelude to the campaign

Main article: Causes of World War II The basic causes of World War II were the nationalistic tensions, unresolved issues, and resentments resulting from the First World War and the interwar period in Europe, plus the effects of the Great Depression in the 1930s. The culmination of events that led to the outbreak of war are generally understood to be the 1939 invasion of Poland by

In 1933, the National-Socialist German Workers' Party The National Socialist German Workers' Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei , abbreviated NSDAP), commonly known in English as the Nazi Party (from the Ger. pronunciation of Nationalsozialist), was a political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945. It was known as the German Workers' Party (DAP) prior to a change of name, under their leader Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated NSDAP), commonly known as the Nazi Party. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and, after 1934, also head of state as Führer und Reichskanzler, ruling the, came to power in Germany A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, has been known and documented before AD 100. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. During the 16th century, northern Germany became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. As a modern nation-state,. Germany sought to gain hegemony Hegemony is the political, economic, ideological or cultural power exerted by a dominant group over other groups, regardless of the explicit consent of the latter. While initially referring to the political dominance of certain ancient Greek city-states over their neighbors, the term has come to be used in a variety of other contexts, in in Europe, and to take over Soviet Union territory, acquiring "Living Space" (Lebensraum Lebensraum (German for "habitat" or literally "living space") was one of the major political ideas of Adolf Hitler, and an important component of Nazi ideology. It served as the motivation for the expansionist policies of Nazi Germany, aiming to provide extra space for the growth of the German population, for a Greater Germany) and expanding "Greater Germany" (Großdeutschland Großdeutschland is a term referring to the concept of one German nation-state encompassing most or all of the Germanophone and/or Germanic population of Europe), to be eventually surrounded by a ring of allied states, satellite A satellite state is a political term that refers to a country that is formally independent, but under heavy influence or control by another country. The term was coined by analogy to stellar objects orbiting a larger object, such as smaller moons revolving around larger planets, and is used mainly to refer to Central and Eastern European or puppet states The term puppet state describes a nominal sovereignty controlled effectively by a foreign power. The term refers to a government controlled by the government of another country like a puppeteer controls the strings of a marionette. A puppet state has also been described as an entity which in fact lacks independence, preserves all the external.[16] As part of this long term policy, at first, Hitler pursued a policy A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol. Whereas a policy will contain the 'what' and the 'why', procedures or protocols contain the 'what', the 'how', the ' of rapprochement In international relations a rapprochement, which comes from the French word rapprocher , is a re-establishment of cordial relations, as between two countries. In the political scene of an individual country rapprochement means the bringing together of diverse political factions as, for example, during metapolitefsi in Greece. It is often used to with Poland, trying to improve German–Polish relations, culminating in the German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact of 1934.[17] Earlier, Hitler's foreign policy worked to weaken the ties between Poland and France, and to manoeuvre Poland into the Anti-Comintern Pact The Anti-Comintern Pact was concluded between Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan on November 25, 1936 and was directed against the Communist International (Comintern) in general, and the Soviet Union in particular, forming a cooperative front against the Soviet Union.[17][18] Poland would be granted territory of its own, to its northeast, but the concessions the Poles were expected to make meant that their homeland would become largely dependent on Germany, functioning as little more than a client state. The Poles feared that their independence would eventually be threatened altogether.[18]

In addition to Soviet territory, the National-Socialists were also interested in establishing a new border with Poland because the German exclave In political geography, an enclave is a territory whose geographical boundaries lie entirely within the boundaries of another territory of East Prussia East Prussia (German: Ostpreußen, pronounced [ˈɔstˌpʁɔʏsən] ; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Lithuanian: Rytų Prūsija or Rytprūsiai; Russian: Восточная Пруссия or Vostochnaya Prussiya) is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945 was separated from the rest of the Reich by the "Polish Corridor The Polish Corridor was a territory located in the region of Pomerelia (Pomeranian Voivodeship, eastern Pomerania, formerly part of West Prussia) which provided the Second Republic of Poland (1920–1939) with access to the Baltic Sea, thus dividing the bulk of Germany from the province of East Prussia. A similar territory, also occasionally". The Corridor constituted land long disputed by Poland and Germany, and inhabited by both groups. The Corridor became a part of Poland after the Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of World War I were dealt with in separate treaties. Many Germans also wanted the city of Danzig Gdańsk , is a city on the Baltic coast in northern Poland, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area and its environs (together the Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous Baltic Sea port and city-state that was created on 10 January 1920, against the wishes of the local population but in accordance with the terms of Part III, Section XI of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. The Free City included the city of Danzig and over two hundred nearby towns, villages, and) to be reincorporated into Germany. Danzig was an important port city with more than 95% of the population German speakers[19]. It had been separated from Germany after Versailles and made into a nominally independent Free City of Danzig. Hitler sought to reverse these territorial losses, and on many occasions made an appeal to German nationalism Nationalism involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. Often, it is the belief that an ethnic group has a right to statehood, or that citizenship in a state should be limited to one ethnic group, or that multinationality in a single state should necessarily comprise, promising to "liberate" the German minority The registered German minority in Poland consists of 152,900 people according to a 2002 census. still in the Corridor, as well as Danzig.[20]

Poland participated in the partition of Czechoslovakia Following the Anschluss of Nazi Germany and Austria in March 1938, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's next ambition was annexation of Czechoslovakia. His pretext was the alleged privations suffered by ethnic German populations living in Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland. Their incorporation into that followed the Munich Agreement The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without the presence of Czechoslovakia. Today, it is widely, although they were not part of the agreement. It coerced Czechoslovakia to surrender the city of Český Těšín by issuing an ultimatum to that effect on 30 September 1938, which was accepted by Czechoslovakia on 1 October.[21]

By 1937, Germany began to increase its demands for Danzig, while proposing that a roadway be built in order to connect East Prussia with Germany proper, running through the Polish Corridor.[22] Poland rejected this proposal, fearing that after accepting these demands, it would become increasingly subject to the will of Germany and eventually lose its independence as the Czechs had.[23] Polish leaders also distrusted Hitler[23] Furthermore, Germany's collaboration with anti-Polish Ukrainian nationalists from the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, which was seen as an effort to isolate and weaken Poland, weakened Hitler's credibility from the Polish point of view. The British were also aware of the situation between Germany and Poland. On 31 March, Poland was backed by a guarantee from Britain The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land and France France (pronounced /ˈfrænts/ frantss or /ˈfrɑːnts/ frahnts; French pronunciation (help·info): [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française, pronounced: [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a state in Western Europe with several of its overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, which stated that Polish territorial integrity would be defended with their support. On the other hand, British Prime Minister A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician. In many systems, the prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the Government. In Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany. When and his Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax, still hoped to strike a deal with Hitler regarding Danzig (and possibly the Polish Corridor), and Hitler hoped for the same. Chamberlain and his supporters believed war could be avoided and hoped Germany would agree to leave the rest of Poland alone. German hegemony over Central Europe was also at stake.

With tensions mounting, Germany turned to aggressive diplomacy as well. On 28 April 1939, it unilaterally withdrew from both the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact of 1934 and the London Naval Agreement of 1935. Nevertheless, talks over Danzig and the Corridor broke down and months passed without diplomatic interaction between Germany and Poland. During this interim, the Germans learned that France and Britain had failed to secure an alliance with the Soviet Union against Germany and the Soviet Union was interested in an alliance with Germany against Poland. Hitler had already issued orders to prepare for a possible "solution of the Polish problem by military means" - a Case White scenario.

