The German Invasion
of Poland
The Road to War
• Before 1939, Hitler could achieve
goals without war
• April 3, 1939- Hitler issues directive
for attack on Poland
– Called Case White
The Road To War
• 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
• Took a prisoner from a concentration
camp, dressed him in a Polish uniform,
taken to town of Gleiwitz, and shot on
Aug. 31, 1939 by the Gestapo in a
bizarre faked “Polish attack” on the
local radio station.
The Polish Invasion
• Sept. 1, 1939- Hitler invades Poland
– Responds to the attack by regular Polish troops on
the Gleiwitz transmitter
• 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 Blitzkrieg
The Blitzkrieg
• Germans introduced something new in
the history of warfare- the blitzkrieg
– Lightning war
• Based on two key weapons
– Tank and airplane
• German Luftwaffe (air force)
destroyed Polish air force while most
of it is on the ground
The Blitzkrieg
• Luftwaffe bombed bridges, roads,
railways, and radio stations, and
concentrated Polish troops
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
The Blitzkrieg
• Poles try to
stop Nazi
panzers with
their Calvary
– Marks the
end of the
era of
mounted
Calvary
The Blitzkrieg
• After the tanks
were armored cars
and motorcycle
troops
The Blitzkrieg
• Finally foot soldiers or infantry sent
in
• Watch historical footage of the
invasion of Poland.
The Blitzkrieg
• Germans also
unleash calculated
terror on civilian
population
• Hear personal stories of
the invasion of Poland
– Use stuka dive
bombers
– Drove terrified
civilians out into the
roads
– Caused mass
confusion
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 Allies
• France was thought to possess the
most powerful army in Europe
– Pull back behind their own defensive
position, the Maginot Line
• England only had a few divisions of
men to spare
• Allies could not come to Poland’s aid
fast enough
Poland’s Defeat
• 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
• It was not lack of courage, but
massively superior German power,
that led to the defeat of Poland
Poland’s Defeat
• Remained under German occupation
until January, 1945
The Defeat of Poland
• In Soviet Union, 1.5 million Poles were
transported to labor camps
• Captured Polish officers shot at
secret forest sites
– Katyn forest
The Defeat of Poland
• 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
Reactions of Britain and
France
• 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
Reactions of Britain and
France
• Fear that Germany may turn “lightening
war” on the West