Transcript The German Invasion of Poland

The German Invasion
of Poland

Hitler plans a fake attack to start the war:
◦ “I shall give a propagandist reason for starting
the war, no matter whether it is plausible or
not. The victor will not be asked, later on,
whether he told the truth or not. In … a war, it
is not the Right that matters, but Victory.”
The Road To War

Hitler wanted Germany to appear as an
innocent victim of Polish aggression:
◦ On Aug. 31, 1939 a staged incident by the
Gestapo - a bizarre faked “Polish attack” on
the local radio station
 Took a prisoner from a concentration camp, dressed
him in a Polish uniform, taken to town of Gleiwitz, and
shot
◦ Other staged incidents– “Operation Himmler”
The Road To War

Sept. 1, 1939- Hitler invades Poland
◦ Without a declaration of war

56 German divisions all across 1,250
mile frontier
◦ Spread Polish forces very thin
Was told to withdraw by Sept. 3 or face
war
 Sept. 3, 11:15 a.m. British Prime
Minister Neville Chamberlain announces
on national radio they were at war with
Germany

The Polish Invasion
The Blitzkrieg

Germans introduced something new in the
history of warfare- the blitzkrieg
◦ Lightning war

Based on two key weapons

German Luftwaffe (air force) destroyed
Polish air force while most of it is on the
ground
◦ Tank and airplane
◦ Luftwaffe bombed bridges, roads, railways, and
radio stations, and concentrated Polish troops
The Blitzkrieg


The Blitzkrieg
Once Polish Air
Force annihilated,
German tanks,
called Panzer units,
were to roll in
Tanks destroyed:
roads, railways,
bridges, tunnels,
telegraph stations,
and airfields

Poles try to
stop Nazi
Panzers with
their Cavalry
◦ Marks the end
of the era of
mounted
Cavalry
The Blitzkrieg
The Blitzkrieg

After the tanks,
armored cars and
motorcycle troops
were sent in

Finally, foot soldiers,
or infantry, were
sent in


Germans also
unleash calculated
terror on civilian
population
◦ Use stuka dive
bombers
◦ Drove terrified
civilians out into
the roads
◦ Caused mass
confusion
Hear personal stories of the invasion of Poland
The Blitzkrieg

Three SS Death’s Head regiments followed
the infantry advance to conduct “police
and security” measures behind the
German lines
◦ Whole villages burned to the ground

Rules of War ignored by Germany
The Blitzkrieg





Allies could not come to Poland’s aid fast
enough
Sept. 16, 1939- Warsaw was surrounded
Sept. 17, 1939- Soviet forces invade from
East
Sept. 28, 1939- Germany and U.S.S.R
agree to divide Poland into spheres of
influence
Oct. 5, 1939- direct Polish resistance
comes to an end
Poland’s Defeat
Germans herded Polish Jews into ghettos
 Were starved and cruelly offered hopes of
survival
 Most were shot or gassed
 2,000 concentration camps in Poland

The Defeat of Poland






Shock at the fall of Warsaw
Deep sympathy with the fate of the
Poles
Amazement at speed of German
advance
Anger at the Soviets, who one month
earlier had been independent, at their
part in the partition of Poland
Shame for not having helped
Fear that Germany may turn “lightening
war” on the West
Reactions of Britain and France