Vyacheslav Molotov signs the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a German–Soviet non-aggression pact.

However, with the surprise signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on 23 August, the denouement of secret Nazi-Soviet talks held in Moscow, Germany neutralized the possibility of Soviet opposition to a campaign against Poland and war became imminent. In fact, the Soviets agreed to aid Germany in the event of France or the United Kingdom going to war with Germany over Poland and, in a secret protocol of the pact, the Germans and the Soviets agreed to divide Eastern Europe, including Poland, into two spheres of influence; the western third of the country was to go to Germany and the eastern two-thirds to the Soviet Union.

According to the Armenian quote, on 22 August 1939, the day before the signing of the pact, Hitler gathered the Wehrmacht generals and explained his view of the upcoming war:

Our strength is our speed and our brutality. Genghis Khan chased millions of women and children to death, consciously and with a happy heart. History sees him only as a great founder of states. It is of no concern, what the weak Western European civilisation is saying about me. I issued the command - and I will have everybody executed, who will only utter a single word of criticism - that it is not the aim of the war to reach particular lines, but to physically annihilate the enemy. Therefore I have mobilised my Skull Squads, for the time being only in the East, with the command to unpityingly and mercilessly send men, women and children of Polish descent and language to death. This is the only way to gain the Lebensraum, which we need. Who is still talking today about the extinction of the Armenians?"[24]

The German assault was originally scheduled to begin at 04:00 on 26 August. However, on 25 August the Polish-British Common Defence Pact was signed as an annex to the Franco-Polish Military Alliance. In this accord, Britain committed itself to the defence of Poland, guaranteeing to preserve Polish independence. At the same time, the British and the Poles were hinting to Berlin that they were willing to resume discussions – not at all how Hitler hoped to frame the conflict. Thus, he wavered and postponed his attack until 1 September, managing to in effect halt the entire invasion "in mid-leap".

However, there was one exception: in the night of 25/26 August, a German sabotage group which had not heard anything about a delay of the invasion made an attack on the Jablunkov Pass and Mosty railway station in Silesia. In the morning of 26 August this group was repelled by Polish troops. The German side described all this as an incident "caused by an insane individual".(see Jabłonków Incident)

Planned and actual divisions of Poland, according to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, with later adjustments

On 26 August Hitler tried to dissuade the British and the French from interfering in the upcoming conflict, even pledging that the Wehrmacht forces would be made available to Britain's empire in the future.[25] The negotiations convinced Hitler that there was little chance the Western Allies would declare war on Germany, and even if they did, because of the lack of territorial guarantees to Poland, they would be willing to negotiate a compromise favourable to Germany after its conquest of Poland. Meanwhile, the number of increased overflights by high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft and cross border troop movements signalled that war was imminent.

On 29 August prompted by the British, Germany issued one last diplomatic offer, with Case White yet to be rescheduled. At midnight on 29 August German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop handed British Ambassador Sir Neville Henderson the list of terms which would allegedly ensure peace in regards to Poland. Danzig was to be returned to Germany (Gdynia would remain with Poland), and there was to be a plebiscite in the Polish Corridor, based on residency in 1919, within the year.[26] An exchange of minority populations between the two countries was proposed.[27] A Polish plenipotentiary was to arrive in Berlin and accept these terms by noon the next day.[27] The British Cabinet viewed the terms as "reasonable", except the demand for the urgent plenipotentiary as a form of an ultimatum.[28] When Polish Ambassador Lipski went to see Ribbentrop on 30 August he announced that he did not have the full power to sign, and Ribbentrop dismissed him. It was then broadcast that Poland had rejected Germany's offer, and negotiations with Poland came to an end.[29]

On 29 August German saboteurs planted a bomb at the railway station in Tarnów on 29 August, and killed 21 passengers, leaving 35 wounded.

On 30 August the Polish Navy sent its destroyer flotilla to Britain, executing Operation Peking. On the same day, Marshal of Poland Edward Rydz-Śmigły announced the mobilization of Polish troops. However, he was pressured into revoking the order by the French, who apparently still hoped for a diplomatic settlement, failing to realize that the Germans were fully mobilized and concentrated at the Polish border.[30] During the night of 31 August the Gleiwitz incident, a false flag attack on the radio station, was staged near the border city of Gleiwitz by German units posing as Polish troops, in Upper Silesia as part of the wider Operation Himmler.[31] On 31 August 1939, Hitler ordered hostilities against Poland to start at 4:45 the next morning. Because of the prior stoppage, Poland managed to mobilize only 70% of its planned forces, and many units were still forming or moving to their designated frontline positions.

Opposing forces

See also: Opposing forces in the Polish September Campaign, Soviet order of battle for invasion of Poland in 1939, and Slovak invasion of Poland

Poland was attacked by German, Slovak and Russian forces.

Germany

Germany had a substantial numerical advantage over Poland and had developed a significant military prior to the conflict. The Heer (army) had some 2,400 tanks organized into six panzer divisions, utilizing a new operational doctrine. It held that these divisions should act in coordination with other elements of the military, punching holes in the enemy line and isolating selected units, which would be encircled and destroyed. This would be followed up by less-mobile mechanized infantry and foot soldiers. The Luftwaffe (air force) provided both tactical and strategic air power, particularly dive bombers that disrupted lines of supply and communications. Together, the so-called "new" methods, were nicknamed "Blitzkrieg" (lightning war). Historian Basil Liddell Hart claimed "Poland was a full demonstration of the Blitzkrieg theory."[32] Other historians, however, disagree.[33]

Aircraft played a major role in the campaign. Bombers also attacked cities, causing huge losses amongst the civilian population through terror bombing. The Luftwaffe forces consisted of 1,180 fighter aircraft: 290 Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers, 1,100 conventional bombers (mainly He 111s and Dornier Do 17s), and an assortment of 550 transport and 350 reconnaissance aircraft.[34][35] In total, Germany had close to 4,000 aircraft, most of them modern. A force of 2,315 aircraft were assigned to Weiss.[36] Due to its prior participation in the Spanish Civil War, the Luftwaffe was probably the most experienced, best trained and best equipped air force in the world in 1939.[37]

Poland

Polish Infantry

Between 1936 and 1939, Poland invested heavily in the Central Industrial Region. Preparations for a defensive war with Germany were ongoing for many years, but most plans assumed fighting would not begin before 1942. To raise funds for industrial development, Poland sold much of the modern equipment it produced.[38] In 1936, a National Defence Fund was set up to collect funds necessary for strengthening the Polish Armed forces. The Polish Army had approximately a million soldiers, but less than half of them were mobilized by 1 September. Latecomers sustained significant casualties when public transport became targets of the Luftwaffe. The Polish military had fewer armoured forces than the Germans, and these units, dispersed within the infantry, were unable to effectively engage the enemy.[39]

Experiences in the Polish-Soviet War shaped Polish Army organizational and operational doctrine. Unlike the trench warfare of the First World War, the Polish-Soviet War was a conflict in which the cavalry's mobility played a decisive role. .[40] Poland acknowledged the benefits of mobility but was unable to invest heavily in many of the expensive, unproven inventions since then. In spite of this, Polish cavalry brigades were used as a mobile mounted infantry and had some successes against both German infantry and cavalry.[41]

