GERMAN INVASION OF POLAND: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2024

The German invasion of Poland began on September 1, 1939. It was a military action carried out by the German army to annex part of Polish territory. The name of the operation was Fall Weiss, in Castilian White Case, and it marked the beginning of World War II.

After its defeat in the First World War, Germany had had to face the harsh reparations agreed in the Treaty of Versailles. Apart from paying large sums of money, she had lost part of her territory. This was one of the factors that brought Adolf Hitler of the National Socialist Party to power.

German soldiers in Danzig - Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1979-056-18A / Sönnke, Hans / CC-BY-SA 3.0

One of the objectives of the Nazis was to recover the lost territories, among which was Danzig and the so-called Polish corridor. In addition, within their doctrine, was the intention to unify all those lands where, according to them, there were inhabitants of German culture.

After signing a treaty with the Soviet Union, which divided Poland, Hitler ordered the invasion to begin. Although France and Great Britain declared war on him immediately, German troops reached Warsaw in a few weeks, gaining control of the country.

Background

The signing of the Treaty of Versailles officially ended the First World War. The defeated, including Germany, were forced to face financial payments in compensation for the conflict. Likewise, they lost parts of their territories.

The economic crisis suffered by Germany after the war, unable to face the payment of reparations and political instability were taken advantage of by the National Socialist Party to come to power. Thus, Hitler became chancellor and, in a few months, assumed all the powers of the State, outlawing and persecuting his opponents.

One of the assets that Hitler used to achieve power was the feeling of humiliation on the part of German society by the Treaty of Versailles. Thus, he promised to restore greatness to Germany, including the recovery of lost territories.

The Nazis left the Conference on Disarmament and the League of Nations. In 1934, Germany signed a non-aggression pact with Poland, seeking to weaken this country's relations with France.

Lebensraum

In 1937, the Nazi top officials established the strategy to follow in foreign policy. The goal was to secure the Lebensraum, the "living space." According to Hitler and his people, Germany needed to expand to survive, setting its first objectives in those neighboring regions with populations of German origin.

The first step was the annexation of Austria in March 1938. In the absence of a response from the European powers, the next target was Czechoslovakia. The Germans, through the Munich Pact, took part of their territory and, in March 1939, they managed to control the rest of that country.

Faced with these fait accompli, France and the United Kingdom declared that, should Poland be attacked, they would act to defend it.

Preparation of the Fall Weiss

Despite the fact that Hitler had offered several negotiation offers to Poland to resolve the territorial disputes, the Nuremberg process revealed that preparations for the invasion were underway at the same time. The plan was dubbed Fall Weiss ('White Case').

On the same April 11, 1939, Hitler orders the General Staff to prepare for war. The objectives set were the defense of the borders and the annexation of the Free City of Danzig.

On the 28th, Hitler gave a speech in the Reichstag in which he demanded the return of Danzig. Likewise, it did so through a document sent to the Polish government. In addition, he requested the construction of a road and a railway that would link that town with German territory.

By mid-June, the invasion plan was ready. The Germans organized maneuvers on the Polish border, while they sent units to East Prussia under the excuse of celebrating the anniversary of the Battle of Tannenberg.

Pact with the Soviet Union

Another crucial date in the organization of the invasion was August 23. That day, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a Non-Aggression Pact. Among the secret clauses was the division of Poland between the two countries. The French and British received this agreement with great hostility.

In response, the UK signed a Mutual Aid Pact with the Polish government on 25 August. According to historians, Hitler had scheduled the invasion for the 26th, but postponed it due to the agreement between the Poles and the British.

Development

Germany had created a very powerful air force during the previous years, superior to that of the rest of the European countries. Furthermore, she had planned to carry out her invasion plans using Blitzkrieg, the Blitzkrieg tactic.

In the case of Poland, its troops were divided into two main armies. One, the main one, was deployed in the south, and the second in the north.

For their part, the Poles wavered between two defense strategies. The first consisted of concentrating its forces on its border with Germany and protecting industry, communications, and large population centers in a spatial manner. However, it was a very broad front and difficult to defend.

The second strategy was to resist using as defense lines the course of the great rivers, such as the Vistula or the San. There, they had to wait for Franco-British help, although it meant losing some of the important areas of the country.

Start of the invasion

The German invasion of Poland began at 4:45 AM on September 1, 1939. The Germans crossed the border and, at the same time, the battleship "Schleswig-Holstein" began to bombard the port of Danzig.

At 6:00 a.m., the German air force began bombing the most important cities in Poland, such as Warsaw, Krakow, Poznań, Łódź, Katowice, Płock, Grudziądz, Radom, Lvov, Grodno, Brest and Terespol

Between the 1st and the 3rd, the Polish army tried to stop the German advance. To attempt their purpose, they began to retreat to form a defensive line as close to the border as possible.

Battle of Westerplatte

On the same day, September 1, the battle of Westerplatte began, near the mouth of the Vistula River. The Poles tried to resist the German advance, managing to stop it for a week. However, the German military superiority rendered the attempt useless.

Eventually, the attacking army took control of the border. After this, Germany secured control of Danzig, called Gdansk in Polish.

Battle of Wizna

Between September 7 and 10, the battle of Wizna, known as the Polish Thermopylae, took place because of the resistance offered by a small group of Polish soldiers. Despite their numerical inferiority, they managed to hold out for three days before being annihilated by their enemies.

