The Invasion of Poland (1939)

Invasion of Poland September 1st through October 6th, 1939 World War II The German invasion of Poland began on September 1st, 1939 and besides Germany and Poland brought the United Kingdom and France into the war. German preparations for the invasion started months before the attack and included not only military preparations, but also aggressive propaganda and similar actions to justify German aggression against Poland. Operation Himmler, also known as the operation Canned Goods was a false flag operation conducted in order to make the appearance of Polish aggression towards Germany. The most famous action of the operation was the Gliwitz incident on August 31st 1939. The Germans staged an attack on a radio station in Gliwitz Making it look as it was attacked by Poles and broadcasted a false call to Poles in Germany to rise against Hitler. Along with other similar staged incidents the Germans used this event as an excuse to attack Poland. Contrary to the Germans who had already disposed their units along the border with Poland before the attack, the poles had delayed their mobilization of their troops as they were pressured by their British and French allies not to do it. They believed that mobilization would only provoke Hitler and give him a reason to violate peace on the European continent . For that reason, the Polish forces didn't gather all their troops in time by September 1st when the Germans attacked them. Fall Weiss or Case White was the German plan to invade Poland from three directions through the north from Prussia and Northeastern Germany. A main attack through the Western border of Poland from East Germany and through the South from the border of the puppet state of Slovakia. Two army groups north and south were ordered to encircle the Polish troops and to meet near Warsaw. For the invasion, the German forces engaged two thirds of their infantry: almost all Panzer units and more than 2,000 planes leaving the rest of its units on Germany's western border in case of a French attack Since the Germans anticipated that the British and French would enter the war once Poland was attacked, they planned to finish the invasion quickly before the French and British troops would have time to mobilize. The invasion began in the early hours of September 1st with the guns of a German battleship which was visiting the Polish port of Danzig opening fire. The Polish defense known as plan West anticipated the protection of the entire border with Germany and Slovakia since this region was the industrial heart of the country. This proved to be a big mistake since most of the units couldn't made the quick maneuvers of German Panzer troops, leaving them to become surrounded. The first days of the invasion saw intense German attacks for both land and air. The Luftwaffe gained air superiority immediately, even though the Polish pilots put up a brave resistance. Attacks made by German Panzer troops were so intense that Polish units were forced to retreat from their defensive positions after the first days of combat. France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany on September 3rd, but without any true support. The German forces used their tactic of Blitzkrieg - a swift combined arms attack that overwhelmed the enemy and surrounded them. German technological and numerical superiority proved to be a decisive feature of the campaign that Poland just couldn't oppose However, the Polish army did try to counter-attack the German forces at the Battle of Zura near Warsaw. During the 10 days of the battle from September 9 to September 18, the Polish forces were destroyed by the attacks from the Luftwaffe and Panzer units. In the two weeks of the invasion, the whole of Western Poland was conquered. Where that they couldn't establish any kind of tactical advantage, Polish command decided to retreat its troops to the southeastern part of the country, where there was a hilly landscape suitable for organizing a proper resistance. The vicinity of the Romanian border also gave the opportunity to withdraw from the country. The Polish plan was to establish a solid defence in order to prolong the invasion for a French and British response on the west. However, the British and French support would never come. The French only engaged in a small limited skirmish in the Saar land with no effect. The Polish plans proved futile went on September 17th, the Soviet Union suddenly violated a non-aggression pact at hand with Poland and attacked it with a pretext to protect the Belarusian and Ukrainian population. The Soviet invasion of Poland was pre-arranged with Germany on August 23rd 1939 with the notorious Molotov Ribbentrop non-aggression pact. This pact not only anticipated friendly behavior between the two countries, but also a joint invasion of Poland and its division afterwards. When 800,000 Red Army soldiers entered Poland, the Polish forces knew that it couldn't oppose the enemies on two fronts. Even though the Poles continued to resist the German forces like in the Battle of Tomaszow Lubelski all efforts were futile. Polish units were being surrounded everywhere and such was the case with Polish cities the capital of Poland Warsaw surrendered on September 27th after 16 days of struggle. The last Polish unit surrendered on October 6th after the Battle of Kock. Facing more powerful and numerous enemies on two fronts and abandoned by its allies, Poland suffered defeat. After it had been defeated Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union divided its territory, thus ending the Second Republic of Poland. For the German forces the Polish campaign helped invaluable lessons for future operations that led to the conquest of Europe. Even though defeated on the battlefield what was left of the Polish military continued to fight with the British forces until the end of the war. Subscribe and click the notification bell for more history videos. Get your copy of simple history World War 2 today. Hey Simple History fans, if you are looking for a better way to support the channel and help us create more epic content consider becoming a sponsor on our channel. Sponsoring means that for just 5 bucks a month you get these amazing perks You can be the first to see new episodes with early access. You'll be able to watch new episodes before anyone else with this perk a custom icon that shows alongside your username in the comment section and in live chat When you sponsor us you also become an influencer with sponsor only comments. 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Channel: Simple History

Views: 3,041,823

Rating: 4.9170232 out of 5

Keywords: simple history, animated history, educational, education, 1939, Poland, germany, united kingdom, france, Operation Canned Goods, Operation Himmler, Gleiwitz Incident, mobilization, blitzkrieg, Fall Weiss, Case White, Danzig, Plan West, Luftwaffe, panzer troops, Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact, soviet invasion, kock, mechnized, mobilised, Red Army, Tomaszow Lubelski

Id: x0APrdY0G3k

Length: 6min 38sec (398 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 18 2018