Polish PZL.37 Łoś medium bomber

The Polish Air Force (Lotnictwo Wojskowe) was at a severe disadvantage against the German Luftwaffe, although it was not destroyed on the ground early on, as is commonly believed. The Polish Air Force lacked modern fighter aircraft, but its pilots were among the world's best trained, as proven a year later in the Battle of Britain, in which the Poles played a major part.[42]

Overall, the Germans enjoyed numerical and qualitative aircraft superiority. Poland had only about 600 modern aircraft. The Polish Air Force had roughly 185 PZL P.11 and some 95 PZL P.7 fighters, 175 PZL.23 Karaś B, 35 Karaś A, and by September, over 100 PZL.37 Łoś were produced.[Note 5] There were also over a thousand obsolete transport, reconnaissance and training aircraft. However, for the September Campaign, only some 70% of those aircraft were mobilized. Only 36 PZL.37 Łoś bombers were deployed. All those aircraft were of indigenous Polish design, with the bombers being more modern than fighters, according to the Ludomił Rayski air force expansion plan, which relied on a strong bomber force. The Polish fighters were a generation older than their German counterparts. The Polish PZL P.11 fighter, produced in the early 1930s, was capable of only 365 km/h (approximately 220 mi/h), far less than German bombers; to compensate, the pilots relied on its manoeuvrability and high diving speed.[44]

Polish 7TP light tank

The tank force consisted of two armoured brigades, four independent tank battalions and some 30 companies of TKS tankettes attached to infantry divisions and cavalry brigades. [45] A standard tank of the Polish Army during the Polish Defensive War of 1939 was 7TP light tank. It was the first tank in the world with diesel engine and 360-degree Gundlach periscope.[46]. 7TP was significantly better armed than its most common opponents, the German Panzer I and Panzer II but only 140 tanks were produced between 1935 and the outbreak of the war. Poland had also a few relatively modern imported designs, such as 50 Renault R35 tanks and 38 Vickers E tanks.

The Polish Navy was a small fleet of destroyers, submarines and smaller support vessels. Most Polish surface units followed Operation Peking, leaving Polish ports on 20 August and escaping by way of the North Sea to join with the British Royal Navy. Submarine forces participated in Operation Worek, with the goal of engaging and damaging German shipping in the Baltic Sea, but they had much less success. In addition, many merchant marine ships joined the British merchant fleet and took part in wartime convoys.

Details of the campaign

German plan

Dispositions of the opposing forces on 31 August 1939 with the German plan of attack overlayed.

The German plan for what became known as the September Campaign was devised by General Franz Halder, chief of the general staff, and directed by General Walther von Brauchitsch, the commander in chief of the upcoming campaign. It called for the start of hostilities before a declaration of war, and pursued a doctrine of mass encirclement and destruction of enemy forces. The infantry – far from completely mechanized but fitted with fast moving artillery and logistic support – was to be supported by German tanks and small numbers of truck-mounted infantry (the Schützen regiments, forerunners of the panzergrenadiers) to assist the rapid movement of troops and concentrate on localized parts of the enemy front, eventually isolating segments of the enemy, surrounding, and destroying them. The pre-war armored idea (which an American journalist in 1939 dubbed Blitzkrieg), which was advocated by some generals, including Heinz Guderian, would have had the armor punching holes in the enemy's front and ranging deep into rear areas, but in actuality, the campaign in Poland would be fought along more traditional lines. This stemmed from conservatism on the part of the German high command, who mainly restricted the role of armor and mechanized forces to supporting the conventional infantry divisions.

Poland's terrain was well suited for mobile operations when the weather cooperated – the country had flat plains with long frontiers totalling almost 5,600 kilometres (3,500 mi), Poland's long border with Germany on the west and north (facing East Prussia) extended 2,000 kilometres (1,250 mi). Those had been lengthened by another 300 kilometres (180 mi) on the southern side in the aftermath of the Munich Agreement of 1938; the German incorporation of Bohemia and Moravia and creation of the German puppet state of Slovakia meant that Poland's southern flank was exposed.

German planners intended to fully exploit their long border with the great enveloping manoeuvre of Fall Weiss. German units were to invade Poland from three directions:

All three assaults were to converge on Warsaw, while the main Polish army was to be encircled and destroyed west of the Vistula. Fall Weiss was initiated on 1 September 1939, and was the first operation of the Second World War in Europe.

Polish defence plan

Deployment of German and Polish divisions immediately before the German invasion.

The Polish political determination to deploy forces directly at the German-Polish border, based on the British Government's promise to come to Poland's aid in the event of invasion, shaped the country's defence plan, Plan West. Poland's most valuable natural resources, industry and population were located along the western border in Eastern Upper Silesia. Polish policy centred on their protection especially since many politicians feared that if Poland were to retreat from the regions disputed by Germany, Britain and France would sign a separate peace treaty with Germany similar to the Munich Agreement of 1938.[47] The fact that none of Poland's allies had specifically guaranteed Polish borders or territorial integrity certainly did not help in easing Polish concerns. For these reasons, Poland disregarded French advice to deploy the bulk of their forces behind the natural barriers such as the Vistula and San rivers, even though some Polish generals supported it as a better strategy. The West Plan did permit the Polish armies to retreat inside the country, but it was supposed to be a slow retreat behind prepared positions and was intended to give the armed forces time to complete its mobilization and execute a general counteroffensive with the support of the Western Allies.[48]

A camouflaged Polish P-11 fighter at a combat airfield

The British and French estimated that Poland should be able to defend itself for two to three months, while Poland estimated it could do so for at least six months. Poland drafted its estimates based upon the expectation that the Western Allies honor their treaty obligations and quickly start an offensive of their own. In addition, the French and British expected the war to develop into trench warfare much like World War I. The Polish government was not notified of this strategy and based all of its defence plans on promises of quick relief by their Western allies.[49][50]

Polish forces were stretched thinly along the Polish-German border and lacked compact defence lines and good defence positions along disadvantageous terrain. This strategy also left supply lines poorly protected. Approximately one-third of Poland's forces were concentrated in or near the Polish Corridor, leaving them perilously exposed to a double envelopment from East Prussia and the west. Another third were massed in the north-central part of the country, between the major cities of Łódź and Warsaw.[51] The Poles' forward concentration largely forfeited their chance of fighting a series of delaying actions since their army, unlike some of Germany's, traveled largely on foot and lacked the ability to retreat to their defensive positions before being overrun by German mechanized formations.[52]

Peking Plan: Polish destroyers evacuate the Baltic Sea on route to the United Kingdom.

As the prospect of conflict increased, the British government pressed Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły, to evacuate the most modern elements of the Polish Navy from the Baltic Sea.[53] In the event of war the Polish military leaders realized that the ships which remained in the Baltic were likely to be quickly sunk by the Germans. Furthermore, the Danish straits were well within operating range of the German Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe, so there was little chance of an evacuation plan succeeding if implemented after hostilities began. Four days after the signing of the Polish-British Common Defence Pact, three destroyers of the Polish Navy executed the Peking Plan and consequently evacuate to Great Britain.[53]

Although the Polish military had prepared for conflict, the civilian population remained largely unprepared. Polish pre-war propaganda emphasized that that any German invasion would be easily repelled. Consequently, Polish defeats during the German invasion came as a shock to the civilian population, who were largely unprepared.[52] Lacking training for such a disaster the civilian population panicked and retreated east, spreading chaos, lowering troop morale and making road transportation for Polish troops very difficult.[52]

Phase 1: German invasion

Map showing the advance made by the Germans, and the disposition of all troops on 14 September

Following several German-staged incidents (like the Gleiwitz incident, a part of Operation Himmler), which German propaganda used as an excuse to claim that German forces were acting in self-defence, the first regular act of war took place on 1 September 1939, at 04:40, when the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) attacked the Polish town of Wieluń, destroying 75% of the city and killing close to 1,200 people, most of them civilians. This invasion subsequently began the Second World War. Five minutes later, the old German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish military transit depot at Westerplatte in the Free City of Danzig on the Baltic Sea. At 08:00, German troops, still without a formal declaration of war issued, attacked near the Polish town of Mokra. The Battle of the Border had begun. Later that day, the Germans attacked on Poland's western, southern and northern borders, while German aircraft began raids on Polish cities. The main axes of attack led eastwards from Germany proper through the western Polish border. Supporting attacks came from East Prussia in the north, and a co-operative German-Slovak tertiary attack by units (Field Army "Bernolák") from German-allied Slovakia in the south. All three assaults converged on the Polish capital of Warsaw.

