| Invasion of Poland (1939) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of World War II | |||||||
 German battleship Schleswig-Holstein, shelling Westerplatte, September 1, 1939. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including History SMS Schleswig-Holstein was one of five Pre-dreadnought, ''Deutschland''-class battleships not to be confused with a later class of Pocket Westerplatte is a Peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on Baltic Sea coast at the river mouth of the Dead Vistula (one of the Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Poland |  Nazi Germany Soviet Union Slovakia | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Edward Rydz-Śmigły | Fedor von Bock (Army Group North), Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South), Mikhail Kovalev (Belorussian Front), Semyon Timoshenko (Ukrainian Front), Ferdinand Čatloš(Field Army Bernolák) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Poland: 39 divisions,[1] 16 brigades,[1] 4,300 guns,[1] 880 tanks, 400 aircraft[2] Total: 950,000[3] | Germany: 56 divisions, 4 brigades, 9,000 guns,[2] 2,500 tanks,[2] 2,315[4] aircraft Soviet Union: 33+ divisions, 11+ brigades, 4,959 guns, 4,736 tanks, 3,300 aircraft Slovakia: 3 divisions Total: 1,500,000 Germans,[2] 800,000+ Soviets, 50,000 Slovaks Grand total: 2,350,000+[3] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Poland: 66,000 dead,[5] 133,700 wounded, 694,000 captured | Germany: 16,343 dead,[5] 27,280 wounded, 320 missing Soviet Union: 737 dead or missing, 1,125 wounded Slovakia: 18 dead, 46 wounded, 11 missing | ||||||
The Invasion of Poland, 1939 (in Poland also "the September Campaign," "Kampania wrześniowa," and "the 1939 Defensive War," "Wojna obronna 1939 roku"; in Germany, "the Poland Campaign," "Polenfeldzug," codenamed "Fall Weiss," "Case White," by the German General Staff, and sometimes called "the Polish-German War of 1939"), which precipitated World War II, was carried out by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and a small German-allied Slovak contingent. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland The Second Polish Republic or interwar Poland is the Republic of Poland between World War I and World War II. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers The Military history of the Soviet Union began in the days following the 1917 October Revolution that brought the Bolsheviks to power The Slovak Republic ( Slovak: Slovenská republika) was an independent national Slovak state which existed from 14 March 1939 Edward Rydz-Śmigły ( pronounced rɨts ɕmigwɨ sometimes Edward Śmigły-Rydz ( March 11 1886 Fedor von Bock ( December 3, 1880 &ndash May 4, 1945) was an officer in the German Military from 1898 to Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt ( December 12, 1875 - February 24, 1953) was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Colonel-General Mikhail Prokofievich Kovalyov (Михаил Прокофьевич Ковалёв (- 31 August 1967) was a Soviet military officer Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko (Семё́н Константи́нович Тимоше́нко Semën Konstantinovič Timošenko; &ndash March 31, 1970 Ferdinand Čatloš (1895-1972 was a Slovak military officer and politician Field Army Bernolák, sk Slovenská Poľná Armáda skupina "Bernolák". Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Fall Weiss ("Case White" German spelling Fall Weiß) was a German strategic plan for a war with Poland prepared before 1939 and World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Slovak invasion of Poland (1939 occurred during Nazi Germany 's invasion of Poland.
The invasion of Poland marked the start of World War II in Europe, as Poland's western allies, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand,[6] declared war on Germany on September 3, soon followed by France, South Africa and Canada, among others. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland The European Theatre of Operations ( ETO) was an area of heavy fighting across Europe during World War II, from Nazi Germany's Invasion of Poland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island A declaration of war is a formal performative Speech act or signing of a document by an authorised party of a government in order to initate a state of War Events 36 BC - In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompeius This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis powers during the Second World War. The invasion began on September 1, 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and ended October 6, 1939, with Germany and the Soviet Union occupying the entirety of Poland. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Although the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany soon after Germany attacked Poland, very little direct military aid was provided (see Phoney War and Western betrayal). The Phoney War, also called the Twilight War by Winston Churchill, der Sitzkrieg in German ("the sitting war" a Western betrayal or Yalta betrayal are popular terms in many Central European countries especially in Poland and the Czech Republic which refers
Following a German-staged "Polish attack" on August 31, 1939, on September 1, German forces invaded Poland from the north, south, and west. The Gleiwitz incident was a staged attack on 31 August, 1939 against the German Radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz Events 1056 - Byzantine Empress Theodora becomes ill dying suddenly a few days later without children to succeed the Throne Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Spread thin defending their long borders, the Polish armies were soon forced to withdraw eastward. After the mid-September Polish defeat in the Battle of the Bzura, the Germans gained an undisputed advantage. The Battle of the Bzura (or Kutno or Battle of Kutno - German name was a battle in the opening campaign of World War II during the 1939 Polish forces then began a withdrawal southeast, following a plan that called for a long defense in the Romanian bridgehead area, where the Polish forces were to await an expected Allied counterattack and relief. The Romanian Bridgehead (Przedmoście rumuńskie was an area in southeastern Poland, now located in Ukraine. The Western Allies were the democracies and their colonial peoples within the broader coalition of Allies during World War II. [7]
On September 17, 1939, the Soviet Red Army invaded the eastern regions of Poland in cooperation with Germany. Events 1176 - The Battle of Myriokephalon is fought 1462 - The Battle of Świecino (or Battle of Żarnowiec Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Red Army ( Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия R aboche- K rest'yanskaya K rasnaya A rmiya The term Kresy, meaning Outskirts or Borderlands, was first used to define the Polish eastern frontier [8] The Soviets were carrying out their part of the secret appendix of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which divided Eastern Europe into Nazi and Soviet spheres of influence. A sphere of influence ( SOI) is an area or region over which an organization or state exerts some kind of indirect cultural economic military or political domination [9] Facing the second front, the Polish government decided the defense of the Romanian bridgehead was no longer feasible and ordered the evacuation of all troops to neutral Romania. Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania [10] By October 1, Germany and the Soviet Union completely overran Poland, although the Polish government never surrendered. Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. In addition, Poland's remaining land and air forces were evacuated to neighboring Romania and Hungary. Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic Many of the exiles subsequently joined the recreated Polish Army in allied France, French-mandated Syria, and the United Kingdom. Polish Armed Forces in the West refers to the Polish military formations formed to fight along the Western Allies and against Nazi Germany and its allies This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. A League of Nations mandate refers to a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I. Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located
In the aftermath of the September Campaign, a resistance movement was formed. Polish Underground State (Polskie Państwo Podziemne also known as Polish Secret State) refers to all underground resistance organizations in Poland during Poland's fighting forces continued to contribute to Allied military operations throughout World War II. The European theater of World War II opened with the German invasion of Poland on September 1 1939 Germany captured the Soviet-occupied areas of Poland when it invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, and lost the territory in 1944 to an advancing Red Army. Events 217 BC - Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Over the course of the war, Poland lost over 20% of its pre-war population under an occupation that marked the end of the Second Polish Republic. The Second Polish Republic or interwar Poland is the Republic of Poland between World War I and World War II.
Contents |
Opposing 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. The German Army (Deutsches Heer heɐ) is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. A tank is a tracked, Armoured fighting vehicle designed for Front-line combat which combines Operational mobility and tactical A panzer, pronunced, is a German Tank, especially in the context of World War II. Military doctrine is the concise expression of how military forces contribute to campaigns major operations Battles and engagements It is a guide 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. Encirclement is a military term for the situation when a force or target is isolated and surrounded by enemy forces 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. ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. Air power redirects here for electrical and mechanical energy supplied by air movement see Wind power A dive bomber is a Bomber aircraft that Dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy and limit the exposure to and effectiveness of Together, the new methods were nicknamed Blitzkrieg (lightning war). Blitzkrieg (German for "lightning war" is a popular name for an Offensive operational-level Military doctrine which involves an initial Historian Basil Liddell Hart and A. J. P. Taylor conclude "Poland was a full demonstration of the Blitzkrieg theory. Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart ( 31 October 1895 &ndash 29 January 1970) usually known before his knighthood as Alan John Percival Taylor ( March 25, 1906 – September 7, 1990) was a renowned English Historian of the 20th century "[11]
Aircraft played a major role in the campaign. Bombers also attacked cities, causing huge losses amongst the civilian population through terror bombing. A bomber is a Military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets primarily by dropping Bombs on them Terror bombing is a strategy of deliberately bombing and/or Strafing civilian targets in order to break the Morale of the enemy make its civilian population panic 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. The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from Stu rz' ka' mpfflugzeug, " Dive bomber " was a two-seat (pilot and rear gunner WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout [12][13] In total, Germany had close to 4,000 aircraft, all up to modern standards. A force of 2,315 aircraft were assigned to Weiss. [14] Due to its prior participation in the Spanish Civil War, the Luftwaffe was probably the most experienced, best trained and well equipped air force in the world in 1939. The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force.
