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On 8 January 1918, the U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the 14 Points as the American war aims. Point 13 called for Polish independence to be restored after the war and for Poland to have "free and secure access to the sea", a statement that implied the German deep-water port of Danzig (modern Gdańsk, Poland), located at a strategic location where a branch of the river Vistula flows ...
After the war, the Poles insisted that Guderian, in an attempt to end the Polish resistance, threatened the Polish commander that he would shoot the POWs if the remaining forces did not surrender. [11] The resistance, however, continued for another hour, when a German envoy arrived carrying a flag of truce and proposed a cease fire. [6]
The history of Poland from 1939 to 1945 encompasses primarily the period from the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union to the end of World War II. Following the German–Soviet non-aggression pact , Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany on 1 September 1939 and by the Soviet Union on 17 September .
The Invasion of Poland, [e] also known as the September Campaign, [f] Polish Campaign, [g] and Polish Defensive War of 1939 [h] [13] (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet Union, which marked the beginning of World War II. [14]
1 September 1939: Danzig police remove Polish insignia at the Polish–Danzig border near Zoppot. On 1 September 1939, the day of the German invasion of the Free City of Danzig, Forster signed a law declaring the Free City to be incorporated into Germany. On the same day, Hitler signed a law declaring the law signed by Forster to be German law ...
Wieluń after bombing on 1 September 1939. Around 04:30, Stukas of III./KG1 attack Polish positions at Tczew bridge in the unsuccessful attempt to preempt the demolition of the bridge by Polish forces. [2]: 107 At 04:45, Schleswig-Holstein opens fire against the Polish defenders at Westerplatte, beginning the Battle of Westerplatte. [10]: 82
The war left one million children orphaned and 590,000 persons disabled. The country lost 38% of its national assets (whereas Britain lost only 0.8%, and France only 1.5%). [208] Nearly half of pre-war Poland was expropriated by the Soviet Union, including the two great cultural centers of Lwów and Wilno. [196]
In spite of the shortcomings, at least 110 victories were credited to the P.11 for the loss of about 30 of their own. The PZL.37 Łoś was an excellent twin-engine medium bomber; Poland had 36 ready-to-fight when the war started. In 1939 Poland had 390 combat planes that were mostly obsolescent.