The city of Wieluń destroyed by Luftwaffe bombing

The Allied governments declared war on Germany on 3 September; however, they failed to provide any meaningful support. The German-French border saw only a few minor skirmishes, although the majority of German forces, including eighty-five percent of their armoured forces, were engaged in Poland. Despite some Polish successes in minor border battles, German technical, operational and numerical superiority forced the Polish armies to retreat from the borders towards Warsaw and Lwów. The Luftwaffe gained air superiority early in the campaign. By destroying communications, the Luftwaffe increased the pace of the advance which overran Polish airstrips and early warning sites and causing logistical problems for the Poles. Many Polish Air Force units ran low on supplies, 98 of their number withdrew into then-neutral Romania.[54] The Polish initial strength of 400 was reduced to just 54 by 14 September and air opposition virtually ceased.[54]

By 3 September when Günther von Kluge in the north had reached the Vistula (some 10 kilometres from the German border at that time) river and Georg von Küchler was approaching the Narew River, Walther von Reichenau's armour was already beyond the Warta river; two days later, his left wing was well to the rear of Łódź and his right wing at the town of Kielce; and by 8 September one of his armoured corps was on the outskirts of Warsaw, having advanced 225 kilometres (140 miles) in the first week of war. Light divisions on Reichenau's right were on the Vistula between Warsaw and the town of Sandomierz by 9 September while List, in the south, was on the river San above and below the town of Przemyśl. At the same time, Guderian led his 3rd Army tanks across the Narew, attacking the line of the Bug River, already encircling Warsaw. All the German armies made progress in fulfilling their parts of the Fall Weiss plan. The Polish armies were splitting up into uncoordinated fragments, some of which were retreating while others were launching disjointed attacks on the nearest German columns.

The German minority in Poland welcoming the German Army.

Polish forces abandoned the regions of Pomerelia (the Polish Corridor), Greater Poland and Polish Upper Silesia in the first week. The Polish plan for border defence was proven a dismal failure. The German advance as a whole was not slowed. On 10 September the Polish commander-in-chief, Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły, ordered a general retreat to the southeast, towards the so-called Romanian Bridgehead.[55] Meanwhile, the Germans were tightening their encirclement of the Polish forces west of the Vistula (in the Łódź area and, still farther west, around Poznań) and also penetrating deeply into eastern Poland. Warsaw, under heavy aerial bombardment since the first hours of the war, was attacked on 9 September and was put under siege on 13 September. Around that time, advanced German forces also reached the city of Lwów, a major metropolis in eastern Poland. 1,150 German aircraft bombed Warsaw on 24 September.

A bombed Polish Army column during the Battle of the Bzura

The largest battle during this campaign, the Battle of Bzura, took place near the Bzura river west of Warsaw and lasted from 9 September to 19 September. Polish armies Poznań and Pomorze, retreating from the border area of the Polish Corridor, attacked the flank of the advancing German 8th Army, but the counterattack failed after initial success. After the defeat, Poland lost its ability to take the initiative and counterattack on a large scale. German air power was instrumental during the battle. The Luftwaffe's offensive broke what remained of Polish resistance in an "awesome demonstration of air power".[56] The Luftwaffe quickly destroyed the bridges across the Bzura River. Afterward, the Polish forces were trapped out in the open, and were attacked by wave after wave of Stukas, dropping 50 kg "light bombs" which caused huge numbers of casualties. The Polish flak positions ran out of ammunition and retreated to the forests, but were then "smoked out" by the Heinkel He 111 and Dornier Do 17s dropping 100 kg incendiaries. The Luftwaffe left the army with the easy task of mopping up survivors. The Stukageschwaders alone dropped 388 tonnes of bombs during this battle.[56]

The Polish government (of President Ignacy Mościcki) and the high command (of Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły) left Warsaw in the first days of the campaign and headed southeast, reaching Lublin on 6 September. From there it moved on 9 September to Kremenez, and on 13 September to Zaleshiki on the Romanian border.[57] Rydz-Śmigły ordered the Polish forces to retreat in the same direction, behind the Vistula and San rivers, beginning the preparations for the long defence of the Romanian Bridgehead area.[55]

Phase 2: Soviet invasion

For more details on this topic, see Soviet invasion of Poland. Disposition of all troops following the Soviet invasion.

From the beginning, the German government repeatedly asked Vyacheslav Molotov whether the Soviet Union would keep to its side of the partition bargain.[58][59] Soviet forces attacked Poland on 17 September. It was agreed that the USSR would relinquish its interest in the territories between the new border and Warsaw in exchange for inclusion of Lithuania in the Soviet "zone of interest".

By 17 September 1939, the Polish defense was already broken and the only hope was to retreat and reorganize along the Romanian Bridgehead. However, these plans were rendered obsolete nearly overnight, when the over 800,000 strong Soviet Union Red Army entered and created the Belarussian and Ukrainian fronts after invading the eastern regions of Poland in violation of the Riga Peace Treaty, the Soviet-Polish Non-Aggression Pact, and other international treaties, both bilateral and multilateral.[Note 6] Soviet diplomacy claimed that they were "protecting the Ukrainian and Belarusian minorities of eastern Poland since the Polish government had abandoned the country and the Polish state ceased to exist".[61]

Soviet tanks invading Poland on 17 September

Polish border defence forces in the east, known as the Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza, consisted of about 25 battalions. Edward Rydz-Śmigły ordered them to fall back and not engage the Soviets.[55] This, however, did not prevent some clashes and small battles, such as the Battle of Grodno, as soldiers and local population attempted to defend the city. The Soviets murdered numerous Polish officers, including prisoners of war like General Józef Olszyna-Wilczyński.[62][63] The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists rose against the Poles, and communist partisans organized local revolts, robbing and murdering Poles.[64] Those movements were quickly disciplined by the NKVD. The Soviet invasion was one of the decisive factors that convinced the Polish government that the war in Poland was lost.[15] Prior to the Soviet attack from the east, the Polish military's fall-back plan had called for long-term defence against Germany in the southern-eastern part of Poland, while awaiting relief from a Western Allies attack on Germany's western border.[15] However, the Polish government refused to surrender or negotiate a peace with Germany. Instead, it ordered all units to evacuate Poland and reorganize in France.

