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| Invasion of Poland (1939) | |||||||||
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| Part of World War II | |||||||||
 The map shows the beginning of the Second World War in September 1939 in a wider European context. |
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| Participants | |||||||||
 Germany Slovakia
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 Poland |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Fedor von Bock(Army Group North)
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Edward Rydz-Śmigły |
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| Strength | |||||||||
| Germany: 60 divisions, 6 brigades, 9,000 guns, 2,750 tanks, 2,315 aircraft Slovakia: 3 divisions Joined on 17 September: Total: |
Poland: 39 divisions (some of them were never fully mobilized and concentrated), 16 brigades, 4,300 guns, 880 tanks, 400 aircraft Total: 950,000 |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Germany: 16,343 killed, 3,500 missing, 30,300 wounded Slovakia: 37 killed, 11 missing, 114 wounded USSR: |
Poland: 66,000 dead, 133,700 wounded, 694,000 captured |
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The Invasion of Poland in 1939 was a military offensive in which Nazi Germany, and two weeks later the Soviet Union, invaded Poland. It was the start of World War II in Europe. The invasion took place from 1 September to 6 October 1939. The invasion of Poland caused Britain and France to declare war on Germany on 3 September; they did little to affect the September Campaign. In the end, Poland lost and Germany and the Soviet Union divided the country, following a treaty signed years before the war.
This was the first time blitzkrieg was tried on the battlefield. The German surprise attack was successful. It was very effective against the ineffective and unmobilized Polish Army, whose tanks and airplanes were few and mostly old. They were outflanked, outmaneuvered, and outnumbered in September 1939, and easily destroyed by the blitzkrieg. The Poles if well prepared could have had two million soldiers in the fight.
The invasion came directly from the Gleiwitz incident, where German soldiers dressed as Polish troops occupied a radio station and transmitted Anti-German messages. The next morning German forces pushed the Polish defenders from the border back to inland Poland. After the Battle of the Bzura the Polish were forced to defend Warsaw, while the rest defended the Polish-Romanian border, waiting for the long awaited Allied support which was in the campaign very limited.
The Polish saw how their country was destroyed by war, as their newest enemy, the Soviet Union, attacked the Polish on the 17th of September, destroying all hopes of a Polish victory. The Polish government ordered that all forces retreat to Romania through the border. After the occupation of Poland the remaining Polish forces joined the Western Allies, while some joined the Russian on their fight against Germany.
Vyacheslav Molotov signs the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a German–Soviet non-aggression pact.
Polish Infantry
Polish 7TP light tanks in formation during the first days of the invasion
Polish Infantryman, 1939
Deployment of German, Polish, and Slovak divisions immediately before the German invasion.
A camouflaged Polish P-11 fighter at a combat airfield
Peking Plan: Polish destroyers evacuate the Baltic Sea en route to the United Kingdom.
Map showing the advances made by the Germans, and the disposition of all troops from 1 to 14 September
Cheerful German and Slovak soldiers posing with a group of civilians in Komańcza, September 1939.
A bombed Polish Army column during the Battle of the Bzura
Disposition of all troops following the Soviet invasion.
Red Army enters the provincial capital of Wilno during the Soviet invasion, 19 September 1939
German and Soviet troops shaking hands following the invasion
Polish troops withdrawn to Hungary in September 1939
German soldiers removing Polish government insignia
German cavalry and motorized units entering Poland from East Prussia during 1939.
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Polish soldiers with anti-aircraft artillery near the Warsaw Central Station in the first days of September 1939.
