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Admiral Raeder
Kriegsmarine
General
Brauchitsch
Wehrmacht
Commander in
Chief of the
Luftwaffe
Goring
Planning
Plans for the invasion of Poland
(Operation White) were discussed by the
army (Wehrmacht) from March 1939 and
had been finalised by June
The attack had to be speedy
The majority of German troops would be
committed in the East
This left the western border against
France vulnerable
Polish tactics
The western areas were the most economically
vital, so the Polish troops were spread thinly
along this border
The Poles only began mobilisation on 29 August.
The British and French had advised against
mobilisation in case it antagonised Germany
When the invasion came on 1 September, only
one-third of the Polish troops were ready
Timeline of events
1 September the invasion begins
10 September most of northern and western
Poland under German control
17 September - the Russians invade from the
east (secret protocol of the Nazi-Soviet Pact)
17 September Warsaw surrounded
27 September Warsaw surrenders after 10
days of heavy bombing by the Germans
5 October the end of Polish resistance
Consequences
Darby page 11
Why?
Britain and France had gone to war, not to
protect Poland, but to prevent German
domination of Europe
Allied strategy was to wage a defensive
war, so that they could continue to rearm
and strengthen their military resources
Peace?
6 October Hitler offered peace proposals
to Britain and France
All they had to do was to accept the new
borders in Eastern Europe
Britain and France refused
Britains Response
Chamberlain appointed Winston Churchill as
First Lord of the Admiralty
Ministries of shipping, information and food were
revived
Ships began sailing in convoys
News was censored
Rationing was introduced
BUT
No uniform command structure was established
between the Allies
No agreement was reached with Belgium
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