History of Poland 1939–1945: Encyclopedia II - History of Poland 1939–1945 - German and Soviet Invasion

History of Poland 1939–1945 - German and Soviet Invasion

The Polish armed forces resisted the German invasion, but their strategic position was hopeless since Poland was surrounded on three sides by Germany and German-controlled Czechoslovakia. It was in Poland that the Germans first used the tactics of Blitzkrieg ("lightning war"): rapid advance of Panzer (armored) divisions, dive bombing to break up troop concentrations, and aerial bombing of undefended cities to sap civilian morale. The Polish Army and Air Force had little modern equipment to match the onslaught.

German forces were numerically and technologically superior to Polish armed forces. The Germans threw eighty-five percent of their armed forces at Poland. They commanded 1.6 million troops, 250,000 trucks and other motor vehicles, 67,000 artillery pieces, 4,000 tanks and a cavalry division. The Luftwaffe aircraft were detached from the elite Condor Legion, which had seen action over Spain in 1938. The German air force comprised 1,180 fighter aircraft (mainly Me 109s), 290 Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers, 290 conventional bombers (mainly He 111 type), and 240 assorted naval aircraft. The German navy positioned its old battleship Schleswig-Holstein to shell Gdańsk.

The Polish forces were severely outnumbered and outclassed. They managed to muster 800,000 troops, including eleven cavalry brigades, two motorized brigades, 30,000 artillery pieces, and 120 tanks of the advanced 7-TP type. The Polish airforce consisted of 400 aircraft. 160 of them were PZL P.11c fighter aircraft, 31 PZL P.7a and 20 P.11a fighters, 120 PZL P.23 reconnaissance-bombers, and 45 PZL P.37 medium bombers. The navy consisted of four destroyers, one torpedo boat, one minelayer, two gunboats, six minesweepers, and five submarines.

The Poles believed that the invasion was intended from the beginning as a war of extermination. Hitler allegedly said to his commanders: "I have issued the command — and I'll have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing squad — that our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines, but in the physical destruction of the enemy. Accordingly, I have placed my death-head formations in readiness — for the present only in the East — with orders to them to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish race and language. Only thus shall we gain the living space (Lebensraum) which we need. Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" (There are some doubts about the authenticity of this quotation. See Armenian quote).

The United Kingdom and France honoured their pledge to Poland by declaring war on Germany, but no practical assistance was rendered. according to the French-Polish military accord that was signed in May 19, 1939, France will attack Germany if Poland will be attacked. The Wehrmacht was occupied in the attack on Poland, and the Frenchmans enjoyed decisive numerical advantage on their border with Germany, but the Frenchmans didn't do any action that was able to assist attacked Poles. 9 divisions (out of 102 that were ready to action) of the French army entered to the German area in Saarland, advanced to a depth of 8 kilometers and conquered about 20 abandoned villages, without any resistance. The Saar Offensive didn't cause incitement of even one German soldier from Poland to the west. When it looked like the Germans defeating Poland, and that soon they will be able to turn soldiers to the west again, the French General Staff ordered retreat, and in October 4 the French forces returned to the positions in which they were before the attack. The Soviet Union could have assisted Poland, but the Poles feared Stalin's communism nearly as much as they feared Hitler's Nazism, and during 1939 they had refused to agree to any arrangement which would allow Soviet troops to enter Poland. The Nazi-Soviet Pact of August 1939 had ended any possibility of Soviet aid.

The Polish government feared that Germany would launch only a limited war, to seize the territories which it claimed, and then ask France and United Kingdom for a cease fire. To defend these territories, the Polish military command compounded their strategic weakness by massing their forces along the western border, in defence of Poland's main industrial areas around Poznań and Łódź, where they could be easily surrounded and cut off. By the time the Polish command decided to withdraw to the line of the Vistula, it was too late. By 14 September Warsaw was surrounded. On 17 September the Red Army started hostilities against Poland and occupied the eastern areas of the country under the terms of the secret protocols of the Nazi-Soviet Pact.

The Polish government and high command retreated to the south-east Romanian bridgehead and eventually crossed into neutral Romania. There was no formal surrender, and resistance continued in many places. Warsaw was bombed into submission on 27 September, and some Army units fought until well into October. In the more mountainous parts of the country Army units began underground resistance almost at once.

Losses resulting from the battle are as follows. The Polish army lost 65,000 troops, 400 air crew, and 110 navy crew. The German losses were 16,000 troops, 365 air crew, and 126 navy crew.

285 German aircraft were destroyed, with 126 claimed by Polish fighter pilots. 90 were shot down by anti-aircraft fire, and, due to the modesty of Polish pilots, there is a deficit of 70 unclaimed kills. 300 more German aircraft were so badly damaged they were written off. 327 aircraft were lost by the Polish airforce. 260 were lost due to direct or indirect enemy action, with around 70 in air-to-air fighting. 67 more were lost to anti-aircraft fire.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "German and Soviet Invasion", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki