World War 2 Germany Invades Poland ww2

At dawn on September 1^st 1939 a massive German army rolled across the 1,250 miles of the Polish border.

Almost immediately after the invasion of Poland began the British and French ambassadors in Berlin delivered identical messages to the German Foreign Ministry Stating that if Germany did not withdraw their troops from Poland Britain and France would "fulfil their obligations to Poland without hesitation".(France had a military agreement with Poland since 1921 and Britain had pledged their assistance to Poland, if it's independence was threatened on the 31st of March 1939)

Britain ordered the German withdrawal from Poland and gave them until 9am on September 3^rd, Germany refused and 2 hours after the deadline had passed Neville Chamberlain the British Prime Minister declared war.

At noon the French ambassador in Berlin called the German Foreign Minister who refused to halt the invasion and at 5pm France declared war.

World War 2 Had began.

"Blitzkrieg the German word for lightning war" was a military technique that was used to great effect by Germany during the course of the World War 2

Mobile armoured (Panzer) forces Blasted their way into enemy territory ahead of the slower moving infantry who followed to clear up any further resistance from the enemy, these attacks were stunningly effective that they often caught the enemy unprepared.

The Blitzkrieg of Poland was so effective and so swift that the Germans had advanced the 140 miles to Warsaw the Capital in just 7 days. By the 10^th of September 1939 there were only small pockets of Polish resistance left in isolated groups and the French declared the battle of Poland lost on the 13^th of September.

Soviet Forces entered Poland from the east on the 17^th of September.

(Germany and Russia Hitler, and Stalin had a secret non-aggression pact that included the partitioning of Poland between their two countries)

On the 18^th of September the Polish government and High command went into exile in Romania.

The Warsaw Garrison bravely fought on for another ten days against the invaders until they finally succumbed on the 28^th of September.

And the last of the Polish army succumbed to the Germans on October the 5^th. Marking the end of Poland's independence.

Germany and The Soviets between them took over 900,000 Polish prisoners, the Polish officers were then taken to the Katyn Forrest and shot dead, many Polish soldiers died from maltreatment.

Around 80,000 Polish soldiers managed to cross the border into Romania and continued to their fight against the Germans from France and Britain.

The number of Polish soldiers killed or wounded is still unknown but there were 45,000 German casualties.

This is the first in a series of pages about the decisive battles of world war 2