As the dawn of September 1, 1939, a storm that would change world history was quietly brewing. This became known as the "Polish Blitzkrieg", which marked the beginning of World War II and foreshadowed the fate of the European continent in the following years. As a result of the battle, Poland fell victim to Germany and the Soviet Union, and the former country was cut and carved up in a matter of weeks, and was severely oppressed and massacred in the years that followed. However, the origin and process of all this has been forgotten in the smoke of history, leaving only those bloody pictures of war and cruel results. It is necessary for us to look for the truth of this war from the long river of history, explore the reasons and results behind it, and hope to learn the lessons of human history.
Luftwaffe bombers over Poland
Blitzkrieg strategy
Germany used a tactic known as "blitzkrieg" in its military operations in Poland. The core idea of this tactic is to attack the enemy quickly, continuously, and fiercely in order to achieve a quick victory. Germany's goal was to end the fighting as quickly as possible in order to reduce its own losses. This tactic played an important role in World War II, allowing Germany to quickly achieve a series of victories in the early stages of the war. However, for those countries and peoples who fell victim to blitzkrieg, this tactic brought endless terror and suffering. It pushed the brutality of war to the extreme, causing countless lives to be taken in a short period of time.
Bombing of Warsaw
German offensive
On the morning of September 1, 1939, German troops began their offensive against Poland. The Luftwaffe dealt a major blow to Poland, destroying most of the Polish air force, thus paving the way for an offensive by the army. The army's offensive used armored units and mechanized infantry, which allowed them to quickly penetrate deep into Polish lines. In just a few weeks, the Germans launched a full-scale attack on Poland from the north, south and west, while the Slovak army fought alongside the Germans in northern Slovakia. In order to defend a more well-developed line, Polish troops retreated from front-line bases near the German-Polish border and turned east. However, due to the defeat at the Battle of Buzzura in mid-September, the Germans gained an indisputable advantage. Polish troops then retreated to the southeast, preparing for a long defense at the Romanian bridgehead and awaiting French and British support and rescue. However, although Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3 based on an alliance agreement with Poland, their assistance to Poland was very limited.
Veren was destroyed by Luftwaffe bombing
The participation of the USSR
On September 17, the Soviet Red Army invaded eastern Poland, which was part of the Soviet Union's "sphere of influence" under a secret agreement of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union. This move completely rendered Poland's defense plans completely obsolete. Faced with the second front , the Polish government concluded that the defense of the Romanian bridgehead was no longer feasible and ordered all troops to urgently retreat to neutral Romania. On October 6, after Poland was defeated at the Battle of Cork, the Germans and Soviets took complete control of Poland. Although Poland never formally surrendered, the success of this invasion marked the end of the Second Polish Republic.
During the Soviet invasion, the Red Army entered the provincial capital of Verno
The impact of the war
After initial military administration, Germany annexed western Poland and the former Free City of Danzig directly on 8 October, placing the remaining territories under the administration of the newly established Governor-General's Office. The Soviet Union, for its part, incorporated its newly acquired territories into its two republics, Belarus and Ukraine, and immediately began a Sovietization campaign. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, which occupied Poland, both set out to wipe out Polish culture and subjugate its people. During the war, about 6 million Polish citizens (21.4% of the total population of Poland) died during the occupation, half of them Polish Jews. In German-occupied former Polish territory, Germany killed between 5.47 million and 5.67 million Poles between 1939 and 1945, including 3 million Jews, in what was described as a conscious, systematic genocide at the Nuremberg Trials.
The battle was the prelude to World War II, which marked the beginning of a global conflict. Although Poland had an alliance with Britain and France, Poland could not receive sufficient assistance in the face of the war, and eventually lost its independence under the attack of the German and Soviet powers. It is a tragic historical lesson that post-war Poland suffered deep demographic and cultural losses. Looking back on history, we are reminded to do everything possible to prevent the recurrence of such tragedies.