poland.html

The German Invasion of Poland

September 1, 1939

Website by John Matthews and Pavel Gilenberg

Treaty of Versailles and Rise of the Nazis

After WWI, the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, France. The Treaty of Versailles placed sole blame on Germany for World War I and forced Germany to pay $31 billion in reparations. Also 13% of Germany's land was taken in which 10% of the German population resided. This land was used to form parts of Poland and Czechoslovakia. The Rhineland became a demilitarized zone and the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine went to the French. The treaty hurt the pride of the German people and many vowed to take revenge on the Allied powers.

Europe circa 1929

After the Treaty of Versailles was signed, Germany started to experience periods of inflation. By 1923, a piece of bread cost four million marks. The people blamed the Weimar (German democratic government) for the trouble because they signed the Treaty of Versailles. The German citizens failed to see that the true culprit of the inflation was the money printed during the Hohenzollerns' (Germany's autocratic dynasty) rule. Germany spent $37 billion fighting but they only collected $1.5 billion in taxes. Whenever they needed money they would print it and this caused the inflation. In 1933 this climate allowed Hitler to become chancellor of Germany and he gradually took steps to gain more power.

Hitler, was a small town Austrian boy that dropped out of high school in order to study the arts and architecture in Vienna. Hitler claimed that his hatred of Jews and Slavs began in Vienna due to the large number of Jews and Slavs in high ranking economic and cultural positions. After being rejected by the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, Hitler ate in soup kitchens and lived in hostels. When World War I broke out, Hitler joined the German Army and fought valiantly and was awarded the Iron Cross twice. When Hitler came back from the war he believed that Germany had to overturn the Treaty of Versailles and combat communism.

Hitler was a powerful public speaker and a master of propaganda. The first image is a poster created after the Battle of Stalingrad, the caption reads "Adolph Hitler is victory!". The second picture, portrays Hitler as a Christ figure leading the Germans to victory, the caption reads "Long live Germany!."

Calvin College From http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/posters2.htm

Prelude to War

On January 26, 1934 the Polish and German governments signed a nonaggression pact which would last for ten years unless renounced six months in advance by either party. On January 30, 1937, Hitler reaffirmed the importance of the nonaggression pact, but at this time Germany had remilitarized, reoccupied the Rhineland, and Hitler was getting ready to take over Austria and Czechoslovakia.

In March 1938 Austria was dissolved and its territory was incorporated into the Reich. Within Czechoslovakia, German nationalists became a viable threat to its sovereignty. Meanwhile, Hitler's threatening attitude caused the Prague government to mobilize in September 1938. British and French attempts to enlist Russia for help were unavailing.

The bigger map is the German campaign in Poland. The smaller map is Polish plans in 1936 before Czechoslovakia was annexed into Germany.

On September 29, the pro-German Italians and members of the former Allies met with Hitler in Munich. Czechoslovakia was not represented in the meeting, but the meeting led to an agreement that complied with Hitler's demand. The Czechoslovakian government, urged by Britain and France, accepted the demands laid down by Hitler. Due to the agreement Czechoslovak forces evacuated the Sudetenland, scheduled plebiscites were not held. Germany took control of the Sudentenland, which had a total population of 3,500,000 of whom 700,000 were Czechs. Also fortifications which would have made a German invasion impossible or difficult were turned over to the German army intact.

After Hitler's demands were met, he decided to turn his attention towards Poland. He demanded that Poland hand over the Polish Corridor. Poland refused because they knew that any concession would cause Poland to have simular fate to that of Czechoslovakia. Also if Poland lost the Polish Corridor it would no longer have access to the Baltic Sea. Later, Hitler made claims that the German minority was being oppressed, and that Britain was in league with the Poles in an anti-German conspiracy.

The threat of the Soviet Union joining the Britain-France coalition was the only obstacle keeping Germany from attacking Poland. On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact. It provided that neither country would attack, nor help a third country attack the other. Also after the takeover in Poland, Germany and the Soviet Union would divide Poland between them. Hitler believed that the pact would prevent a two front war which allowed the Allies to win WWI.

Hitler mobilized five armies split into two groups, totaling 1.5 million soldiers supported by 2000 modern tanks including the superior tanks seized from Czechoslovakia, 800 high-altitude bombers, 350 dive bombers, 250 troop transports, and 250 fighter planes. The Polish faced with invasion mobilized one million soldiers supported by the 900 planes which consisted mainly of old World War I biplanes. Hitler was now ready to attack and at five o'clock on the morning of September 1, 1939 Hitler unleashed the first blitzkrieg.

(39, HarperCollins)

Typical Polish Road. The roads were undeveloped yet they were no trouble for the German mechanized units.

