Soviet invasion of Poland facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Soviet invasion of Poland |
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| Part of the invasion of Poland in World War II | |||||||||
 Soviet forces marching through Poland in 1939. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Poland |
 Soviet Union |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Edward Rydz-Śmigły |
 Kliment Voroshilov (Commander-in-Chief) Mikhail Kovalyov (Belarusian Front) Semyon Timoshenko (Ukrainian Front) |
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 20,000 Border Protection Corps, 250,000 Polish Army. |
466,516–800,000 troops 33+ divisions 11+ brigades 4,959 guns 4,736 tanks 3,300 aircraft |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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3,000–7,000 dead or missing, up to 20,000 wounded. |
1,475–3,000 killed or missing 2,383–10,000 wounded. |
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The 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland was a military action by the Soviet Union. It began on September 17, 1939, without a formal declaration of war. This event happened during the early days of World War II.
Just 16 days after Nazi Germany attacked Poland from the west, the Soviet Union invaded from the east. The invasion ended on October 6, 1939. After the invasion, Germany and the Soviet Union divided all of the Second Polish Republic.
Contents
Why the Invasion Happened
In early 1939, the Soviet Union tried to form an alliance. They asked the United Kingdom, France, Poland, and Romania to join them. This alliance would have been against Nazi Germany.
The Soviet Union wanted to move its troops through Poland and Romania. Both countries said no to this request.
A Secret Deal with Germany
On August 23, the Soviet Union made a secret agreement with Nazi Germany. This deal was called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. They secretly planned to divide parts of Northern and Eastern Europe. These areas would become German and Soviet lands.
One week later, German forces invaded Poland. They attacked from the north, south, and west. Polish forces moved to the southeast. They hoped for help from France and Britain.
However, on September 17, the Soviet Red Army invaded eastern Poland. The Soviet government said they were protecting Ukrainians and Belarusians. These groups lived in the eastern part of Poland.
Life Under Soviet Control
The Soviet government took over the land they won. In November 1939, about 13.5 million Polish citizens became Soviet citizens.
Hundreds of thousands of people from this region were sent away. They were moved to Siberia and other distant parts of the Soviet Union.
Later Changes to the Land
Soviet forces stayed in eastern Poland until the summer of 1941. Then, the German army invaded the Soviet Union in an event called Operation Barbarossa. The Germans took control of the area.
The region remained under Nazi control until 1944. That summer, the Red Army took it back. After the war, an agreement was made at the Yalta Conference. This agreement allowed the Soviet Union to keep most of the land it had taken from Poland.
The new People's Republic of Poland received other lands. They got the southern part of East Prussia. They also received lands east of the Oder-Neisse Line. The Soviet Union added the Polish lands into two of its republics: the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Images for kids
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Hitler watching German soldiers marching into Poland in September 1939
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Advancing Red Army troops, Soviet invasion of Poland, 1939.
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Instructions of Józef Beck, Polish minister of foreign affairs for Wacław Grzybowski, Polish ambassador to the Soviet Union concerning the Soviet invasion of Poland, 17.09.1939
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Disposition of all troops following the Soviet invasion
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German and Soviet officers shaking hands following the invasion
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Soviet propaganda appealing to Ukrainian peasants in Eastern Poland.
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" The liberation of our brothers and sisters in the Western Ukraine and Western Belorussia on 17 September 1939" Postage stamps from the USSR, 1940.
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Polish prisoners of war captured by the Red Army during the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939
See also
In Spanish: Invasión soviética de Polonia de 1939 para niños