Poland
Between 1936 and 1939, Poland invested heavily in industrialization in the Central Industrial Region. is a process of social and economic change whereby a human group is transformed from a Pre-industrial society into an industrial one The Central Industrial Region (Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy abbreviated COP) is an Industrial region in Poland. 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. In 1936, a National Defence Fund was set up collect funds necessary for strengthening the Polish Armed forces. Fundusz Obrony Narodowej ("National Defence Fund" was an attempt by both the government of the Second Polish Republic and the Polish nation to collect funds necessary The Polish Army had approximately a million soldiers, but less than half of them were mobilized by September 1. Polish Land Forces (Wojska Lądowe RP is a branch of Poland 's Armed Forces. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. 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.
Experiences in the Polish-Soviet War shaped Polish Army organisational 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. Trench warfare is a form of warfare where both combatants have fortified positions and fighting lines are static World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The Cavalry (from French cavalerie) is the second oldest of the Combat Arms, and as Soldiers or Warriors who fought mounted on Poland acknowledged the benefits of mobility but was unwilling 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. The Polish cavalry (kawaleria can trace its origins back to the days of Medieval mounted Knights. A brigade is a Military unit Echelon: is Mounted infantry were Soldiers who rode Horses instead of marching but actually fought on foot in the modern era with Muskets or Rifles but before
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. Polish Air Force ( Siły Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej Siły Powietrzne RP - Air Forces of the Polish Republic is the Air force branch of the Polish 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. A fighter aircraft is a Military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other Aircraft, as opposed to a Bomber, which is designed The Battle of Britain (German ''Luftschlacht um England'' is the name given to the sustained strategic effort by the German Luftwaffe during the summer and [15]
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 [16]. The PZL P11 was a Polish Fighter aircraft, designed in the early 1930s by PZL in Warsaw. The PZL P7 was the Polish Fighter aircraft designed in early-1930s in the PZL factory in Warsaw. A fighter aircraft is a Military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other Aircraft, as opposed to a Bomber, which is designed WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout There were also over a thousand obsolete transport, reconnaissance and training aircraft. Reconnaissance (also scouting) is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information However, for the September Campaign, only some 70% of those aircraft were mobilised. Only 36 PZL.37 Łoś bombers were deployed. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout A bomber is a Military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets primarily by dropping Bombs on them All those aircraft were of indigenous Polish design, with the bombers being more modern than fighters, according to the Ludomil Rayski air force expansion plan, which relied on a strong bomber force. Ludomił Antoni Rayski (1892-1977 was a Polish engineer pilot military officer and aviator 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/hr), far less than German bombers; to compensate, the pilots relied on its maneuvrability and high diving speed.
The Polish Navy was a small fleet comprised of destroyers, submarines and smaller support vessels. In naval terminology a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance Warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, Convoy A submarine is a Watercraft that can operate independently below water as distinct from a Submersible that has only limited underwater capability Most Polish surface units followed Operation Peking, leaving Polish ports on August 20 and escaping by way of the North Sea to join with the British Royal Navy. The Peking Plan (or Operation Peking) was an operation in which three Destroyers of the Polish Navy, the ''Burza'' ("Storm" Events 636 - Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and Palestine The North Sea is a marginal, Epeiric sea of the Atlantic Ocean on the European Continental shelf. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) 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. The Worek Plan (or Operation Worek, Plan Worek literally Plan Sack) was an operation of the Polish Navy in the first days of World The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. In addition, many merchant marine ships joined the British merchant fleet and took part in wartime convoys. A convoy is a group of Vehicles (of any type but usually motor vehicles or ships traveling together for mutual support
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. The TK (TK-3 and TKS were Polish Tankettes during the Second World War.
Soviet Union
- For more details on this topic, see Soviet order of battle for invasion of Poland in 1939. The Soviet order of battle for the invasion of Poland in 1939 details the major combat units arrayed for Soviet invasion of Poland on 7 September 1939
Slovakia
- For more details on this topic, see Slovak invasion of Poland. The Slovak invasion of Poland (1939 occurred during Nazi Germany 's invasion of Poland.
Order of battle
Order of battle of Poland: | Order of battle of invading forces: |
Prelude to the campaign
The Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler, took power in Germany in 1933. An order of battle was in its original form during the European period of Medieval warfare the order in which troops were positioned relative to the position of the Army commander Polish OOB during the Invasion of Poland. In the late thirties Polish headquarters prepared "Plan Zachód" ( Plan "West) a plan of mobilization of Polish The following is the Order of battle of the Polish Air Force prior to the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War of 1939. This article details the Order of Battle of the Polish Navy prior to the outbreak of World War II and the Polish Defensive War of 1939 Polish Armament in 1939-45 Aircraft Oldest aircraft SPAD XIII Fokker D This article details the order of battle of German army units invading Poland in 1939. The Soviet order of battle for the invasion of Poland in 1939 details the major combat units arrayed for Soviet invasion of Poland on 7 September 1939 The culmination of events that led to World War II are generally understood to be the 1939 invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and of the Republic The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945 Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately At first, Hitler pursued a policy of rapprochement with Poland, culminating in the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact of 1934. A policy is a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome(s In International relations a rapprochement', which comes from the French word rapprocher ("to bring together" is a re-establishment Early foreign policy worked to maneuver Poland into the Anti-Comintern Pact, forming a cooperative front against the Soviet Union. The Anti-Comintern Pact was concluded between Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan (later to be joined by other countries on November 25, 1936 Germany sought to grab Soviet territory, acquire Lebensraum and expand Großdeutschland. ( German for " habitat " or literally "living space" served as a major motivation for Nazi Germany 's territorial aggression Großdeutschland ( German for "Greater Germany" or "Large Germany" is a term referring to the concept of one German Nation-state [2] 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 and Polish independence would eventually be threatened altogether. [3]
In addition to Soviet territory, the Nazis were also interested in establishing a new border with Poland because the German exclave of East Prussia was separated from the rest of the Reich by the "Polish Corridor". East Prussia (Ostpreußen; Rytų Prūsija or Rytprūsiai; Prusy Wschodnie Восточная Пруссия or Vostochnaya Prussiya) refers to the main part Background Giving Poland access to the sea was one of the guarantees proposed by the United States President Woodrow Wilson in his Fourteen Many Germans also wanted to incorporate the Free City of Danzig into Germany. The Free City of Danzig ( German: Freie Stadt Danzig; Polish: Wolne Miasto Gdańsk) was an autonomous Baltic Sea port and While Danzig had a predominantly German population, the Corridor constituted land long disputed by Poland and Germany. After the Treaty of Versailles, Poland acquired the Corridor, which was part of territory taken by Prussia in Partitions of Poland. The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Hitler sought to reverse this trend and made an appeal to German nationalism, promising to "liberate" the German minority still in the Corridor, as well as Danzig, since the port city was under the control of the League of Nations. The term nationalism can refer to an Ideology, a sentiment, a form of Culture, or a Social movement that focuses on the Nation The League of Nations was an International organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920
Poland participated in the partition of Czechoslovakia that followed the Munich Agreement, although they were not part of the agreement. Following the Anschluss of Nazi Germany and Austria in March 1938 Nazi leader Adolf Hitler 's next target for annexation was Czechoslovakia The Munich Agreement (Mnichovská dohoda Mníchovská dohoda Münchner Abkommen Accords de Munich was an agreement regarding the Sudetenland, which were areas along borders It coerced Czechoslovakia to surrender the city of Český Těšín by issuing an ultimatum to that effect on September 30, which was accepted by Czechoslovakia on October 1. Český Těšín ( Czeski Cieszyn, Tschechisch-Teschen is a town in the Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. [17]
In 1938, 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. [4] 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. [5] The Poles also distrusted Hitler and his intentions. [6] At the same time, Germany's collaboration with anti-Polish Ukrainian nationalists from the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists further weakened German credibility in Polish eyes, which was seen as an effort to isolate and weaken Poland. Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists or OUN (Організація Українських Націоналістів Orhanizatsiya Ukrayins’kykh Natsionalistiv The British were also aware of this. On March 30, Poland was backed by a guarantee from Britain and France, though neither country was willing to pledge military support in Poland's defense. Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain 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. This article is about the government position For other uses see Prime Minister (disambiguation. Arthur Neville Chamberlain (18 March 1869 &ndash 9 November 1940 was a British Conservative Politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a member of the United Kingdom Government heading the Edward Frederick Lindley Wood 1st Earl of Halifax, KG, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC ( 16 April 1881 &ndash By again resorting to appeasement, 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. On April 28, 1939, it unilaterally withdrew from both the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact of 1934 and the London Naval Agreement of 1935. Events 1192 - Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, two days after his title Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The London Naval Treaty was an agreement between the United Kingdom, the Empire of Japan, France, Italy and the United States, signed In early 1939, Hitler had already issued orders to prepare for a possible "solution of the Polish problem by military means. " Another crucial step towards war was the surprise signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on August 23, the denouement of secret Nazi-Soviet talks held in Moscow, which capitalized on France and Britain's own failure to secure an alliance with the Soviet Union. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of As a result, Germany neutralized the possibility of Soviet opposition to a campaign against Poland. In a secret protocol of this 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.