The Royal Castle in Warsaw on fire after being shelled by the Germans

Meanwhile, Polish forces tried to move towards the Romanian Bridgehead area, still actively resisting the German invasion. From 17 September to 20 September Polish armies Kraków and Lublin were crippled at the Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski, the second largest battle of the campaign. The city of Lwów capitulated on 22 September because of Soviet intervention; the city had been attacked by the Germans over a week earlier, and in the middle of the siege, the German troops handed operations over to their Soviet allies..[65] Despite a series of intensifying German attacks, Warsaw—defended by quickly reorganized retreating units, civilian volunteers and militia—held out until 28 September. The Modlin Fortress north of Warsaw capitulated on 29 September after an intense 16-day battle. Some isolated Polish garrisons managed to hold their positions long after being surrounded by German forces. Westerplatte enclave's tiny garrison capitulated on 7 September and the Oksywie garrison held until 19 September; Hel Fortified Area was defended until 2 October.[66] In the last week of September, Hitler made a speech in the city of Danzig in which he said:

Poland never will rise again in the form of the Versailles treaty. That is guaranteed not only by Germany, but also… Russia.

Adolf Hitler in a public speech in Danzig at the end of September 1939[67]

Despite a Polish victory at the Battle of Szack, after which the Soviets executed all the officers and NCOs they had captured, the Red Army reached the line of rivers Narew, Western Bug, Vistula and San by 28 September in many cases meeting German units advancing from the other direction. Polish defenders on the Hel peninsula on the shore of the Baltic Sea held out until 2 October. The last operational unit of the Polish Army, General Franciszek Kleeberg's Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna "Polesie", surrendered after the four-day Battle of Kock near Lublin on 6 October marking the end of the September Campaign.[68]

Civilian losses

The Polish September Campaign was an instance of total war. Consequently, civilian casualties were high during and after combat. From the start, the Luftwaffe attacked civilian targets and columns of refugees along the roads to wreak havoc, disrupt communications, and target Polish morale. Apart from the victims of the battles, the German forces (both SS and the regular Wehrmacht) are credited with the mass murder of several thousands of Polish POWs and civilians. Also, during Operation Tannenberg, nearly 20,000 Poles were shot at 760 mass execution sites by special units, the Einsatzgruppen, in addition to regular Wehrmacht, SS and Selbstschutz.

Altogether, the civilian losses of Polish population amounted to about 150,000–200,000[69] while German civilian losses amounted to roughly 3,250 (including 2,000 who died fighting Polish troops as members of a fifth column).[70]

Aftermath

Poland's defeat was the inevitable outcome of the Warsaw government's illusions about the actions its allies would take, as well as of its over-estimation of the Polish Army's ability to offer lengthy resistance.[71]

Erich von Manstein, Chief of Staff of the German Army Group South

Poland was divided among Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, Lithuania and Slovakia. On 8 and 13 September 1939, the German military districts of "Posen" (Poznan), commanded by general Alfred von Vollard-Bockelberg, and "Westpreußen" (West Prussia), commanded by general Walter Heitz, were established in conquered Greater Poland and Pomerelia, respectively.[72] Based on laws of 21 May 1935 and 1 June 1938, the German military, Wehrmacht, shared its administrative powers with civilian "chief civil administrators" (Chefs der Zivilverwaltung, CdZ).[73] German dictator Adolf Hitler appointed Arthur Greiser to become the CdZ of the Posen military district, and Danzig's Gauleiter Albert Forster to become the CdZ of the West Prussian military district.[72] On 3 October 1939, the military districts "Lodz" and "Krakau" (Cracow) were set up under command of colonel-generals (generalobersten) Gerd von Rundstedt and Wilhelm List, and Hitler appointed Hans Frank and Arthur Seyß-Inquart as civil heads, respectively.[72] Frank was at the same time appointed "supreme chief administrator" for all occupied territories.[72] On 28 September another secret German-Soviet protocol modified the arrangements of August: all Lithuania was to be a Soviet sphere of influence, not a German one; but the dividing line in Poland was moved in Germany's favour, to the Bug River. On 8 October Nazi Germany formally annexed the western parts of Poland with Greiser and Forster as Reichsstatthalter, while the south-central parts were administered as the so-called General Government led by Frank.

German and Soviet troops shaking hands following the invasion

Even though water barriers separated most of the spheres of interest, the Soviet and German troops met on numerous occasions. The most remarkable event of this kind occurred at Brest-Litovsk on 22 September. The German 19th Panzer Corps under the command of Heinz Guderian had occupied the city, which lay within the Soviet sphere of interest. When the Soviet 29th Tank Brigade under the command of S. M. Krivoshein approached, the commanders negotiated that the German troops would withdraw and the Soviet troops would enter the city saluting each other.[74] At Brest-Litovsk, Soviet and German commanders held a joint victory parade before German forces withdrew westward behind a new demarcation line.[14][75] Just three days earlier, however, the parties had a more hostile encounter near Lwow (Lviv, Lemberg), when the German 137th Gebirgsjägerregimenter (mountain infantry regiment) attacked a reconnaissance detachment of the Soviet 24th Tank Brigade; after a few casualties on both sides, the parties turned to negotiations. The German troops left the area, and the Red Army troops entered Lviv on 22 September. About 65,000 Polish troops were killed in the fighting, with 420,000 others being captured by the Germans and 240,000 more by the Soviets (for a total of 660,000 prisoners). Up to 120,000 Polish troops escaped to neutral Romania (through the Romanian Bridgehead and Hungary), and another 20,000 to Latvia and Lithuania, with the majority eventually making their way to France or Britain. Most of the Polish Navy succeeded in evacuating to Britain as well. German personnel losses were less than their enemies (~16,000 KIA).

German soldiers removing Polish government insignia

Neither side—Germany, the Western Allies or the Soviet Union—expected that the German invasion of Poland would lead to a war that would surpass World War I in its scale and cost. It would be months before Hitler would see the futility of his peace negotiation attempts with Great Britain and France, but the culmination of combined European and Pacific conflicts would result in what was truly a "world war". Thus, what was not seen by most politicians and generals in 1939 is clear from the historical perspective: The Polish September Campaign marked the beginning of the Second World War in Europe, which combined with the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and the Pacific War in 1941, formed the cataclysm known as World War II.

The invasion of Poland led to Britain and France to declare war on Germany on 3 September. However, they did little to affect the outcome of the September Campaign. This lack of direct help led many Poles to believe that they had been betrayed by their Western allies.

On 23 May 1939, Adolf Hitler explained to his officers that the object of the aggression was not Danzig, but the need to obtain German Lebensraum and details of this concept would be later formulated in the infamous Generalplan Ost.[76][77] The invasion decimated urban residential areas, civilians soon became indistinguishable from combatants, and the forthcoming German occupation (both on the annexed territories and in the General Government) was one of the most brutal episodes of World War II, resulting in between 5.47 million and 5.67 million Polish deaths[78] (about 20 % of the country's total population, and over 90 % of its Jewish minority) – including the mass murder of 3 million Poles in extermination camps like Auschwitz, in concentration camps, and in numerous ad hoc massacres, where civilians were rounded up, taken to a nearby forest, machine-gunned, and then buried, whether they were dead or not.

According to the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, Soviet occupation between 1939 and 1941 resulted in the death of 150,000 and deportation of 320,000 of Polish citizens,[78][79] when all who were deemed dangerous to the Soviet regime were subject to sovietization, forced resettlement, imprisonment in labour camps (the Gulags) or murdered, like the Polish officers in the Katyn massacre.[a]

Nazi propaganda

German cavalry and motorized units entering Poland from East Prussia during 1939.

