9781422279045

The Defeat of Poland campaign to take Poland started in April 1939, and on August 23 the signature of a Russo-German non-aggression pact freed Germany from the threat of any Soviet intervention against the German forces, and established a demarcation line for the future partition of Poland after Germany and the USSR had invaded respectively from the west and the east. One of Hitler’s main concerns was to delay the UK’s mobilization for as long as possible, particularly as the UK had once more reiterated its pledge to assist Poland should the latter be invaded. To this end, Hitler maintained a show of sham diplomacy to convince the world of his peaceful intent. He even postponed the start of the offensive and continued his diplomatic appearances to make sure that Poland’s potential allies would be ill-prepared at the time of the German invasion. By the end of August Hitler could wait no longer, and on September 1, 1939 the invasion was launched, and with it World War II as the UK and France responded to Germany’s refusal to withdraw by declaring war two days later. Poland could not easily be defended as it was open to attack on three sides: from East Prussia, Pomerania, and Slovakia. The Polish frontier contained a

Narew, Vistula, and San rivers, and therefore behind a strong river barrier along a front of only 420 miles (675km). The Poles were unwilling to give up the industrial and agricultural regions to the west of this line, but could not defend 1,250 miles effectively; Marshal Edward Rydz-Smigly, Poland’s commander-in- chief, exacerbated matters by deploying many of his troops in Danzig and around Poznan, although he had received accurate intelligence reports on the forces massing against him. On September 1, this huge front was defended by only 17 divisions, three infantry brigades, and six cavalry brigades. There was no adequate command structure between Rydz-Smigly and the commanders of the Pomeranian, Modlin, Poznan, Lódz, Krakow, Carpathian, Prussian, and Narew Armies. There were also the Pyskor and the Wyskow Groups in reserve, the former including Poland’s only tank unit, the Warsaw Armored Brigade. The Polish air force had only 433 operational aircraft, the majority of them now obsolete and including the PZL P.7 and P.11 fighters and the PZL P.23 bomber. Hitler’s objective was the swift destruction of the Polish armed forces. Converging attacks on Warsaw would be

huge westward salient stretching 1,250 miles (2010km) from the Soviet- Lithuanian border to the Carpathian Mountains, excluding the defense requirements of the Danzig corridor linking the Polish port of Danzig with the rest of Poland. The French had advised the Poles to base their defense along the line of the Niemen, Bobr,

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