The German assault was originally scheduled to begin at 04:00 on August 26. However, on August 25, the Polish-British Common Defence Pact was signed as an annex to the Franco-Polish Military Alliance. The Anglo-Polish military alliance refers to agreements reached between the United Kingdom and the Polish Second Republic for mutual assistance in case of military The term Franco-Polish Military Alliance mainly refers to the Military alliance between Poland and France that was active between 1921 and 1940 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 September 1, managing to halt the entire invasion "in mid-leap", with the exception of a few units that were out of communication, towards the south (the Nazi press announced that fanatical Slovakians were behind a cross border raid).
On August 26, 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. Wehrmacht (literally "defense force" was the name of the unified Armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945 [18] In any case, 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. Surveillance aircraft are military Aircraft used for monitoring enemy activity usually carrying no armament
On August 29, prompted by the British, Germany issued one last diplomatic offer, with Case White yet to be rescheduled. Fall Weiss ("Case White" German spelling Fall Weiß) was a German strategic plan for a war with Poland prepared before 1939 and At midnight on August 29, 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. Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946 was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945 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. Gdynia (Gdingen (until 1939 Gotenhafen (1939-1945 Gdiniô is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important Seaport [19] An exchange of minority populations between the two countries was proposed. [20] A Polish plenipotentiary, with full powers, was to arrive in Berlin and accept these terms by noon the next day. [21] The British Cabinet viewed the terms as "reasonable", except the demand for the urgent plenipotentiary, a form of an ultimatum. An ultimatum (the last one is a Demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a threat to be followed through in case [22] When Polish Ambassador Lipski went to see Ribbentrop on August 30, 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. [23]
On August 30, the Polish Navy sent its destroyer flotilla to Britain, executing Operation Peking. A flotilla (from Spanish meaning a flota of small ships and this from French flotte) or naval flotilla, is a formation of small The Peking Plan (or Operation Peking) was an operation in which three Destroyers of the Polish Navy, the ''Burza'' ("Storm" On the same day, Marshal of Poland Edward Rydz-Śmigły announced the mobilization of Polish troops. Marshal of Poland ( Marszałek Polski) is the highest rank in the Polish Army. Edward Rydz-Śmigły ( pronounced rɨts ɕmigwɨ sometimes Edward Śmigły-Rydz ( March 11 1886 This article describes military mobilization For other meanings see Mobilization (disambiguation. 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. During the night of August 31, the Gleiwitz incident ("Polish" attack on the radio station) was staged near the German border city of Gleiwitz, in Upper Silesia. The Gleiwitz incident was a staged attack on 31 August, 1939 against the German Radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz The Second Polish Republic or interwar Poland is the Republic of Poland between World War I and World War II. Gliwice (Gleiwitz is an industrial City in southern Poland with 200361 inhabitants (2004 on the Kłodnica River about 20 km to the west from Upper Silesia (Horní Slezsko Oberschlesien Latin: Silesia Superior; Górny Śląsk Silesian: Gůrny Ślůnsk) is the southeastern part On August 31, 1939, Hitler ordered hostilities against Poland to start at 4:45 the next morning. Events 1056 - Byzantine Empress Theodora becomes ill dying suddenly a few days later without children to succeed the Throne Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Because of the prior stoppage, Poland managed to mobilise only 70% of its planned forces, and many units were still forming or moving to their designated frontline positions.
Details of the campaign
Plans
German plan
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. Fall Weiss ("Case White" German spelling Fall Weiß) was a German strategic plan for a war with Poland prepared before 1939 and Franz Ritter Halder ( June 30 1884 &ndash April 2 1972) was a German General and the head of the Army General Heinrich Alfred Hermann Walther von Brauchitsch ( 4 October 1881 &ndash 18 October 1948) was an aristocratic German field A commander-in-chief is the Commander of a nation's Military forces or significant element of those forces It called for the start of hostilities before a declaration of war, and pursued a doctrine of mass encirclement and destruction of enemy forces. A declaration of war is a formal performative Speech act or signing of a document by an authorised party of a government in order to initate a state of War 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. A panzer, pronunced, is a German Tank, especially in the context of World War II. (abbreviated PzGren or Pzg) (Literally armored grenadeer is a German term for motorised or Mechanized infantry, as introduced during Blitzkrieg (German for "lightning war" is a popular name for an Offensive operational-level Military doctrine which involves an initial 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. Blitzkrieg (German for "lightning war" is a popular name for an Offensive operational-level Military doctrine which involves an initial Heinz Wilhelm Guderian ( 17 June, 1888 – 14 May, 1954) was a military theorist and innovative General of the German 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). In Geography, a plain is an area of land with relatively low relief — meaning that it is flat East Prussia (Ostpreußen; Rytų Prūsija or Rytprūsiai; Prusy Wschodnie Восточная Пруссия or Vostochnaya Prussiya) refers to the main part 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. The " Czech lands " (České země is an auxiliary term used mainly to describe the combination of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. A puppet state is a State that is nominally independent but in reality under the control of another power This article discusses the history of the territory of Slovakia.
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:
- A main attack over the western Polish border. This was to be carried out by Army Group South commanded by General Gerd von Rundstedt, attacking from German Silesia and from the Moravian and Slovak border: General Johannes Blaskowitz's 8th Army was to drive eastward against Łódź; General Wilhelm List's 14th Army was to push on toward Kraków and to turn the Poles' Carpathian flank; and General Walter von Reichenau's 10th Army, in the centre with Army Group South's armour, was to deliver the decisive blow with a northestward thrust into the heart of Poland. Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt ( December 12, 1875 - February 24, 1953) was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Etymology One theory claims that the name Silesia is derived from the Silingi, who were most likely a Vandalic (East Germanic people Moravia (Morava; Morawy Moravie Moravia is a historical region in central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, one of the former Czech lands. Johannes Blaskowitz ( 10 July 1883 - 5 February 1948) was a German general during World War II. Łódź is Poland 's third largest city with population of 753192 in 2007 (lost its second rank to Krakow in 2007 Siegmund Wilhelm List ( May 14, 1880 &ndash August 17, 1971) was a German Field marshal during World War II Kraków, in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow (ˈkrækaʊ M-W: krăk'ou krāk'ō is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians (Carpaţi Czech, Polish and Slovak: Karpaty; Ukrainian: Карпати Walter von Reichenau ( October 8, 1884 &ndash January 17, 1942) was a German Generalfeldmarschall.