There are several common misconceptions regarding the Polish September Campaign, often resulting from myths perpetrated by Nazi propaganda.

Polish cavalry never charged German tanks or entrenched infantry or artillery, but usually acted as mobile infantry (like dragoons) and reconnaissance units and executed cavalry charges only in rare situations against foot soldiers. Other armies (including German and Soviet) also fielded and extensively used elite horse cavalry units at that time. Polish cavalry consisted of eleven brigades, as emphasized by its military doctrine, equipped with anti tank rifles "UR" and light artillery such as the highly effective Bofors 37 mm antitank gun. The myth originated from a German propaganda portrayal of the battle of Krojanty, where a Polish cavalry brigade was fired upon in ambush by hidden armored vehicles, after it had mounted a sabre-charge against German infantry.[Note 7][80]
The Polish Air Force, though numerically inferior, had been moved from air bases to small camouflaged airfields shortly before the war. Only some trainers and auxiliary aircraft were destroyed on the ground. The Polish Air Force, significantly outnumbered and with its fighters outmatched by more advanced German fighters, remained active up to the second week of the campaign, inflicting significant damage on the Luftwaffe.[81] The Luftwaffe lost, to all operational causes, 285 aircraft, with 279 more damaged, while the Poles lost 333 aircraft.[82]
Germany sustained relatively heavy losses, especially in vehicles and planes: Poland cost the Germans approximately the equipment of an entire armored division and 25% of its air strength.[83] As for duration, the September Campaign lasted only about one week less than the Battle of France in 1940, even though the Anglo-French forces were much closer to parity with the Germans in numerical strength and equipment.[Note 8] Furthermore, the Polish Army was preparing the Romanian Bridgehead, which would have prolonged Polish defence, but this plan was cancelled due to the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939.[84] Poland also never officially surrendered to the Germans. Under German occupation, the Polish army continued to fight underground, as Armia Krajowa and forest partisans – Leśni. The Polish resistance movement in World War II in German-occupied Poland was the largest resistance movement in all of occupied Europe.[85]
Hitler reviews troops in Warsaw, October 5, 1939
It is often assumed that blitzkrieg is the strategy that Germany first used in Poland. Many early postwar histories, such as Barrie Pitt's in The Second World War (BPC Publishing 1966), attribute German victory to "enormous development in military technique which occurred between 1918 and 1940", citing that "Germany, who translated (British inter-war) theories into action… called the result Blitzkrieg." This idea has been repudiated by some authors. Matthew Cooper writes: "Throughout the Polish Campaign, the employment of the mechanized units revealed the idea that they were intended solely to ease the advance and to support the activities of the infantry…. Thus, any strategic exploitation of the armoured idea was still-born. The paralysis of command and the breakdown of morale were not made the ultimate aim of the … German ground and air forces, and were only incidental by-products of the traditional manoeuvers of rapid encirclement and of the supporting activities of the flying artillery of the Luftwaffe, both of which had as their purpose the physical destruction of the enemy troops. Such was the Vernichtungsgedanke of the Polish campaign."[33] Vernichtungsgedanke was a strategy dating back to Frederick the Great, and was applied in the Polish Campaign little changed from the French campaigns in 1870 or 1914. The use of tanks "left much to be desired...Fear of enemy action against the flanks of the advance, fear which was to prove so disastrous to German prospects in the west in 1940 and in the Soviet Union in 1941, was present from the beginning of the war.""[33] John Ellis, writing in Brute Force asserted that "…there is considerable justice in Matthew Cooper's assertion that the panzer divisions were not given the kind of strategic (emphasis in original) mission that was to characterize authentic armoured blitzkrieg, and were almost always closely subordinated to the various mass infantry armies."[86] Zaloga and Madej, in The Polish Campaign 1939, also address the subject of mythical interpretations of Blitzkrieg and the importance of other arms in the campaign. "Whilst Western accounts of the September campaign have stressed the shock value of the panzers and Stuka attacks, they have tended to underestimate the punishing effect of German artillery (emphasis added) on Polish units. Mobile and available in significant quantity, artillery shattered as many units as any other branch of the Wehrmacht."[33]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Various sources contradict each other so the figures quoted above should only be taken as a rough indication of the strength estimate. The most common range differences and their brackets are: German personnel 1,500,000 (official figure of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs) – or 1,800,000. Polish tanks: 100–880, 100 is the number of modern tanks, 880 number includes older IWWs tanks and tankettes.[5][6]
  2. ^ The discrepancy in German casualties can be attributed to the fact that some German statistics still listed soldiers as missing decades after the war. Today the most common and accepted numbers are: 8,082 to 16,343 KIA, 320 to 5,029 MIA, 27,280 to 34,136 WIA.[7]. For comparison, in his 1939 speech following the Polish Campaign Adolf Hitler presented these German casualty figures: 10,576 KIA, 30,222 WIA, and 3,400 MIA.[8]. According to early Allied estimates, including those of the Polish government-in-exile, the number of German KIA casualties was 90,000 and WIA casualties was 200,000[8][9] Equipment losses are given as 832 German tanks [10] of with approximately 236[10] to 341 as irrecoverable losses and approximately 319 other armoured vehicles as irrecoverable losses (including 165 Panzer Spahwagen – of them 101 as irrecoverable losses)[10] 522–561 German planes (including 246–285 destroyed and 276 damaged), 1 German minelayer (M-85) and 1 German torpedo ship ("Tiger")
  3. ^ Soviet official losses are estimated at 737 to 1,475 KIA or MIA (Ukrainian Front – 972, Belorussian Front – 503, and 1,859 to 2,383 WIA (Ukrainian Front – 1,741, Belorussian Front – 642). The Soviets lost approximately 150 tanks in combat of which 43 as irrecoverable losses, while hundreds more suffered technical failures.[3]
  4. ^ Various sources contradict each other so the figures quoted above should only be taken as a rough indication of losses. The most common range brackets for casualties are: Poland: 63,000 to 66,300 KIA, 134,000 WIA.[7]. The often cited figure of 420,000 Polish prisoners of war represents only those captured by the Germans, as Soviets captured about 250,000 Polish POWs themselves, making the total number of Polish POWs about 660,000–690,000. In terms of equipment the Polish Navy lost 1 destroyer (ORP Wicher), 1 minelayer (ORP Gryf) and several support craft. Equipment loses included 132 Polish tanks and armoured cars 327 Polish planes (118 fighters))[10]
  5. ^ P-11c (+43 reserve), 30 P-7 (+85 reserve), 118 P-23 Karaś light bombers, 36 P-37 Łoś bombers (armed in line, additionally a few of the total number produced were used in combat), 84 reconnaissance RXIII Lublin, RWD14 Czapla (+115 reserve)[43]
  6. ^ Other treaties violated by the Soviet Union were: the 1919 Covenant of the League of Nations (to which the USSR adhered in 1934), the Briand-Kellogg Pact of 1928 and the 1933 London Convention on the Definition of Aggression.[60]
  7. ^ Snidner takes issue here with this contention on at least one occasion. Seidner,Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland
  8. ^ Polish to Germany forces in the September Campaign: 1,000,000 soldiers 4,300 guns, 880 tanks, 435 aircraft (Poland) to 1,800,000 soldiers, 10,000 guns, 2,800 tanks, 3,000 aircraft (Germany). French and participating Allies to German forces in the Battle of France: 2,862,000 soldiers, 13,974 guns, 3,384 tanks, 3,099 aircraft 2 (Allies) to 3,350,000 soldiers, 7,378 guns, 2,445 tanks, 5,446 aircraft (Germany).