This battle was very important due to the strategic location of the city of Wizna. This was on the road to Warsaw, so its conquest facilitated the German advance towards the capital.

Battle of Bzura

One of the most decisive battles of the invasion of Poland was that of Bzura. It took place west of Warsaw, near the river that gave the battle its name.

The Poles attempted to counterattack, achieving some success at first, pushing back several enemy divisions. However, the greater mobility of the German troops, as well as the lack of supplies, meant that the Poles could not take advantage of their initial advantage and had to withdraw.

Siege of Warsaw

The siege of Warsaw, the capital of Poland, began on the same day, September 1, with the Luftwaffe bombers over the population.

The German ground troops began the ground attack on the 8th, when the first armored units entered the city.

The Germans hoped for a quick conquest, but that first attack was repelled by the defenders. Given this, the siege of the capital began. The Poles resisted until September 28, the day on which the defensive garrison had to surrender.

The next day, 100,000 soldiers left the town and were captured by German forces. On October 1, the German army entered the city.

Battle of Brest Litovsk

Before the taking of the capital, between September 14 and 17, the battle of Brest Litovsk took place. As elsewhere, the Poles were able to resist the German advance for a time, in this case for three days, before having to retreat.

Battle of Lviv

After the fall of Brest, the Polish troops set out to prevent the conquest of Lvov. In this case, their efforts ended are successful, although they suffered many losses.

However, on September 18, the Soviet army began its own invasion. Given this, the Polish defenders could not hold out any longer and Lvov fell into the hands of the Soviet Union on the 22nd.

Battle of Kock

The last battle of the German invasion of Poland took place between October 2 and 5, near the town of Kock. A Polish general, Franciszek Kleeberg, had managed to regroup the last Polish units in the south-east of the country. Although they were defeated, the Polish military managed to allow his men to flee to Romania.

Soviet invasion

As included in the pact signed between Germany and the Soviet Union, the latter country began its own military operation against Poland on September 17, 1939.

The motive given by the Soviets was to defend the Ukrainians and Belarusians living in eastern Poland after the Nazi invasion. For the Soviets, the Polish government could no longer defend these citizens, so their intervention was necessary.

The military and numerical superiority of the Red Army caused them to quickly achieve their objectives.

Causes

Hitler, after annexing Austria and Czechoslovakia, began preparing his next target: Poland. The German Chancellor demanded that Poland return the territory of Danzig, lost after the First World War.

The Danzig area separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany, so it was fundamental to the Nazi intention to reunify all territories that had inhabitants of Germanic culture.

The Polish refusal, the Germans pushed their invasion plans. In addition, the occupation of Poland allowed them to create a screen against one of their future enemies: the Soviet Union.

The Excuse: Gleiwitz Incident

Before beginning the invasion, the Nazis prepared a situation that gave them the excuse to cross the Polish borders. Thus, they mounted a false flag operation that gave them the pretext to initiate the attack.

Thanks to the SS-Sturmbannführer Alfred Naujocks confession during the Nuremberg Trials, the details about this false flag operation are known. It was an alleged Polish attack on the Sender Gleiwitz radio station, on August 31, 1939.

The information provided in Nuremberg documents how a group of Nazi agents posed as Poles to sabotage the radio station. Those responsible for this operation were Reinhard Heydrich and Heinrich Müller, head of the Gestapo.

The group of German agents had obtained Polish uniforms. Once they got into the station, they proclaimed an anti-German message. With that, the Nazis declared their invasion justified.

Danzig and the Polish Corridor

Danzig, Gdansk in Polish, was a port strategically located on the Baltic Sea, between East Prussia and Germany. In 1920, the League of Nations recognized it as the Danzig Free State.

Hitler wanted to recover that territory, taken from Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. On October 24, 1938, he demanded its return from Poland, since it was attached to this country by customs.

In addition, he requested the construction of a railway line and a road through which the Polish corridor was baptized. This means of communication had to link Danzig with Germany and have an extraterritorial status.

The Polish government rejected the demand and asked Great Britain for help, anticipating possible aggression. The British proposed a joint action to be carried out by themselves, France and the Soviet Union. However, Warsaw did not want the Soviets to participate.

Consequences

The first consequence of the invasion was, as in all wars, the enormous destruction and human losses that occurred.

Although there are no exact figures on the number of civilians killed during the operation, the military casualties, according to some experts, reached 66,000.

Start of World War II

Days before the invasion, specifically on August 25, 1939, Poland already feared that German aggression would take place. For this reason, she signed a series of mutual aid pacts with France and Great Britain.

German troops attacked on September 1. Two days later, on September 3, the British and French declared war on Germany. Although they failed to provide effective aid to the Poles, this marked the start of World War II.

Division of Poland and destruction of the industry

The Non-Aggression Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union contained secret clauses to divide Poland between the two countries. The area that came under Soviet control saw all its industry being transferred to the Soviet Union, leaving the area impoverished.

In the area under German command, persecutions against the Jewish population soon began. This was eliminated, either in the concentration camps or because of the poor living conditions to which they were sentenced.

Most of Polish society was also severely repressed and, during the course of the war, it was totally crushed by the Nazi-appointed authorities.

Concentration camps

From the moment of the invasion, Poland became a kind of headquarters for the Nazis. It was one of the places from which the final solution, the elimination of all Jews, was organized.

Poland was the country in which the most death camps were built. Jewish citizens, gypsies, homosexuals, communists, prisoners of war and other groups were sent to them. An estimated 6 million people were killed in those camps.

References

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