It is generally accepted in world history that the start date of World War II is September 1, 1939, when the German military struck Poland. The consequence of this was its complete occupation and annexation of part of the territory by other states. As a result, Great Britain and France announced their entry into the war with the Germans, which laid the foundation for the creation of the Anti-Hitler coalition. From these days the European fire flared up with unstoppable force.
Thirst for military revenge
The driving force behind Germany’s aggressive policies of the thirties was the desire to revise the European borders established in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, which legally consolidated the results of the war that had ended shortly before this war. As you know, Germany, during an unsuccessful military campaign for her, lost a number of lands previously owned by it. Hitler's victory in the 1933 elections is largely due to his calls for military revenge and the annexation of all ethnic German territories to Germany. Such rhetoric found a deep response in the hearts of voters, and they voted for him.
Before the attack on Poland (September 1, 1939), or rather the year before, Germany committed the anschluss (annexation) of Austria and the annexation of the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. In order to implement these plans and protect himself from possible opposition from Poland, Hitler concluded a peace treaty with them in 1934 and for the next four years actively created the appearance of friendly relations. The picture changed dramatically after the Sudetenland and a large part of Czechoslovakia were forcibly annexed to the Reich. The voices of German diplomats accredited in the Polish capital sounded in a new way.
Germany claims and attempts to confront it
Until September 1, 1939, the main territorial claims of Germany against Poland were, firstly, its lands adjacent to the Baltic Sea and separating Germany from East Prussia, and secondly, Danzig (Gdansk), which at that time had the status of a free city. In both cases, the Reich pursued not only political interests, but also purely economic ones. In this regard, the Polish government was actively pressured by German diplomats.
In spring, the Wehrmacht captured that part of Czechoslovakia, which still retained its independence, after which it became obvious that Poland would be next in line. In the summer, negotiations between diplomats from a number of countries took place in Moscow. Their task included the development of measures to ensure European security and the creation of an alliance against German aggression. But he was not educated due to the position of Poland itself. In addition, good intentions were not destined to be realized through the fault of other participants, each of whom hatched his plans.
The consequence of this was the now notorious treaty signed by Molotov and Ribbentrop. This document guaranteed Hitler the non-interference of the Soviet side in the event of aggression, and the Fuhrer gave the command to the outbreak of hostilities.
The state of troops at the beginning of the war and provocations on the border
Invading Poland, Germany had a significant advantage both in the number of personnel of its troops and in their technical equipment. It is known that by this moment their Armed forces totaled ninety-eight divisions, while Poland on September 1, 1939 had only thirty-nine. The plan for the seizure of Polish territory was code-named "Weiss."
For its implementation, the German command needed a reason, and in connection with this the intelligence and counterintelligence service carried out a number of provocations, the purpose of which was to blame the start of the war on the inhabitants of Poland. Employees of the special department of the SS, as well as criminals recruited from various prisons in Germany, dressed in civilian clothes and armed with Polish weapons, made a series of attacks on German facilities located throughout the border.
The outbreak of war: September 1, 1939
The reason created in this way was quite convincing: protecting one's own national interests from encroachment from outside. Germany attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, and soon Britain and France became participants in the events. The land front line stretched for one thousand six hundred kilometers, but, in addition, the Germans used their fleet.
From the first day of the offensive, the German battleship began shelling Danzig, which concentrated a significant amount of food supplies. This city was the first conquest that the Second World War brought to the Germans. September 1, 1939 began his land assault. By the end of the first day, it was announced that Danzig would join the Reich.
The attack on Poland on September 1, 1939 was carried out by all the forces at the disposal of the Reich. It is known that almost simultaneously such cities as Velun, Khoinits, Starogard and Bydgosh were subjected to massive bombardment. Vilyun suffered the most severe blow, where one thousand two hundred inhabitants died that day and seventy-five percent of the buildings were destroyed. Also, many other cities were seriously affected by fascist bombs.
The results of the outbreak of hostilities in Germany
According to the previously developed strategic plan, on September 1, 1939, an operation was launched to eliminate Polish airborne aircraft based on military airfields in different parts of the country. With this, the Germans contributed to the rapid advancement of their ground forces and deprived the Poles of the opportunity to redeploy combat units by rail, as well as to complete the mobilization begun shortly before that. It is believed that on the third day of the war, Polish aviation was completely destroyed.
German troops developed the offensive in accordance with the plan "blitz krieg" - lightning war. On September 1, 1939, having committed their treacherous invasion, the Nazis advanced deep into the country, but in many directions they met desperate resistance from the Polish forces that were inferior to them. But the interaction of motorized and armored units allowed them to inflict a crushing blow to the enemy. Their corps moved forward, overcoming the resistance of the Polish units, divided and deprived of the opportunity to contact the General Staff.
Betrayal of the allies
In accordance with the agreement concluded in May 1939, the Allied forces were obliged from the first days of the German aggression to render assistance to the Poles by all means available to them. But in reality it turned out quite different. The actions of these two armies were subsequently called the "strange war." The fact is that on the day the attack on Poland took place (September 1, 1939), the leaders of both countries sent an ultimatum to the German authorities demanding an end to hostilities. Not receiving a positive response, the French troops on September 7 crossed the German border in the Saarland region.
