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This Day in History - World War II September 1, 1939 Germany invades Poland

Posted on 09/01/2006 4:47:18 AM PDT by mainepatsfan

This Day In History - World War II September 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland

On this day in 1939, German forces bombard Poland on land and from the air, as Adolf Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and ultimately rule Poland. World War II had begun.

The German invasion of Poland was a primer on how Hitler intended to wage war--what would become the "blitzkrieg" strategy. This was characterized by extensive bombing early on to destroy the enemy's air capacity, railroads, communication lines, and munitions dumps, followed by a massive land invasion with overwhelming numbers of troops, tanks, and artillery. Once the German forces had plowed their way through, devastating a swath of territory, infantry moved in, picking off any remaining resistance.

Once Hitler had a base of operations within the target country, he immediately began setting up "security" forces to annihilate all enemies of his Nazi ideology, whether racial, religious, or political. Concentration camps for slave laborers and the extermination of civilians went hand in hand with German rule of a conquered nation. For example, within one day of the German invasion of Poland, Hitler was already setting up SS "Death's Head" regiments to terrorize the populace.

The Polish army made several severe strategic miscalculations early on. Although 1 million strong, the Polish forces were severely under-equipped and attempted to take the Germans head-on with horsed cavaliers in a forward concentration, rather than falling back to more natural defensive positions. The outmoded thinking of the Polish commanders coupled with the antiquated state of its military was simply no match for the overwhelming and modern mechanized German forces. And, of course, any hope the Poles might have had of a Soviet counter-response was dashed with the signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Nonaggression Pact.


TOPICS: Germany; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: germany; milhist; militaryhistory; poland
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The UN immediately asked Poland to show restraint. /s
1 posted on 09/01/2006 4:47:18 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan

If only John Kerry had been around. He would have prevented WWII by sitting down with Hitler and talking to him.


2 posted on 09/01/2006 4:49:58 AM PDT by Hoodat ( ETERNITY - Smoking, or Non-smoking?)
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To: Hoodat
It was tried.
3 posted on 09/01/2006 4:50:37 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan
No mention of what role if any Polands eastern neighbor had in all of this.
4 posted on 09/01/2006 5:06:45 AM PDT by fso301
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To: mainepatsfan

It was Bush's fault!!


5 posted on 09/01/2006 5:09:49 AM PDT by chicagopolish (Polka is not from Poland!! We had nothing to do with it. It was the Czechs!!!)
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To: fso301
They opened the door for the Germans. A couple of weeks later they'd come into Poland as "peace keepers".
6 posted on 09/01/2006 5:09:52 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: chicagopolish

Well ask any moonbat and they'll tell you how the Bush family were big backers of the Third Reich.


7 posted on 09/01/2006 5:10:40 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan

The West could have stopped Hitler in 1936 at the cost of at most a few thousand dead. By waiting until 1939 the cost rose to 55 million. Something to think about the next time the UN calls for more diplomacy in dealing with Iran.


8 posted on 09/01/2006 5:13:31 AM PDT by jalisco555 ("Dogs look up to us, cats look down on us and pigs treat us as equals" Winston Churchill)
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To: mainepatsfan

I'm waiting for the book & movies to come out.


9 posted on 09/01/2006 5:13:46 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy (Sophomore dies in kiln explosion? Oh My God! I just talked to her last week...)
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To: mainepatsfan

One of the most underrated things about WWII is the contribution of the Poles to the ultimate defeat of the Germans.


10 posted on 09/01/2006 5:14:51 AM PDT by jalisco555 ("Dogs look up to us, cats look down on us and pigs treat us as equals" Winston Churchill)
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To: jalisco555

Hitler couldn't sleep he was so nervous when he ordered his troops into the Rhineland. Then the French didn't do a damn thing.


11 posted on 09/01/2006 5:15:49 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan

It's also Emma M. Nutt Day



When : September 1st


Emma M. Nutt Day celebrates the first woman telephone operator in America.


Emma Nutt became the first woman telephone operator on September 1, 1878. She loved the job, and worked at it for 33 years.


This special day celebrates the world of telephone operators. It was a very important job for many decades. Today, the position has been eliminated being replaced by automation in telephone systems.


12 posted on 09/01/2006 5:15:58 AM PDT by Valin (http://www.irey.com/)
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To: jalisco555

Yup. Those that could fought the Germans right till the end of the war. Stalin of course let the Germans crush the Polish home army so he wouldn't have to deal with them after the war.


13 posted on 09/01/2006 5:17:57 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: jalisco555

Another of the most underrated things about WWII is that in 1939, Britain and France issued declarations of war in order to defend Poland's sovereignty. In 1945, Britain and France (and America for that matter) had no problem in giving the sovereignty of Poland over to the Soviet Union.


14 posted on 09/01/2006 5:36:16 AM PDT by Hoodat ( ETERNITY - Smoking, or Non-smoking?)
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To: mainepatsfan

Chamberlain tried to do a deal with Hitler before he invaded Poland. When they finally invaded on Sept 1st 1939 it was clear no deal would work and the Brits declared war on Hitler on Sept 2nd 1939. We didn't declare war on him for another 2 years, so i don't think we've got any right to be smug about Chamberlains mistake.


15 posted on 09/01/2006 5:36:51 AM PDT by AdAstraPerArdua
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To: jalisco555
Yes, I always thoght that was a bit of an Enigma... ;>)

One of the most underrated things about WWII is the contribution of the Poles to the ultimate defeat of the Germans.

16 posted on 09/01/2006 5:37:17 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy (Sophomore dies in kiln explosion? Oh My God! I just talked to her last week...)
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To: Hoodat

They exchanged one tyrant for another.


17 posted on 09/01/2006 5:40:35 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: AdAstraPerArdua

No doubt. If we'd have been willing to back them up Hitler never would have been free to launch his war.


18 posted on 09/01/2006 5:41:35 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan
The most comprehensive book written on the prelude to Germany's invasion of Poland (That I've read) is "The Deadly Embrace"

Much of it covers the negotiations between Germany and The Soviet Union including the secret protocol papers.

It is extremely well written and most enjoyable.

19 posted on 09/01/2006 6:18:35 AM PDT by #1CTYankee (That's right, I have no proof. So what of it??)
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To: Hoodat

And his partner Fatboy Kennedy would have had Dad set up the meeting.


20 posted on 09/01/2006 6:26:42 AM PDT by massgopguy (massgopguy)
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