Invasion Begins

The invasion began with massive air and artillery attacks. Then German troops began swarming across the Polish border. Poland's army with only a few light tanks and few large weapon batteries were no match for the German Panzers and mechanized infantry. Despite the valiant effort put out by the Polish air force which destroyed or damaged 500 German planes, the Luftwaffe was able to bomb strategic targets almost at will. Poland had few paved roads, but the flat terrain was no problem for the German tanks and half-tracks.

Poland had decided to meet Germany at the border in order to protect its valuable industrial region in western Poland, which left the Polish army surrounded on three sides, Germany, East Prussia, and Slovakia. Poland hoped that Britain and France would come to her aid. Unfortunately, the German blitzkrieg worked all too well. Army Group North under General Fedor von Bock's Army Group attacked the abandoned Polish Corridor uniting East Prussia and Germany and then turned south. Army Group South under the command of General Gerd von Rundstedt's attacked across the German-Polish border and though the Carpathian Mountains. Surprised by the efficiency of modern German tactics and technology the Polish line was easily penetrated. Great Britain and France immediately demanded that Germany halt their attack. Germany ignored their demands and Hitler made an address to the German Army on the day of the invasion "The Polish State has refused the peaceful settlement of relations which I desired, and has appealed to arms. Germans in Poland are persecuted with bloody terror and driven from their houses. A series of violations of the frontier, intolerable to a great Power, prove that Poland is no longer willing to respect the frontier of the Reich. In order to put an end to this lunacy, I have no other choice than to meet force with force from now on. The German Army will fight the battle for the honor and the vital rights of reborn Germany with hard determination." He also released a statement stating that Poland had attacked them and Germany was acting in self defense. In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany beginning WWII. Britain and France did little to help Poland. France could have attacked West Germany, but it did not. Great Britain could have sent bombers and warships, but did not. Instead, France sent some troops to areas that were already evacuated by the German troops and Great Britain dropped antiwar leaflets on Germany. Edouard Daladier the French Premier in the Chamber of Deputies stated "And at dawn on September 1 the Fuhrer gave his troops the order to attack. Never was aggression more unmistakable and less warranted, nor for its justification could more lies and cynicism have been brought into play."

(39, HarperCollins)

"Now that all the relevant documents are being made public we shall stand at the bar of history knowing that the responsibility for this terrible catastrophe lies on the shoulders of one man - the German Chancellor, who has not hesitated to plunge the world into misery in order to serve his own senseless ambitions."

-Neville Chamberlain

Soviet Attack and the Collapse of Poland

By September 17, Polish forces had regrouped and had dug in to face the German onslaught, only to be attacked by the USSR, from the east. With the threat of being captured by the Soviets many Polish soldiers surrendered to the Germans. On September 27, 1939, the garrison at Warsaw surrendered and Poland as a nation was crushed, but the remaining Polish combatants did not officially surrender until the 6th of October.

Aftermath

Soviet and German forces withdrew to the pre-agreed partition line. By the end of the invasion, 70,000 Poles were killed and 133,000 wounded by German troops. 100,000 escaped to Hungary, Romania, and Lithuania to join the Allied forces in western Europe and the remains of the Polish navy (three destroyers and four submarines) joined the British navy. The Polish losses to the Soviets have never been accurately calculated. Only 14,000 Germans were killed and 30,000 wounded in the invasion.

The suffering of Poland and its inhabitants was not to end there. By the end of World War II, half a million Polish soldiers had been executed by the Germans. Five and a half million Polish citizens, including three million Polish Jews were dead by the time of Soviet "liberation". The treatment under the Soviets was a little better; massacres of Polish soldiers and Jews still occurred and were blamed on the Germans or people that had pro-German feelings. Under Nazi rule, the Polish people resisted fiercely with uprisings such as the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Many Poles left Poland and joined the Allied cause, two hundred thousand Poles fought in the British expeditionary forces and one hundred and sixty thousand fought in the Soviet Army. Although Germany conquered Poland in less then a month, Polish forces would continue to be a thorn in the side of the Germans across Europe.

These pictures show only some of the suffering that would be experienced by the Polish Jews. Such as slavery (left), the ghetto (right), and marking of the Jewish undesirables (above).

(59 , Time Life Books)

(59 , Time Life Books)

(59 , Time Life Books)

Bibliography:

Bytwek, Randall. German Propaganda Archive. 1998.

Http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/wehr02.htm

This article supports our thesis because it gives Germany's perspective on the war and how they used propaganda to gain support of German civilians. The article is a primary source and first appeared in the German magazine "Die Wehrmacht".

DSO, Rudnicki. S.K. The Last of the War Horses. 45 Caltrope Street: The Barlyman Press,1974.

The book describes in detail every battle that took place during the German Invasion of Poland. The book also talks about how Poland's technology was no match for Germany's. In the book Rudnicki details the partition of Poland and Germany's betrayal of the Soviet Union. Finally the book describes the effects that the invasion had in Poland and the war. The book supports our thesis because it gives details on what occurred during the invasion of Poland.