- A second route of attack from northern Prussia. Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state General Fedor von Bock commanded Army Group North, comprising General Georg von Küchler's 3rd Army, which was to strike southward from East Prussia, and General Günther von Kluge's 4th Army, which was to attack eastward across the base of the Polish Corridor. Fedor von Bock ( December 3, 1880 &ndash May 4, 1945) was an officer in the German Military from 1898 to Georg Karl Friedrich Wilhelm von Küchler ( May 30 1881 &ndash May 25 1968) was a German Field marshal during Günther “Hans” von Kluge ( October 30, 1882 – August 19, 1944) was a German military leader Background Giving Poland access to the sea was one of the guarantees proposed by the United States President Woodrow Wilson in his Fourteen
- A tertiary attack by part of Army Group South's allied Slovak units from Slovakia. The Slovak Republic ( Slovak: Slovenská republika) was an independent national Slovak state which existed from 14 March 1939
- From within Poland, the German minority would assist by engaging in diversion and sabotage operations through Selbstschutz units prepared before the war. Selbstschutz (Self-protection stands for two organisations it was (1 a name used by a number of paramilitary organisations created by Ethnic Germans in Central Europe
All three assaults were to converge on Warsaw, while the main Polish army was to be encircled and destroyed west of the Vistula. Warsaw (Warszawa; also known by other names) is the Capital and Largest city of Poland. Encirclement is a military term for the situation when a force or target is isolated and surrounded by enemy forces Fall Weiss was initiated on September 1, 1939, and was the first operation of the Second World War in Europe. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Polish plan
The Polish defense plan, Zachód (West), was shaped by political determination to deploy forces directly at the German-Polish border, based upon London's promise to come to Warsaw's military aid in the event of invasion. Plan Zachód (Plan West was a Military plan of the Polish Army of the Second Polish Republic, for defence against invasion from Nazi Germany London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Moreover, with the nation's most valuable natural resources, industry and highly populated regions near the western border (Silesia region), Polish policy centered on their protection, especially since many politicians feared that if Poland were to retreat from the regions disputed by Germany (like the Polish Corridor, cause of the famous "Danzig or War" ultimatum), Britain and France would sign a separate peace treaty with Germany similar to the Munich Agreement of 1938. Etymology One theory claims that the name Silesia is derived from the Silingi, who were most likely a Vandalic (East Germanic people The Munich Agreement (Mnichovská dohoda Mníchovská dohoda Münchner Abkommen Accords de Munich was an agreement regarding the Sudetenland, which were areas along borders In addition, none of its allies had specifically guaranteed Polish borders or territorial integrity. Territorial integrity is the principle under International law that nation-states should not attempt to promote Secessionist movements or to promote Border On those grounds, Poland disregarded French advice to deploy the bulk of their forces behind the natural barriers of the wide Vistula and San rivers, even though some Polish generals supported it as a better strategy. The Zachód plan did allow the Polish armies to retreat inside the country, but it was supposed to be a slow retreat behind prepared positions near the rivers (Narew, Vistula and San), giving the country time to finish its mobilisation, and was to be turned into a general counteroffensive when the Western Allies launched their own promised offensive. Narew Podlaskie Voivodeship The river Narew ( Belarusian: Нараў, Lithuanian: Naura) in western Belarus and north-eastern A counterattack The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis powers during the Second World War.
The Polish Army's most pessimistic fall-back plan involved retreat behind the river San to the southeastern voivodships and their lengthy defence (the Romanian bridgehead plan). This article concerns both historical and contemporary voivodeships in various countries The Romanian Bridgehead (Przedmoście rumuńskie was an area in southeastern Poland, now located in Ukraine. The British and French estimated that Poland should be able to defend that region for two to three months, while Poland estimated it could hold for at least six months. This Polish plan was based around the expectation that the Western Allies would keep their end of the signed alliance treaty and quickly start an offensive of their own. However, neither the French nor the British government made plans to attack Germany while the Polish campaign was being fought. In addition, they expected the war to develop into trench warfare much like World War I had, forcing the Germans to sign a peace treaty restoring Poland's borders. Trench warfare is a form of warfare where both combatants have fortified positions and fighting lines are static The Polish government, however, was not notified of this strategy and based all of its defence plans on promises of quick relief by their Western allies. [24][25]
The plan to defend the borders contributed vastly to the Polish defeat. Polish forces were stretched thin on the very long border and, lacking compact defence lines and good defence positions along disadvantageous terrain, mechanized German forces often were able to encircle them. Armoured warfare or tank warfare is the use of Armoured fighting vehicles in Modern warfare. In addition, supply lines, were often poorly protected. Military supply chain management is a cross-functional approach to procuring, producing and delivering products and services The broad Approximately one-third of Poland's forces were concentrated in or near the Polish Corridor (in northwestern Poland), where they were perilously exposed to a double envelopment — from East Prussia and the west combined and isolated in a pocket. The pincer movement or double envelopment is a basic element of Military strategy which has been used to some extent in many Wars and is considered In the south, facing the main avenues of a German advance, the Polish forces were thinly spread. At the same time, nearly another one-third of Poland's troops were massed in reserve in the north-central part of the country, between the major cities of Łódź and Warsaw, under commander in chief Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły. Łódź is Poland 's third largest city with population of 753192 in 2007 (lost its second rank to Krakow in 2007 Edward Rydz-Śmigły ( pronounced rɨts ɕmigwɨ sometimes Edward Śmigły-Rydz ( March 11 1886 The Poles' forward concentration in general forfeited their chance of fighting a series of delaying actions, since their army, unlike some of Germany's, traveled largely on foot and was unable to retreat to their defensive positions in the rear or to man them before they were overrun by German mechanized columns.
The political decision to defend the border was not the Polish high command's only strategic mistake. Polish pre-war propaganda stated that any German invasion would be easily repelled, so that the eventual Polish defeats in the September Campaign came as a shock to many civilians, who were unprepared for such news and, with no training for such a disaster, panicked and retreated east, spreading chaos, lowering troop morale and making road transportation for Polish troops very difficult. Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people Morale, also known as esprit de corps when discussing the morale of a group is an intangible term used for the capacity of people to maintain Belief in The propaganda also had some negative consequences for the Polish troops, whose communications, disrupted by German mobile units operating in the rear and civilians blocking roads, were further thrown into chaos by bizarre reports from Polish radio stations and newspapers which often reported imaginary victories and other military operations. This led to some Polish troops being encircled or making a stand against overwhelming odds, when they thought they were actually counterattacking or would soon receive reinforcements from other victorious areas. [26]
Phase 1: German invasion
Following several German-staged incidents (Operation Himmler), which German propaganda used as an excuse to claim that German forces were acting in self-defense, the first regular act of war took place on September 1, 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. The Gleiwitz incident was a staged attack on 31 August, 1939 against the German Radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz Self-defense (or self-defence &mdash see spelling differences) is the act of defending oneself one's property or the well-being of another from physical harm Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The bombing of Wieluń refers to the Terror bombing of the Polish town of Wieluń by the German Luftwaffe on 1 September 1939 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. A battleship is a large heavily armored Warship with a main battery consisting of the largest Calibre of Guns Battleships were History SMS Schleswig-Holstein was one of five Pre-dreadnought, ''Deutschland''-class battleships not to be confused with a later class of Pocket Westerplatte is a Peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on Baltic Sea coast at the river mouth of the Dead Vistula (one of the The Free City of Danzig ( German: Freie Stadt Danzig; Polish: Wolne Miasto Gdańsk) was an autonomous Baltic Sea port and The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. At 08:00, German troops, still without a formal declaration of war issued, attacked near the Polish town of Mokra. The Battle of Mokra took place on September 1, 1939 near the village of Mokra, north-west of Częstochowa, Poland. The battle of the border had begun. The Battle of the Border (Bitwa graniczna refers to the battles that occurred in the first days of the Nazi Germany invasion of Poland in September 1939 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 (Army "Bernolak") from German-allied Slovakia in the south. East Prussia (Ostpreußen; Rytų Prūsija or Rytprūsiai; Prusy Wschodnie Восточная Пруссия or Vostochnaya Prussiya) refers to the main part The Slovak Republic ( Slovak: Slovenská republika) was an independent national Slovak state which existed from 14 March 1939 The Slovak Republic ( Slovak: Slovenská republika) was an independent national Slovak state which existed from 14 March 1939 All three assaults converged on the Polish capital of Warsaw.
The Allied governments declared war on Germany on September 3; however, they failed to provide any meaningful support. Events 36 BC - In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompeius Western betrayal or Yalta betrayal are popular terms in many Central European countries especially in Poland and the Czech Republic which refers 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. The Saar Offensive was a French operation into the Saarland on the German 1 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. Lviv ( Ukrainian: Львів, L’viv, Lwów Lemberg Львов L'vov; see also other names) is a major city in western The Luftwaffe gained air superiority early in the campaign. Air superiority is the dominance in the Air power of one side's air forces over the other side's during a Military 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. Polish Air Force ( Siły Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej Siły Powietrzne RP - Air Forces of the Polish Republic is the Air force branch of the Polish Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania [28] The Polish initial strength of 400 was reduced to just 54 by September 14 and air opposition virtually ceased. [28]
By September 3, 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 September 8, one of his armoured corps was on the outskirts of Warsaw, having advanced 225 kilometres (140 miles) in the first week of war. Günther “Hans” von Kluge ( October 30, 1882 – August 19, 1944) was a German military leader Georg Karl Friedrich Wilhelm von Küchler ( May 30 1881 &ndash May 25 1968) was a German Field marshal during Narew Podlaskie Voivodeship The river Narew ( Belarusian: Нараў, Lithuanian: Naura) in western Belarus and north-eastern Walter von Reichenau ( October 8, 1884 &ndash January 17, 1942) was a German Generalfeldmarschall. The Warta (Warthe Varta is a River in western-central Poland, a tributary of the Oder river Łódź is Poland 's third largest city with population of 753192 in 2007 (lost its second rank to Krakow in 2007 Kielce is a city in central Poland with 202609 inhabitants (2006 Light divisions on Reichenau's right were on the Vistula between Warsaw and the town of Sandomierz by September 9, while List, in the south, was on the river San above and below the town of Przemyśl. Sandomierz (Sandomir Sandomiria is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25714 inhabitants ( 2006) History In historical records the river was first mentioned in 1097 as Sanъ, reku Sanъ, k Sanovi, nad Sanomъ (1152 and Sanu Przemyśl (Перемишль Peremyshl, Prömsel פּשעמישל- Pshemishl) is a city in south-eastern Poland with 67847 inhabitants (2005 At the same time, Guderian led his 3rd Army tanks across the Narew, attacking the line of the Bug River, already encircling Warsaw. The Bug or Buh River (Bug; Західний Буг Zakhidnyy Buh; Захо́дні Буг Zakhodni Buh; Западный Буг Zapadnyy Bug 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.