Citations

  1. ^ a b c Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The 1939 Campaign Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2005
  2. ^ E.R Hooton, p85
  3. ^ a b Кривошеев Г. Ф., Россия и СССР в войнах XX века: потери вооруженных сил. Статистическое исследование (Krivosheev G. F., Russia and the USSR in the wars of the 20th century: losses of the Armed Forces. A Statistical Study Greenhill 1997 ISBN 1-85367-280-7) (Russian)
  4. ^ a b c Переслегин. Вторая мировая: война между реальностями.- М.:Яуза, Эксмо, 2006, с.22; Р. Э. Дюпюи, Т. Н. Дюпюи. Всемирная история войн.—С-П,М: АСТ, кн.4, с.93
  5. ^ Internetowa encyklopedia PWN, article on 'Kampania Wrześniowa 1939'
  6. ^ Website of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the Poles on the Front Lines
  7. ^ a b Wojna Obronna Polski 1939, page 851
  8. ^ a b "Polish War, German Losses". The Canberra Times. 13 Oct 1939. http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2513833. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
  9. ^ "Nazi Loss in Poland Placed at 290,000". The New York Times. 1941. http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?cdbae543be.jpg. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
  10. ^ a b c d KAMIL CYWINSKI, Waffen und Geheimwaffen des deutschen Heeres 1933-1945
  11. ^ The encyclopedia of modern war By Roger Parkinson Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0812818989. Page 133.
  12. ^ "Axis Slovakia: Hitler's Slavic Wedge, 1938-1945", page 81
  13. ^ �-MH">Balisze>�, Most honoru
  14. ^ a b Kitchen, Martin (1990). A World in Flames: A Short History of the Second World War. Longman. p. 74. ISBN 0582034086. http://books.google.com/books?id=0t-fAAAAMAAJ&q=%22The+joint+invasion+of+Poland+was+celebrated+with+a+parade+by+the+Wehrmacht+and+the+Red+Army+in+Brest+Litovsk%22&dq=%22The+joint+invasion+of+Poland+was+celebrated+with+a+parade+by+the+Wehrmacht+and+the+Red+Army+in+Brest+Litovsk%22&lr=&ei=N0_USde1H5SwMpL1zeQC&pgis=1.
  15. ^ a b c (Sanford 2005, pp. 20–24)
  16. ^ Diemut Majer,, "Non-Germans" under the Third Reich: the Nazi judicial and administrative system in Germany and occupied Eastern Europe with special regard to occupied Poland, 1939-1945JHU Press, 2003, ISBN 0801864933, Google Print, p. 188-189
  17. ^ a b Victor Rothwell, Origins of the Second World War, Manchester University Press, 2001, ISBN 0719059585, Google Print, p.92
  18. ^ a b Andrew J. Crozier, The causes of the Second World War, Wiley-Blackwell, 1997, ISBN 0631186018, Google Print, p.150-151
  19. ^ Ergebnisse der Volks- und Berufszählung Vom 1. November 1923 in der Freien Stadt Danzig mit einem Anhang: Die Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. August 1924. Verlag des Statistischen Landesamtes der freien Stadt Danzig, 1926
  20. ^ Louis Leo Snyder, John D Montgomery, The new nationalism, Transaction Publishers, 2003, ISBN 0765805502, Google Print, p.88
  21. ^ Nowa Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN 1997, vol. VI, 981.
  22. ^ "Elbing-Königsberg Autobahn". Euronet.nl. http://www.euronet.nl/~jlemmens/autobahn.html. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
  23. ^ a b "The Avalon Project : Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy". Yale.edu. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/ylbkmenu.asp. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
  24. ^ The German original: "Unsere Stärke ist unsere Schnelligkeit und unsere Brutalität. Dschingis Khan hat Millionen Frauen und Kinder in den Tod gejagt, bewußt und fröhlichen Herzens. Die Geschichte sieht in ihm nur den großen Staatengründer. Was die schwache westeuropäische Zivilisation über mich sagt, ist gleichgültig. Ich habe Befehl gegeben - und ich lasse jeden füsilieren, der auch nur ein Wort der Kritik äußert -, daß das Kriegsziel nicht im Erreichen von bestimmten Linien, sondern in der physischen Vernichtung des Gegners besteht. So habe ich, einstweilem nur im Osten, meine Totenkopfverbände bereitgestellt mit dem Befehl, unbarmherzig und mitleidslos Mann, Weib und Kind polnischer Abstammung und Sprache in den Tod zu schicken. Nur so gewinnen wir den Lebensraum, den wir brauchen. Wer redet heute noch von der Vernichtung der Armenier?" Cf. Akten zur deutschen auswärtigen Politik: Series D (1937-1945), 13 vols., Walter Bußmann (ed.), vol. 7: 'Die letzten Wochen vor Kriegsausbruch: 9. August bis 3. September 1939', Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1956, p. 171.
  25. ^ Text version see also the original document
  26. ^ Documents Concerning the Last Phase of the German-Polish Crisis, Proposal for a settlement of the Danzig and the Polish Corridor Problem as well as of the question concerning the German and Polish Minorities (New York: German Library of Information), p 33–35. See also: Documents Concerning German-Polish Relations and the Outbreak of Hostilities Between Great Britain and Germany on 3 September 1939 (Miscellaneous No. 9) Message which was communicated to H.M. Ambassador in Berlin by the State Secretary on 31 August 1939 at 9:15 p.m. (London: His Majesty's (HM) Stationary Office) p. 149–153.
  27. ^ a b see: Documents Concerning German-Polish Relations, 149–153.
  28. ^ Final Report By the Right Honourable Sir Nevile Henderson (G.C.M.G) on the circumstances leading to the termination of his mission to Berlin 20 September 1939. (London: His Majesty's Stationary Office), p. 24
  29. ^ see: Final Report By the Right Honourable Sir Nevile Henderson, p. 16–18
  30. ^ Seidner, Stanley S. Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, New York, 1978, ch. 2
  31. ^ Roger Manvell, Heinrich Fraenkel, Heinrich Himmler: The SS, Gestapo, His Life and Career, Skyhorse Publishing Inc., 2007, ISBN 1602391785, Google Print, p.76
  32. ^ B.H.Hart & A.J.P Taylor, p41
  33. ^ a b c d Matthew Cooper, The German Army 1939–1945: Its Political and Military Failure, p. 176
  34. ^ Bombers of the Luftwaffe, Joachim Dressel and Manfred Griehl, Arms and Armour, 1994
  35. ^ The Flying pencil, Heinz J. Nowarra, Schiffer Publishing,1990,p25
  36. ^ A History of World War Two, A.J.P Taylor, OCTOPUS, 1974, p35
  37. ^ Seidner,Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland,162
  38. ^ Seidner, Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, 177
  39. ^ Seidner,Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, pages 270–94
  40. ^ Seidner,Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, pages 135–138
  41. ^ Seidner,Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland,158
  42. ^ Michael Alfred Peszke, Polish Underground Army, the Western Allies, and the Failure of Strategic Unity in World War II, McFarland & Company, 2004, ISBN 0-7864-2009-X, Google Print, p.2
  43. ^ Adam Kurowski 'Lotnictwo Polskie 1939' 129
  44. ^ Seidner,Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland,162–63
  45. ^ Seidner,Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, pages 122–123
  46. ^ 7TP vol.II,Janusz Magnus#1, Militaria 317,Warszawa 2009.
  47. ^ Seidner,Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland,68–72
  48. ^ Seidner,Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland,122–25