Not meeting any resistance, they, nevertheless, instead of developing a further offensive, considered it best for themselves not to continue the hostilities that had begun and to return to their original positions. The British generally confined themselves only to compiling an ultimatum. Thus, the allies treacherously betrayed Poland, leaving it to the mercy of fate.
Meanwhile, modern researchers have the opinion that in this way they missed a unique chance to stop fascist aggression and save humanity from a large-scale long-term war. With all its military might, Germany at that moment did not have sufficient forces to wage war on three fronts. France will cruelly pay for this betrayal the next year, when fascist units march along the streets of its capital.
First major battles
A week later, Warsaw was subjected to a fierce onslaught of the enemy and was, in fact, cut off from the main army units. She was attacked by the sixteenth tank corps of the Wehrmacht. With great difficulty, the defenders of the city managed to stop the enemy. The defense of the capital began, lasting until September 27. The subsequent surrender saved her from complete and inevitable destruction. Over the entire previous period, the Germans took the most decisive measures to capture Warsaw: in just one day on September 19, 5818 bombs were rained down on it, which caused enormous damage to unique architectural monuments, not to mention people.
A major battle in those days took place on the Bzur River - one of the tributaries of the Vistula. Two Polish armies dealt a crushing blow to the units of the 8th division of the Wehrmacht advancing on Warsaw. As a result, the Nazis were forced to go on the defensive, and only the reinforcements that arrived in time, which provided a significant numerical superiority, changed the course of the battle. The Polish armies could not resist the superior forces. About one hundred and thirty thousand people were captured, and only a few managed to get out of the "cauldron" and break through to the capital.
Unexpected turn of events
The defense plan was based on the belief that Britain and France, in fulfilling allied commitments, would take part in hostilities. It was assumed that the Polish troops, having retreated to the south-west of the country, form a powerful defensive bridgehead, while the Wehrmacht will be forced to move part of the troops to new frontiers - for the war on two fronts. But life has made its own adjustments.
A few days later, the forces of the Red Army, in accordance with the additional secret protocol of the Soviet-German non-aggression agreement, entered the borders of Poland. The official motive for this action was to ensure the safety of Belarusians, Ukrainians and Jews living in the eastern regions of the country. However, the real result of the introduction of troops was the accession to the Soviet Union of a number of Polish territories.
Realizing that the war was lost, the Polish high command left the country and further coordinated actions from Romania, where he immigrated, crossing the border illegally. In view of the inevitability of the occupation of the country, the Polish leaders, preferring the Soviet troops, ordered their fellow citizens not to resist them. This was their mistake, made due to the lack of knowledge that the actions of both of their opponents were conducted according to a pre-coordinated plan.
The last major battles of the Poles
Soviet troops exacerbated the already critical position of the Poles. In this difficult period, two of the hardest battles of those that have been for all the time elapsed since September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland fell to their soldiers. Only military operations on the Bzur River can be put on a par with them. Both of them, with an interval of several days, took place in the region of the city of Tomaszow-Lubelski, now included in the Lublin Voivodeship.
The battle mission of the Poles included the forces of two armies to break through the German barrier that blocked the way to Lviv. As a result of long and bloody battles, the Polish side suffered heavy losses, and more than twenty thousand Polish troops were captured by the Germans. As a result, Tadeusz Piskora was forced to announce the surrender of his central front.
The battle started on September 17 near Tamaszow-Lubelski soon resumed with renewed vigor. It was attended by Polish troops of the Northern Front, squeezed from the west by the seventh army corps of German General Leonard Wecker, and from the east by units of the Red Army operating with the Germans according to a single plan. It is understandable that the Poles, weakened by previous losses and deprived of ties with the combined arms leadership, could not withstand the forces of the allies attacking them.
The beginning of the guerrilla war and the creation of clandestine groups
By September 27, Warsaw was completely in the hands of the Germans, who succeeded in completely suppressing the resistance of the army units in most of the territory. However, even when the whole country was occupied, the Polish command did not sign the surrender. A broad partisan movement was launched in the country , led by personnel army officers who had the necessary knowledge and combat experience. In addition, even during the period of active resistance to the Nazis, the Polish command began to create an extensive underground organization called "Service to the Victory of Poland."
The results of the Polish campaign of the Wehrmacht
The attack on Poland on September 1, 1939 ended in its defeat and subsequent division. Hitler planned to create from it a puppet state with territory within the borders of the Kingdom of Poland, which was part of Russia from 1815 to 1917. But Stalin opposed this plan, as he was an ardent opponent of any Polish state formation.
The German attack on Poland in 1939 and the subsequent complete defeat of the latter made it possible for the Soviet Union, which was Germany's ally in those years, to annex an area of 196,000 square meters to its borders. km and due to this increase the population by 13 million people. The new border separated the areas of compact residence of Ukrainians and Belarusians from sites historically inhabited by Germans.
Speaking about the German attack on Poland in September 1939, it should be noted that the aggressive German leadership on the whole managed to achieve their plans. As a result of hostilities, the borders of East Prussia advanced all the way to Warsaw. By a decree of 1939, a number of Polish voivodships with a population of more than nine and a half million people became part of the Third Reich.
Formally, only a small part of the former state, subordinate to Berlin, has been preserved. Its capital was Krakow. For a long period (September 1, 1939 - September 2, 1945) Poland practically had no opportunity to pursue any independent policy.