Polish forces abandoned regions of Pomerania, Greater Poland and Silesia in the first week. Greater Poland or Great Poland, Polish Wielkopolska (Großpolen Latin: Polonia Maior) is a historical region of west-central Poland Etymology One theory claims that the name Silesia is derived from the Silingi, who were most likely a Vandalic (East Germanic people The Polish plan for border defence was proven a dismal failure. The German advance as a whole was not slowed. On September 10, the Polish commander-in-chief, Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły, ordered a general retreat to the southeast, towards the so-called Romanian bridgehead. Edward Rydz-Śmigły ( pronounced rɨts ɕmigwɨ sometimes Edward Śmigły-Rydz ( March 11 1886 For other meanings see Withdrawal (disambiguation. A withdrawal is a type of Military operation, generally meaning retreating The Romanian Bridgehead (Przedmoście rumuńskie was an area in southeastern Poland, now located in Ukraine. 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. Poznań Lublin Voivodeship This article is about the city in Poland Warsaw, under heavy aerial bombardment since the first hours of the war, was attacked on September 9 and was put under siege on September 13. The 1939 Battle of Warsaw was fought between the Polish Warsaw Army ( Armia Warszawa) garrisoned and entrenched in the Capital Around that time, advanced German forces also reached the city of Lwów, a major metropolis in eastern Poland. A metropolis (from the Greek μήτηρ mētēr meaning 'mother' and πόλις pólis meaning 'city/town' is a big City, in most cases with 1,150 German aircraft bombed Warsaw on September 24.
The largest battle during this campaign, the Battle of Bzura, took place near the Bzura river west of Warsaw and lasted from September 9 to September 19. The Battle of the Bzura (or Kutno or Battle of Kutno - German name was a battle in the opening campaign of World War II during the 1939 Bzura is a River in central Poland, a tributary of the Vistula river (in Wyszogród) with a length of 166 kilometres (25th longest and the 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". [29] 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. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Luftwaffe left the army with the easy task of mopping up survivors. The Stukageschwaders alone dropped 388 tonnes of bombs during this battle". This article is about the tonne or metric ton For other tons see Ton. [29]
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 Brześć on September 6. Ignacy Mościcki ( December 1, 1867 &ndash October 2, 1946) was a Polish Politician and Chemist, President Marshal of Poland ( Marszałek Polski) is the highest rank in the Polish Army. 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.
Phase 2: Soviet invasion 17. 09. 1939
- For more details on this topic, see Soviet invasion of Poland (1939). The 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation that started without a formal declaration of war on 17 September 1939 during the early stages of World War II, sixteen
From the beginning, the German government repeatedly asked Joseph Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov to act upon the August agreement and attack Poland from the east. Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Molotov redirects here For other uses see Molotov (disambiguation. [30] Worried by an unexpectedly rapid German advance and eager to grab their allotted share of the country, Soviet forces attacked Poland on September 17. 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". Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika is a Country in Eastern often referred to as Northern Europe or in the The USSR had openly supported German aggression, and Molotov stated after the Polish defeat: Germany, which has lately united 80 million Germans, has submitted certain neighboring countries to her supremacy and gained military strength in many aspects, and thus has become, as clearly can be seen, a dangerous rival to principal imperialistic powers in Europe - England and France. That is why they declared war on Germany on a pretext of fulfilling the obligations given to Poland. It is now clearer than ever, how remote the real aims of the cabinets in these countries were from the interests of defending the now disintegrated Poland or Czechoslovakia[31]
By September 17, 1939, the Polish defense was already broken, and the only hope was to retreat and reorganise along the Romanian bridgehead. Events 1176 - The Battle of Myriokephalon is fought 1462 - The Battle of Świecino (or Battle of Żarnowiec Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 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. The Red Army ( Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия R aboche- K rest'yanskaya K rasnaya A rmiya A Front (фронт was a major Military organization in the Soviet Army, roughly equivalent to an Army group in the military terminology of other countries The term Kresy, meaning Outskirts or Borderlands, was first used to define the Polish eastern frontier The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga; (Ри́жский ми́рный договóр -- Romanisation Rízhsky Mírny dogovór --, Rīgas [32] Soviet diplomacy claimed that they were "protecting the Ukrainian and Belarusian minorities of eastern Poland in view of Polish imminent collapse. Ukrainians (Українці Ukrayintsi,) are an East Slavic Ethnic group primarily living in Ukraine, or more broadly— Citizens Belarusians or Belorussians (Беларусы Biełarusy previously also spelled Belarussians, Byelorussians and Belorusians, also Vyacheslav Molotov delivered a speech on September 17, 1939:
Events arising out of the Polish‑German War has revealed the internal insolvency and obvious impotence of the Polish state. Events 1176 - The Battle of Myriokephalon is fought 1462 - The Battle of Świecino (or Battle of Żarnowiec Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Polish ruling circles have suffered bankruptcy. . . . Warsaw as the capital of the Polish state no longer exists. No one knows the whereabouts of the Polish Government. The population of Poland have been abandoned by their ill‑starred leaders to their fate. The Polish state and its government have virtually ceased to exist. In view of this‑state of affairs, treaties concluded between the Soviet Union and Poland have ceased to operate. A situation has arisen in Poland which demands of the Soviet‑Government especial concern for the security of its state. Poland has become a fertile field for any accidental and unexpected contingency that may create a menace to the Soviet Union. . . . Nor can it be demanded of the Soviet Government that it remain indifferent to the fate of its blood brothers, the Ukrainians and Byelorussians [White Russians] inhabiting Poland, who even formerly were without rights and who now have been abandoned entirely to their fate. The Soviet Government deems it its sacred duty to extend the hand of assistance to its brother Ukrainians and brother Byelorussians inhabiting Poland[33]
Polish border defence forces in the east, known as the Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza, consisted of about 25 battalions. Border Protection Corps (Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza KOP) was a Polish military unit created in 1924 for defence of the eastern border against armed Soviet Edward Rydz-Śmigły ordered them to fall back and not engage the Soviets. 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 Battle of Grodno took place between September 21 and September 24, 1939, during the Polish Defensive War. The Soviets murdered numerous Poles, including prisoners of war like General Józef Olszyna-Wilczyński. Józef Konstanty Olszyna-Wilczyński ( 1890-1939 was a Polish General and one of the high-ranking commanders of the Polish Army. [34][35] The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists rose against the Poles, and communist partisans organised local revolts, robbing and murdering Poles. Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists or OUN (Організація Українських Націоналістів Orhanizatsiya Ukrayins’kykh Natsionalistiv Those movements were quickly disciplined by the NKVD. The NKVD ( НКВД, ru Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del'') or People's Commissariat The Soviet invasion was one of the decisive factors that convinced the Polish government that the war in Poland was lost. [10] 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. [10] 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.
Meanwhile, Polish forces tried to move towards the Romanian bridgehead area, still actively resisting the German invasion. From September 17 to September 20, Polish armies Kraków and Lublin were crippled at the Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski, the second largest battle of the campaign. Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski took place from 17 September to 26 September 1939 near the town of Tomaszów Lubelski. The city of Lwów capitulated on September 22 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. Despite a series of intensifying German attacks, Warsaw—defended by quickly reorganised retreating units, civilian volunteers and militia—held out until September 28. The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary Citizens to provide defense emergency law enforcement or Paramilitary service The Modlin Fortress north of Warsaw capitulated on September 29 after an intense 16-day battle. Modlin Fortress ( Polish Twierdza Modlin) is one of the biggest 19th century Fortresses in Poland The Battle of Modlin took place during the German invasion of Poland at the beginning of the Second World War. Some isolated Polish garrisons managed to hold their positions long after being surrounded by German forces. Garrison (various spellings (from the French garnison, itself from the verb garnir, "to equip" is the collective term for a body of Troops Westerplatte enclave's tiny garrison capitulated on September 7, and the Oksywie garrison held until September 19; Hel was defended until October 2. Westerplatte is a Peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on Baltic Sea coast at the river mouth of the Dead Vistula (one of the Oksywie (Oxhöft Òksëwiô is a neighbourhood of the city of Gdynia, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. The Battle of Kępa Oksywska took place in the Oksywie Heights outside of the city of Gdynia between September 10 and September 19, The Battle of Hel was one of the longest battles of the Invasion of Poland during World War II.