  49. ^ (Polish) Henryk Piątkowski (1943). Kampania wrześniowa 1939 roku w Polsce. Jerusalem: Sekcja Wydawnicza APW. p. 39. http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~antora/WYDAW/KAMPANIA/tekst/KAMPANIA1.HTM.
  50. ^ Count Edward Raczyński (1948). The British-Polish Alliance; Its Origin and Meaning. London: Mellville Press.
  51. ^ Seidner,Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland,304–310
  52. ^ a b c Seidner,Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland,312
  53. ^ a b Peszke, Michael Alfred (February 1999). Poland's Navy, 1918-1945. Hippocrene Books. p. 37. ISBN 0781806720.
  54. ^ a b E.R Hooton, p87
  55. ^ a b c Stanley S.Seidner, "Reflections from Rumania and Beyond: Marshal Śmigły-Rydz Rydz in Exile," The Polish Review vol. xxii, no. 2, 1977, pp. 29–51.
  56. ^ a b E.R Hooton, p91
  57. ^ Tippelskirch, Kurt. History of Second World War
  58. ^ Geoffrey Roberts. The Soviet Decision for a Pact with Nazi Germany. Soviet Studies, Vol. 44, No. 1 (1992), pp. 57-78. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/152247
  59. ^ Telegram: The German Ambassador in the Soviet Union, (Schulenburg) to the German Foreign Office. Moscow, 10 September 1939 – 9:40 p. m. and Telegram 2: he German Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Schulenburg) to the German Foreign Office. Moscow, 16 September 1939. Source: The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Last. Retrieved 14 November 2006
  60. ^ Tadeusz Piotrowski (1997). Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide.... McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-7864-0371-3. http://books.google.com/books?visbn=0786403713&id=A4FlatJCro4C&pg=PA295&lpg=PA295&dq=1939+Soviet+citizenship+Poland&sig=qETeuFX3hbmM0VPSO13o0LmjgEc.
  61. ^ Piotrowski, Tadeusz (1998). Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife: Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide in the Second Republic, 1918–1947. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786403713.
  62. ^ Sanford, p. 23; (Polish) Olszyna-Wilczyński Józef Konstanty, Internetowa encyklopedia PWN. Retrieved 14 November 2006.
  63. ^ (Polish) Śledztwo w sprawie zabójstwa w dniu 22 września 1939 r. w okolicach miejscowości Sopoćkinie generała brygady Wojska Polskiego Józefa Olszyny-Wilczyńskiego i jego adiutanta kapitana Mieczysława Strzemskiego przez żołnierzy b. Związku Radzieckiego. (S 6/02/Zk) Polish Institute of National Remembrance. Internet Archive, 16.10.03. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
  64. ^ Tadeusz Piotrowski, Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide in the Second Republic, 1918-1947, McFarland, 1998, pages 54-56, page 199
  65. ^ Seidner,Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland,226–28
  66. ^ Seidner,Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland,279–80
  67. ^ Seven Years War?, TIME Magazine, 2 October 1939
  68. ^ Seidner,Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland,289–91
  69. ^ Tadeusz Piotrowski, Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide in the Second Republic, 1918-1947, McFarland, 1998, page 301
  70. ^ (Polish) Tomasz Chinciński, Niemiecka dywersja w Polsce w 1939 r. w świetle dokumentów policyjnych i wojskowych II Rzeczypospolitej oraz służb specjalnych III Rzeszy. Część 1 (marzec–sierpień 1939 r.). Pamięć i Sprawiedliwość. nr 2 (8)/2005
  71. ^ Erich von Manstein, Lost Victories, trans. Anthony G. Powell (Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1958), p. 46
  72. ^ a b c d Andreas Toppe, Militär und Kriegsvölkerrecht: Rechtsnorm, Fachdiskurs und Kriegspraxis in Deutschland 1899-1940, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2008, p.398, ISBN 3486582062
  73. ^ Andreas Toppe, Militär und Kriegsvölkerrecht: Rechtsnorm, Fachdiskurs und Kriegspraxis in Deutschland 1899-1940, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2008, p.397, ISBN 3486582062
  74. ^ Кривошеин С.М. Междубурье. Воспоминания. Воронеж, 1964. (Krivoshein S. M. Between the Storms. Memoirs. Voronezh, 1964. in Russian); Guderian H. Erinnerungen eines Soldaten Heidelberg, 1951 (in German—Memoirs of a Soldier in English)
  75. ^ Raack, Richard (1995). Stalin's Drive to the West, 1938-1945. Stanford University Press. p. 58. ISBN 0804724156. http://books.google.com/books?id=pAdZMaWn8cIC&pg=PA58&dq.
  76. ^ A World at Arms. http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521618266&id=a-Wb45gW3P4C&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&q=Lebensraum+1939&vq=Lebensraum+1939&dq=poland+german+puppet+state+anti-comintern&sig=8zHEvm8I2ysilvrYIah0mOtoOiQ.
  77. ^ Justice and the Genesis of War. http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521558689&id=i2Z5blE1KGoC&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148&dq=May+23+Hitler+lebensraum&sig=ljEb7tTkSLQ7eUPjObWawjp4jps.
  78. ^ a b "Polish experts lower nation's WWII death toll". AFP/Expatica. 30 July 2009. http://www.expatica.com/de/news/german-news/Polish-experts-lower-nation_s-WWII-death-toll--_55843.html. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  79. ^ Wojciech Materski and Tomasz Szarota. Polska 1939–1945. Straty osobowe i ofiary represji pod dwiema okupacjami.Institute of National Remembrance(IPN) Warszawa 2009 ISBN 978-83-7629-067-6
  80. ^ http://www.polamjournal.com/Library/APHistory/Cavalry_Myth/cavalry_myth.html "The Mythical Polish Cavalry Charge", Polish American Journal, July 2008 by Gilbert J. Mros
  81. ^ Steven J. Zaloga, Ramiro Bujeiro, Howard Gerrard, Poland 1939: the birth of blitzkrieg, Osprey Publishing, 2002, ISBN 1841764086, Google Print, p.50
  82. ^ Overy, Richard J., The Air War: 1939-1945, London, Europa Publications, 1980. p. 28
  83. ^ Bekker, Cajus (1964): Angriffshohe – 285 aircraft destroyed, 279 damaged of initial force
  84. ^ Seidner,Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, ch. 3
  85. ^ Zamoyski, Adam. The Polish Way. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1987
  86. ^ Ellis, John (1999). Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War, p.3–4

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1, 1939 , was the beginning of World War II with the German invasion of Poland . One more piece of hidden history is the fact British and US financiers ...
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Hitler only reluctantly entered into war with Britain (it was actually the British and French who declared war on Germany following the latter's . invasion of Poland. ), and he seemed always ready to come to some kind of accommodation with ...

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'Invasion of Poland (1939)' Answers
where would i find an old newspaper article from september 1, 1939 about the German invasion of Poland?
Q. Its about World War II and there was something about an ultimatum and the Polish didnt accept so Germany got mad about it and attacked them.
Asked by sam - Mon Mar 6 17:53:57 2006 - - 4 Answers - 0 Comments

A. Try this link. They have a lot of old, rare newspapers. If they don't have it, do a search on "rare newspapers."
Answered by Cactus Flower - Mon Mar 6 18:10:10 2006

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