HarperCollins Atlas of the Second World War. London. HarperCollins. 1997.

The Atlas of the Second World War is useful because it gives detailed maps of the actual invasion and troop movements of the German, Soviet, and Polish armies. It also gives a short background to the invasion and the rise of fascism in the Italy and Germany.

This book shows the military actions of the Second World War and gives some of the politics behind those actions. It contains scores of maps, diagrams, and tables that give information on the Axis and Allied war efforts and strategies.

Sanders, Alan. Turning Points of World War II the Invasion of Poland. United States of America: Alan Sauders, 1984.

This book describes Poland before Germany invaded it in 1939. The book shows how Germany had to give up land to Poland and described how this hurt German pride. The books also talks about the new weapons that allowed Germany to quickly take over Poland. The book also gives an account of what happened after the invasion of Poland. This supports our thesis because it shows the Allied opinion of the war and how the invasion could have been prevented.

Shirer, William L. The Rise and the Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany. New York. Simon and Schuster. 1960.

This book offers the view of someone in Germany that was able to see through the propaganda of the Nazi government and see the lies and half-truths that they told and how the propaganda affected the German public. It is useful for our research because of this. It also tells some of the reasons why Hitler was able to make Germany invade Poland.

William L. Shirer, an American journalist who stayed in Germany during the first half of Germany's Third Reich, wrote this book. It was written after the war so it is not a primary source, but it does contain many primary source articles and quotes by Hitler, Chamberlain, Stalin, Roosevelt, and many other World War 2 figures.

Skipper, C.G. Invasion of Poland. Canada: Regensteiner Publishing Enterprises, Inc., 1983.

Invasion of Poland details the cause and effect of Germany's invasion of Poland. It talks of how the Treaty of Versailles was seen as unfair by the German people and how it allowed Hitler to use propaganda to convince the German people that their pride was hurt and that they need to take revenge. This book supports our thesis because it gives important background information that is necessary to understand why and how the Invasion of Poland happened. It also talks about how Germany was able to take over Poland before the allies could strike back by using blitzkrieg tactics.

The Abalone Project at Yale Law School "Proclamation by Adolph Hitler - September 1,1939." last modified on: Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/wwii/gp1.htm 11/13/02

The "Proclamation by Adolph Hitler - September 1,1939." shows what Hitler said to justify the German invasion of Poland to the German Army. While most of it is propaganda, it is useful to gain the Nazi government's perspective of the invasion.

Yale Law School conducts the Abalone Project. The Abalone to Project contains documents important in the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government. They present these documents without endorsement other than that they are important to the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government.

The Abalone Project at Yale Law School. "Address by Neville Chamberlain - September 1, 1939" last modified on: Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/wwii/gb1.htm 11/12/02

The "Address by Neville Chamberlain - September 1, 1939" shows what the British government said they would do in response to the German invasion of Poland. In the address Neville talks about what steps the British government had taken over the past few days to prevent or responded to the invasion.

The Abalone Project at Yale Law School. "Address by Adolph Hitler - September 1, 1939." last modified on Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/wwii/gp2.htm 11/12/02

The "Address by Adolph Hitler - September 1, 1939." shows what Hitler said to justify the German invasion of Poland to the German public. While most of it is propaganda, it is useful to gain the Nazi government's perspective of the invasion and what the German public was told and forced to believe for most of the Second World War.

The Abalone Project at Yale Law School "Address by Edouard Daladier, Premier, in the Chamber of Deputies, September 2, 1939." last modified on: Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/wwii/fr1.htm 11/12/02

The "Address by Edouard Daladier, Premier, in the Chamber of Deputies, September 2, 1939." shows what the French government said they would do in response to the German invasion of Poland. In the address Edouard talks about what steps the French government had taken over the past few days to prevent the invasion.

"The Nazi Occupation of Poland" Eyewitness- history through the eyes of those who lived it. 1997. Http://www.ibiscom.com.

The article includes a diary from a Polish physician who lived during the invasion of Poland. It is a primary source which describes the anti-Semitic actions of the Germans and how the first thing that they did after the invasion was force the Jews to do all of the hard labor. This article supports out these because it shows what Germany tried to achieve by attacking Poland and their long term goal.

Time Life Books. An Illustrated History of World War II Crisis and Courage: Humanity on the Brink. Alexandra: Time Life Books, 2001.

An Illustrated History of World War II Crisis and Courage: Humanity on the Brink contains over eight hundred photographs and twenty three essays about the compelling figures of the war and the unknown soldier and civilians the lived and fought amongst the carnage. The book explores the major battles of the war such as Stalin grad and El Alamein and the major events that changed the war such as Hitler's adoption of the "Europe first" policy and the decision to use the atomic bomb. Written by Time Life Books which has publish numerous highly acclaimed volumes on World War II, the book captures the drama of one of the greatest event in human history.