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 September 28, in many cases meeting German units advancing from the other direction. Battle of Szack was one of the major battles between the Polish Army and the Red Army fought in 1939 in the beginning the Second World War. A non-commissioned officer (sometimes noncommissioned officer) also known as an NCO or Noncom, is an enlisted member of an Armed force Narew Podlaskie Voivodeship The river Narew ( Belarusian: Нараў, Lithuanian: Naura) in western Belarus and north-eastern Polish defenders on the Hel peninsula on the shore of the Baltic Sea held out until October 2. Hel Peninsula ( Mierzeja Helska Półwysep Helski Hélskô Sztremlëzna Halbinsel Hela or Putziger Nehrung) is a 35-km-long Sand bar Peninsula The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. 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 October 6, marking the end of the September Campaign. Franciszek Kleeberg ( February 1, 1888 in Tarnopol - April 5, 1941 near Dresden) was a Polish general Independent Operational Group Polesie ( Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna Polesie, SGO Polesie) was one of the Polish Army Corps ( Operational The Battle of Kock, was the final battle of the Invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II. Lublin is the largest city in eastern Poland and the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 355954
Civilian losses
The Polish September Campaign was an instance of total war. Total war is a conflict of unlimited scope in which a Belligerent engages in a total mobilization of all available resources at his disposal 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. The ( German for "Protective Squadron" abbreviated SS - or ( Runic)- was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the This article deals with mass killings that are not considered Genocide. 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. The codename Unternehmen Tannenberg (Operation Tannenberg was used for two discrete German operations At the end of August 1939 the Gleiwitz incident -like Einsatzgruppen ( German: "task forces" "intervention groups" were Paramilitary groups formed by Heinrich Himmler and Selbstschutz (Self-protection stands for two organisations it was (1 a name used by a number of paramilitary organisations created by Ethnic Germans in Central Europe
Altogether, the civilian losses of Polish population amounted to 150,000, while German civilian losses amounted to roughly 5,000.
Aftermath
Poland was divided among Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, Lithuania and Slovakia. The Slovak Republic ( Slovak: Slovenská republika) was an independent national Slovak state which existed from 14 March 1939 Nazi Germany annexed parts of Poland, while the rest was governed by the so-called General Government. At the beginning of World War II, significant Polish areas were annexed by Nazi Germany in contrary to Hague Convention IV 1907 and put under German civil The General Government (Generalgouvernement refers to a part of the territories of Poland (and Ostrava Czechoslovakia under German Military occupation On September 28, 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 favor, to the Bug River. A Treaty is an agreement under International law entered into by actors in international law namely States and International organizations.
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 September 22. The German 19th Panzer Corps under the command of Heinz Guderian had occupied the city, which lay within the Soviet sphere of interest. Heinz Wilhelm Guderian ( 17 June, 1888 – 14 May, 1954) was a military theorist and innovative General of the German 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. [36] At Brest-Litovsk, Soviet and German commanders held a joint victory parade before German forces withdrew westward behind a new demarcation line. A victory parade is a type of Parade held in order to celebrate a victory [8] Just three days earlier, however, the parties had a more hostile encounter near Lviv, 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. Lviv ( Ukrainian: Львів, L’viv, Lwów Lemberg Львов L'vov; see also other names) is a major city in western The German troops left the area, and the Red Army troops entered L'viv on September 22.
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. For other uses of Neutral and Neutrality see Neutral A neutral country takes no side in a War between other parties Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic Latvia ( Latvija officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republika is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region. Most of the Polish Navy succeeded in evacuating to Britain as well. German personnel losses were less than their enemies (~16,000 KIA). Killed in action ( KIA or K I A) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces by other
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 European Theatre of Operations ( ETO) was an area of heavy fighting across Europe during World War II, from Nazi Germany's Invasion of Poland The Second Sino-Japanese War ( July 7, 1937 to September 9, 1945) was a major war fought between the Republic of China and the The Pacific War was the part of World War II —and preceding conflicts—that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands and in East Asia, between
The invasion of Poland led to Britain and France to declare war on Germany on September 3. 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. Western betrayal or Yalta betrayal are popular terms in many Central European countries especially in Poland and the Czech Republic which refers
On May 23, 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. Events 1430 - Siege of Compiègne: Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ( German for " habitat " or literally "living space" served as a major motivation for Nazi Germany 's territorial aggression Generalplan Ost ( GPO) was a secret Nazi plan of Genocide and Ethnic cleansing to be realised in the territories occupied [7] [8] The blitzkrieg decimated urban residential areas, civilians soon became indistinguishable from combatants, and the forthcoming German occupation (General Government, Reichsgau Wartheland) was one of the most brutal episodes of World War II, resulting in over 6 million Polish deaths (over 20% of the country's total population, and over 90% of its Jewish minority),-including the mass murder of 3 million Poles, regardless of religious beliefs,[9]- in extermination camps like Auschwitz, in concentation 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. The General Government (Generalgouvernement refers to a part of the territories of Poland (and Ostrava Czechoslovakia under German Military occupation Reichsgau Wartheland (initially Reichsgau Posen, sometimes briefly called Warthegau) was the name given by Nazi German government to the largest subdivision Extermination camps were two types of facilities that Nazi Germany built during World War II for the systematic killing of millions of people in what has become "Auschwitz" redirects here For the town see Oświęcim Auschwitz-Birkenau () was the largest of Nazi Germany
The Red Army occupied the Polish territories with mostly Ukrainian and Belarusian population. Ukrainians (Українці Ukrayintsi,) are an East Slavic Ethnic group primarily living in Ukraine, or more broadly— Citizens Belarusians or Belorussians (Беларусы Biełarusy previously also spelled Belarussians, Byelorussians and Belorusians, also Soviets, met at the beginning as liberators by local people, soon started to introduce communist ideology in the area. This led to a powerful anti-Soviet resistance in the West Ukraine. Soviet occupation between 1939 and 1941 resulted in the death or deportation of least 1. After the Soviet invasion of Poland following the corresponding German invasion that marked the start of World War II in 1939 the Soviet Union annexed Deportation, not to be confused with Extradition, generally means the expulsion of someone from a place or Country. 8 million former Polish citizens, when all who were deemed dangerous to the communist regime were subject to sovietization, forced resettlement, imprisonment in labour camps (the Gulags) or murdered, like the Polish officers in the Katyn massacre. Sovietization is term that may be used with two distinct (but related meanings the adoption of a political system based on the model of soviets (workers' councils A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are engaged in Penal labor. The Gulag was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. Part of these casualties were retributions for the attacks of Ukrainian nationalists on the Polish villages in the West Ukraine, where vengeful feeling was particularly strong. Soviet atrocities commenced again after Poland was "liberated" by the Red Army in 1944, with events like the persecution of the Home Army soldiers and execution of its leaders (Trial of the Sixteen). The Trial of the Sixteen (Proces szesnastu was a Staged trial of 16 leaders of the Polish Secret State held by the Soviet Union in Moscow in
Myths
There are several common misconceptions regarding the Polish September Campaign:
- Myth: The Polish military fought tanks with cavalry.
Although Poland had 11 cavalry brigades and its doctrine emphasized cavalry units as elite units, other armies of that time (including German and Soviet) also fielded and extensively used horse cavalry units. The Cavalry (from French cavalerie) is the second oldest of the Combat Arms, and as Soldiers or Warriors who fought mounted on A brigade is a Military unit Echelon: is Military doctrine is the concise expression of how military forces contribute to campaigns major operations Battles and engagements It is a guide Polish cavalry (equipped with modern small arms and light artillery like the highly effective Bofors 37 mm antitank gun) never charged German tanks or entrenched infantry or artillery directly, but usually acted as mobile infantry (like dragoons) and reconnaissance units and executed cavalry charges only in rare situations against enemy infantry. The Polish cavalry (kawaleria can trace its origins back to the days of Medieval mounted Knights. The Bofors 37 mm gun was an Anti-tank gun designed by Swedish manufacturer Bofors in the early 1930s Mobile infantry is one of several Military terms usually referring to Infantry units equipped with Vehicles Before the development of Railroads A dragoon is a soldier intended primarily to fight on foot but trained also in Horse riding and cavalry combat especially Reconnaissance (also scouting) is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information The article about the Battle of Krojanty (when Polish cavalry were fired on by hidden armored vehicles, rather than charging them) describes how this myth originated. The Charge battle or skirmish of Krojanty was a Cavalry charge that happened during the Invasion of Poland in the Second World War. - Myth: The Polish air force was destroyed on the ground in the first days of the war.
