Alvin Eichorst (@AEichorst47312)

Invasion of Poland - "Blood-drenched September" [Part 3] By 1937, Germany had begun increasing its demands for Danzig, and proposed an extraterritorial roadway as part of the Autobahn system, to be built in order to connect East Prussia with Germany itself. Poland rejected this proposal out of fears that if it were to accept, it would become increasingly subject to the wills of Germany and lose its independence. It didn't help that Polish leaders hardly trusted Hitler. The British were also wary of Germany’s increasing strength and influence threatening the balance of power in Europe. On March 31, 1939, Poland formed a military alliance with Great Britain and France, believing that Polish sovereignty would be protected should it come under threat. However British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, and his Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax, still desired to strike a deal with Hitler regarding Danzig and possibly the Polish Corridor. Chamberlain believed that war could be avoided and hoped that Hitler would leave the rest of Poland alone. German dominance in Europe was also at stake, and in private Hitler stated that Danzig itself was not the most important issue to him, but rather the creation of Lebensraum (Room to live) for the German people. ___________________________________________ [Failing of discussions] With tensions between Germany and Poland rising, the Germans turned to aggressive diplomacy. On April 28, 1939, Hitler unilaterally withdrew Germany from both the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact, as well as the Anglo-German Naval Agreement* … *The “Anglo-German Naval Agreement” was a military agreement between Germany and Great Britain that regulated the size of Germany’s Kriegsmarine in relation to the Royal Navy. … Talks over Danzig and the Polish Corridor broke down and many months passed without significant diplomatic interactions between the two countries. During this quiet period, the Germans discovered that France and Great Britain had failed to secure an alliance with the Soviet Union against them, and that the Soviets were interested in an alliance with Germany against Poland. Hitler had already issued orders to prepare for a possible “solution for the Polish problem by military means” by way of the Fall Weiss scenario. In a statement issued to his generals in May, Hitler made it clear that a Polish campaign would not go without resistance, as it had in Czechoslovakia. - “With minor exceptions German national unification has been achieved. Further successes cannot be achieved without bloodshed. Poland will always be on the side of our adversaries... Danzig is not the objective. It is a matter of expanding our living space in the east, of making our food supply secure, and solving the problem of the Baltic states. To provide sufficient food you must have sparsely settled areas. There is therefore no question of sparing Poland, and the decision remains to attack Poland at the first opportunity. We cannot expect a repetition of Czechoslovakia. There will be fighting.” On August 22, a week before the invasion, Hitler delivered a speech to his commanders at the Obersalzberg: - “The object of the war is … physically to destroy the enemy. That is why I have prepared, for the moment only in the East, my 'Death's Head' formations with orders to kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space we need.” Hitler saw total war as the only realistic solution to the Polish Problem. ___________________________________________ With the sudden signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on August 24 (the result of secret Nazi / Soviet talks in Moscow), Germany successfully neutralized the possibility of the Soviet Union opposing and interfering in a Polish campaign, and war was imminent. On top of it, the Soviets agreed to not aid the UK or France in the event they go to war with Germany over Poland, and in a secret protocol, the two countries agreed to divide Eastern Europe into two spheres of influence: the western one-third of Poland would go to Germany, while the rest would go to the Soviets. ___________________________________________ The German invasion was planned to begin at 4:00 AM on August 26. However, a day prior, the Polish-British Common Defense Pact* was signed as an annex to the Franco-Polish Alliance. … *The Anglo-Polish Alliance was a mutual assistance agreement in the event that Poland is attacked by Germany. … In the Common Defense accord, Britain committed to helping Poland if assaulted, and guaranteed to fight to preserve Polish sovereignty. All the while the Poles and Brits were hinting to Berlin that they were willing to negotiate - not necessarily how Hitler intended to frame the conflict. As a result he wavered, and delayed the invasion until September 1. - Despite this, during the night of August 25-26, a German sabotage unit which had not received orders to suspend action, attacked the Jablunkov Pass and Mosty railway station in Silesia. The group was repelled by Polish troops.