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. A trainer is an Aircraft used to develop piloting navigational or war-fighting skills in flight crew The Polish Air Force remained active in the first two weeks of the campaign, inflicting damage on the Luftwaffe. Many skilled Polish pilots escaped afterwards to the United Kingdom and were deployed by the RAF during the Battle of Britain. The Battle of Britain (German ''Luftschlacht um England'' is the name given to the sustained strategic effort by the German Luftwaffe during the summer and Fighting from British bases, Polish pilots were on average the most successful in shooting down German aircraft. [37] - Myth: Poland offered little resistance and surrendered quickly.
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[38]. 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. In World War II, the Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries [39] Furthermore, Polish Army was preparing Romanian Bridgehead, which would have prolonged Polish defence, but this plan was cancelled due to Soviet invasion on Poland on September 17, 1939. The Romanian Bridgehead (Przedmoście rumuńskie was an area in southeastern Poland, now located in Ukraine. 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. Leśni (short for Leśni ludzie, Polish for the men from the forests) is one of the informal names applied to the partisan groups operating The Polish resistance movement in World War II in German-occupied Poland was one the largest resistance movements in all of occupied Europe. The Polish resistance movement was a Resistance movement in Poland which fought against the Occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany during World This article deals with the occupation of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union during the Second World War (1939–1945 - Myth: The German Army used new concepts of warfare strategically.
The myth of Blitzkrieg has been dispelled by some authors, notably Matthew Cooper. Cooper writes (in The German Army 1939–1945: Its Political and Military Failure): "Throughout the Polish Campaign, the employment of the mechanised 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. ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. Such was the Vernichtungsgedanke of the Polish campaign. Vernichtungsgedanke, literally meaning "concept of annihilation" in German and generally taken to mean "the concept of fast annihilation of enemy forces" " 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. Frederick II (Friedrich II January 24 1712 August 17 1786) was a King of Prussia (1740&ndash1786 from the The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War ( 19 July, 1870 — 10 May, 1871 The use of tanks "left much to be desired. A tank is a tracked, Armoured fighting vehicle designed for Front-line combat which combines Operational mobility and tactical . . 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. " 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. " John Ellis, writing in Brute Force (Viking Penguin, 1990) 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 characterise authentic armoured blitzkrieg, and were almost always closely subordinated to the various mass infantry armies. Brute Force Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War is a book by Historian John Ellis which concludes that the Allied Forces " Zaloga and Madej, in The Polish Campaign 1939 (Hippocrene Books, 1985), 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. "
Notes
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The 1939 Campaign Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2005
- ^ a b Various sources contradict each other so the figures quoted above should only be taken as a rough indication of the strength estimate. Structural organisation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland Foreign affairs administration covers Poland’s relations with other The most common range differences and their brackets are: German personnel 1,500,000 (thats the 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. A tankette is a type of lightly armed and armored tracked combat vehicle resembling a small Tank roughly the size of a car mainly intended for light Infantry For all numbers, primary source is Encyklopedia PWN, article on 'Kampania Wrześniowa 1939' or the website of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs - the Poles on the Front Lines.
- ^ E. R Hooton, p85
- ^ a b 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: Polish casualties—63,000 to 66,300 KIA, 134,000 WIA; German KIA—8,082 to 16,343, with MIA from 320 to 5,029, total KIA and WIA given at 45,000. 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 number for German KIA casualties is 16,343. Soviet official losses are estimated at 737–1,475 killed or missing, and 1,859–2,383 wounded. 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. Equipment losses are given as 236 German tanks and approximately 1,000 other vehicles to 132 Polish tanks and 300 other vehicles, 107–141 German planes to 327 Polish planes (118 fighters) (Polish PWN Encyclopedia gives number of 700 planes lost), 1 German small minelayer to 1 Polish destroyer (ORP Wicher), 1 minelayer (ORP Gryf) and several support craft. For the other warship of the Polish Navy named ORP Wicher see ORP Wicher (Smielyi class History The ship was built at History Built from 1934 at French Shipyard Chantiers et Ateliers A Soviets lost approximately 42 tanks in combat while hundreds more suffered technical failures.
- ^ History Group of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Wellington, New Zealand (2005). Overview - New Zealand and the Second World War (English). New Zealand's History online. Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved on 2007-01-15. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah 's reign
- ^ Baliszewski, Most honoru
- ^ a b Fischer 1999–2000
- ^ Cienciala, Anna M. (2004). Anna M Cienciala (November 8 1929- is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Kansas, and teaching the history of [[Poland] Russia and Eastern The Coming of the War and Eastern Europe in World War II. University of Kansas. The University of Kansas (often referred to as KU or just Kansas) is a public research university with campuses located in Lawrence, Kansas City Retrieved on 2006-03-15. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 44 BC - Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus,
- ^ a b c (Sanford 2005, pp. 20–24)
- ^ B. H. Hart & A. J. P Taylor, p41
- ^ Bombers of the Luftwaffe, Joachim Dressel and Manfred Griehl, Arms and Armour, 1994
- ^ The Flying pencil, Heinz J. Nowarra, Schiffer Publishing,1990,p25
- ^ A History of World War Two, A. J. P Taylor, Octopus, 1974, p35
- ^ 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
- ^ Adam Kurowski 'Lotnictwo Polskie 1939' 129 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 reconneisance RXIII Lublin, RWD14 Czapla (+115 reserve)
- ^ Nowa Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN 1997, vol. Michael Alfred Peszke (born 1932 Dęblin, Poland) is a Polish-American psychiatrist and historian of the Polish Armed Forces in World War VI, 981.
- ^ http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/psf/box31/t295s04.html see also the original [1]
- ^ 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 September 3, 1939 (Miscellaneous No. 9) Message which was communicated to H. M. Ambassador in Berlin by the State Secretary on August 31, 1939 at 9:15 p. m. (London: His Majesty's (HM) Stationary Office) p. 149–153.
- ^ see: Documents Concerning German-Polish Relations, 149–153.
- ^ see: Documents Concerning German-Polish Relations, 149–153.
- ^ 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 September 20, 1939. (London: His Majesty's Stationary Office), p. 24
- ^ see: Final Report By the Right Honourable Sir Nevile Henderson, p. 16–18
- ^ (Polish) Henryk Piątkowski (1943). Kampania wrześniowa 1939 roku w Polsce. Jerusalem: Sekcja Wydawnicza APW, 39.
- ^ (English) Count Edward Raczyński (1948). Edward Bernard Raczyński ( July 19, 1891 &ndash July 30, 1993) was a Polish aristocrat diplomat writer politician and President The British-Polish Alliance; Its Origin and Meaning. London: Mellville Press.
- ^ Dariusz Baliszewski, Wojna sukcesów, Tygodnik "Wprost", Nr 1141 (10 October 2004)
- ^ (Polish) Marek Wierzbicki, Stosunki polsko-białoruskie pod okupacją sowiecką (1939–1941). Wprost ( Direct) is a weekly Newsmagazine in Poland. It was founded on December 5 1982 as a regional magazine in Greater Poland, Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " „Białoruskie Zeszyty Historyczne” (НА СТАРОНКАХ КАМУНІКАТУ, Biełaruski histaryczny zbornik) 20 (2003), p. 186–188. Retrieved 16 July 2007. see also Jan T. Gross "Revolution from abroad : the Soviet conquest of Poland's Western Ukraine and Western Belorussia" Princeton, N. Jan Tomasz Gross (born December 8, 1947) is a Polish American historian and sociologist J. : Princeton University Press, 1988 ISBN 0691094330
- ^ a b E. R Hooton, p87
- ^ a b E. R Hooton, p91
- ^ Telegram: The German Ambassador in the Soviet Union, (Schulenburg) to the German Foreign Office. Moscow, September 10, 1939-9:40 p. m. and Telegram 2: he German Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Schulenburg) to the German Foreign Office. Moscow, September 16, 1939. Source: The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Last accessed on 14 November 2006
- ^ Molotov's report on March 29, 1940 http://www.histdoc.net/history/molotov.html
- ^ 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-Kellog Pact of 1928 and the 1933 London Convention on the Definition of Aggression; see for instance: (English) Tadeusz Piotrowski (1997). The Covenant of the League of Nations is the Charter of the League of Nations. The Kellogg-Briand Pact, also known as the Pact of Paris, after the city where it was signed on August 27, 1928, was an international treaty "providing Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide.... McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-7864-0371-3.
- ^ EVENTS 1939
- ^ Sanford, p. 23; (Polish) Olszyna-Wilczyński Józef Konstanty, Encyklopedia PWN. Retrieved 14 November 2006. Events 1533 - Conquistadors from Spain under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro arrive in Cajamarca, Inca Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
- ^ (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. Institute of National Remembrance — Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (Instytut Pamięci Narodowej — Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu Internet Archive, 16. 10. 03. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
- ^ 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)
- ^ No. 303 "Kościuszko" Polish Fighter Squadron, formed from Polish pilots in the United Kingdom almost 2 months after the Battle of Britain begun, is famous for achieving the highest number of enemy kills during the battle of all fighter squadrons then in operation. RAF No 303 "Kościuszko" Polish Fighter Squadron ( Warszawski Dywizjon im
- ^ Bekker, Cajus (1964): Angriffshohe - 285 aircraft destroyed, 279 damaged of initial force
- ^ 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).
See also
- Battle of the Bzura
- Siege of Warsaw
- Westerplatte
- Opposing forces in the Polish September Campaign
- List of Polish divisions in World War II
- Armenian quote
- History of Poland (1939–1945)
- Oder-Neisse line
- Polish cavalry brigade order of battle
- Polish contribution to World War II
- Timeline of the Polish September Campaign
- Western betrayal
- Blitzkrieg
- Vernichtungsgedanke
- War crimes of the Wehrmacht
- Treatment of the Polish citizens by the occupiers
References
- Cooper, Matthew (1978). The Battle of the Bzura (or Kutno or Battle of Kutno - German name was a battle in the opening campaign of World War II during the 1939 The 1939 Battle of Warsaw was fought between the Polish Warsaw Army ( Armia Warszawa) garrisoned and entrenched in the Capital Westerplatte is a Peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on Baltic Sea coast at the river mouth of the Dead Vistula (one of the Germany and Poland were the main opposing forces in the Polish September Campaign. This is a list of Polish divisions in WWII. Polish Armies in '39 See also List of Polish armies in World War II Armia Prusy The Armenian quote is a paragraph allegedly included in a speech by Adolf Hitler to Wehrmacht commanders at his Obersalzberg home on August 22 The history of Poland from 1939 to 1945 encompasses the German invasion of Poland through to the end of World War II The Oder-Neisse line (Granica na Odrze i Nysie Łużyckiej Oder-Neiße-Grenze was drawn in the aftermath of World War II as the eastern border of Germany and The following is a standard Order of battle of the Polish cavalry Brigade in 1939 The European theater of World War II opened with the German invasion of Poland on September 1 1939 September 1 World War II begins with the Invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany. Western betrayal or Yalta betrayal are popular terms in many Central European countries especially in Poland and the Czech Republic which refers Blitzkrieg (German for "lightning war" is a popular name for an Offensive operational-level Military doctrine which involves an initial Vernichtungsgedanke, literally meaning "concept of annihilation" in German and generally taken to mean "the concept of fast annihilation of enemy forces" War crimes of the Wehrmacht are those carried out by traditional German armed forces during World War II. This article deals with the occupation of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union during the Second World War (1939–1945 The German Army 1939–1945: Its Political and Military Failure. New York: Stein and Day. ISBN 0-8128-2468-7.
- Baliszewski, Dariusz (2004-10-10). Dariusz Baliszewski is a Polish historian journalist and writer "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated "Wojna sukcesów" (in Polish). Wprost (1141). Wprost ( Direct) is a weekly Newsmagazine in Poland. It was founded on December 5 1982 as a regional magazine in Greater Poland,
- Baliszewski, Dariusz (2004-09-19). Dariusz Baliszewski is a Polish historian journalist and writer "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 335 - Dalmatius is raised to the rank of Caesar by his uncle Constantine I. "Most honoru" (in Polish). Wprost (1138). Wprost ( Direct) is a weekly Newsmagazine in Poland. It was founded on December 5 1982 as a regional magazine in Greater Poland,
- Chodakiewicz, Marek Jan (2004). Marek Jan Chodakiewicz (born in 1962 in Warsaw, Poland) is an American Historian specializing in East Central Between Nazis and Soviets: Occupation Politics in Poland, 1939–1947. Lexington Books. ISBN 0-7391-0484-5.
- Ellis, John (1999). Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War, 1st American ed. Brute Force Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War is a book by Historian John Ellis which concludes that the Allied Forces , Viking Adult. ISBN 0-670-80773-7.
- Fischer, Benjamin B. (Winter 1999–2000). Benjamin B Fischer has worked for the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA for nearly 30 years "The Katyn Controversy: Stalin's Killing Field". Studies in Intelligence.
- Gross, Jan T. (2002). Jan Tomasz Gross (born December 8, 1947) is a Polish American historian and sociologist Revolution from Abroad: The Soviet Conquest of Poland's Western Ukraine and Western Belorussia. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09603-1.
- Hooton, E. R. (2007). Luftwaffe at War: Gathering Storm 1933–1939 Volume 1. London: Chervron/Ian Allen. ISBN 978-1-903223-71-7.
- Kennedy, Robert M. (1980). The German Campaign in Poland (1939). Zenger. ISBN 0-89201-064-9.
- Lukas, Richard C. (2001). Richard C Lukas is an American Historian and author of numerous books and articles on Polish history and Polish-Jewish Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation, 1939–1944. Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-7818-0901-0.
- Majer, Diemut; et al. (2003). Non-Germans under the Third Reich: The Nazi Judicial and Administrative System in Germany and Occupied Eastern Europe, with Special Regard to Occupied Poland, 1939–1945. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-6493-3.
- Prazmowska, Anita J. (1995). Anita J Prazmowska is a Professor in International History at the London School of Economics. Britain and Poland 1939–1943: The Betrayed Ally. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-48385-9.
- Rossino, Alexander B. (2003). Hitler Strikes Poland: Blitzkrieg, Ideology and Atrocity. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-1234-3.
- Sanford, George (2005). George Sanford is a British scholar He holds the position of Senior Lecturer in Politics University of Bristol, England. Katyn and the Soviet Massacre Of 1940: Truth, Justice And Memory. London, New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415338735.
- Smith, Peter Charles (1998). Stuka Spearhead: The Lightning War from Poland to Dunkirk 1939–1940. Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-329-3.
- Sword, Keith (1991). The Soviet Takeover of the Polish Eastern Provinces, 1939–41. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-05570-6.
- Stachiewicz, Wacław (1998). Brigadier General Wacław Stachiewicz (1894-1973 was an officer of the Polish Army, geologist and a Polish writer Wierności dochować żołnierskiej (in Polish). OW RYTM. ISBN 83-86678-71-2.
- Taylor, A. J. P. ; Mayer, S. L. (eds. ) (1974). A History Of World War Two. London: Octopus Books. ISBN 0-70640-399-1.
- Zaloga, Steve; Gerrard, Howard (2002). Poland 1939: The Birth of Blitzkrieg. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-408-6.
- Zaloga, Steve (1982). The Polish Army 1939–1945. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0-85045-417-4.
- "KAMPANIA WRZEŚNIOWA 1939". Internetowa encyklopedia PWN. Internetowa encyklopedia PWN ( Polish for Internet PWN Encyclopedia) is a free online Polish-language Encyclopedia published by Wydawnictwo Retrieved on 2005-12-10. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1041 - Empress Zoe of Byzantium elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V
Further reading
- Böhler, Jochen (2006). Auftakt zum Vernichtungskrieg; Die Wehrmacht in Polen 1939 (Preface to the War of Annihilation: Wehrmacht in Poland) (in German). Frankfurt: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag. ISBN 3-596-16307-2.
External links
- detailed outline of campaign, mainly from German documents
- World War 2 Online Newspaper Archives - The Invasion of Poland, 1939
- The Campaign in Poland at WorldWar2 Database
- The Campaign in Poland at Achtung! Panzer
- German Statistics including September Campaign losses
- Brief Campaign losses and more statistics
- Fall Weiß - The Fall of Poland
- Agreement of Mutual Assistance Between the United Kingdom and Poland.-London, 25 August 1939.
- Poland's Defence War, a fairly detailed but possibly one sided account of the Polish defense in 1939
- Radio reports on the German invasion of Poland and Nazi broadcast claiming that Germany's action is an act of defense
- German reply to British Government's ultimatum of 3 September 1939
- Headline story on BBC: Germany invades Poland 1 September 1939. Events 36 BC - In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompeius Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
- BBC portal dedicated to the start of WW II in Europe
- September 17, 1939 - Soviet aggression on Poland
- Halford Mackinder's Necessary War An essay describing the Polish Campaign in a larger strategic context of the war
- Invasion of Poland (Serbian)
- Detailed Polish Army organization schemas by Dr. Leo Niehorster
- Detailed German Army organization schemas by Dr. Leo Niehorster
- Polish Armoured Units 1939
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