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September 1939

1939 · 17 articles · about 185 min of reading

The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact sealed Poland’s fate before the first shot was fired. On 1 September 1939 Germany attacked from three sides, and on 17 September the Red Army crossed the eastern border. Britain and France declared war on Germany, but in the west they went no further than a brief advance into the Saar. The series runs from the pact and the last days of peace through Westerplatte, the Bzura and the defence of Warsaw to the last battle, at Kock.

The whole story in one article · 15 minInvasion of Poland1 September – 6 October 1939From 1 September to 6 October 1939 Poland fought Nazi Germany, Slovakia and, from 17 September, the Soviet Union. The campaign ended in partition.

1939

  1. 0123 August 1939EventKey moment13 minThe Molotov–Ribbentrop PactThe starting point of the series: a secret protocol carves up Poland and Eastern Europe, and the pact, as the article puts it, opens the way to war.On the night of 23/24 August 1939 Ribbentrop and Molotov signed a non-aggression pact in Moscow. A secret protocol carved up Poland and Eastern Europe.
  2. 0225 August 1939EventKey moment9 minThe Anglo-Polish allianceThe Western guarantee of the last week of peace, whose secret protocol limits it to Germany – a limit that shows on 17 September, when the USSR invades.On 25 August 1939 Raczyński and Halifax signed a mutual assistance agreement in London. A secret protocol stated that the “European Power” meant Germany.
  3. 0331 August 1939EventKey moment12 minThe Gleiwitz incidentThe last evening of peace: the SS stages a “Polish” raid on a radio station, and next day Hitler speaks of Polish fire and says Germany is “returning fire”.On the evening of 31 August 1939 SS men posing as Polish insurgents raided the Gleiwitz radio station and left behind the body of a murdered Silesian.
  4. 041 September 1939EventKey moment10 minGermany invades PolandThe war begins: the Wehrmacht attacks without a declaration of war from the north, west and south, and the Slovak army strikes alongside it.At dawn on 1 September 1939 the Wehrmacht attacked Poland from the north, west and south without declaring war. The Slovak army struck alongside the Germans.
  5. 051 September 1939Event8 minThe bombing of WieluńWieluń, a town with no troops or air defences, opens the list of cities destroyed from the air in this war.On the morning of 1 September 1939 Luftwaffe dive-bombers destroyed central Wieluń, a town with no troops or air defences. The first bombs hit its hospital.
  6. 061–7 September 1939Battle12 minBattle of WesterplatteA defence from the first week of September: some 200 soldiers hold the depot against a battleship, naval infantry and Stukas.From 1 to 7 September 1939 some 200 Polish soldiers held the Westerplatte depot against a battleship, naval infantry, Danzig police and Stukas.
  7. 071 September 1939Event8 minThe defence of the Polish Post Office in GdańskOne of the first clashes of the war, whose epilogue became one of its first crimes: the shooting of the postal workers after their surrender.On 1 September 1939 Polish postal workers held the Polish Post Office in Gdańsk for about 14 hours. After their surrender 38 were sentenced to death and shot.
  8. 083 September 1939EventKey moment11 minBritain and France declare war on GermanyThe war formally involves the West, but despite the cheering in Warsaw no real help reaches Poland.On 3 September 1939 Britain at 11 a.m. and France at 5 p.m. found themselves at war with Germany. Warsaw cheered, but no real help arrived.
  9. 093 September 1939Event12 minBloody Sunday in BydgoszczShooting among retreating troops becomes, in German propaganda’s hands, “Bloody Sunday” and a justification for terror against Poles.On 3 September 1939 shooting broke out in Bydgoszcz amid retreating troops. Several hundred Germans died, and propaganda turned it into “Bloody Sunday”.
  10. 108–28 September 1939Battle10 minSiege of Warsaw (1939)The defence of the capital from 8 to 28 September ties down considerable German forces, and its surrender is decided by civilian suffering, not military losses.Warsaw held out against the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe from 8 to 28 September 1939, surrendering after mass air raids, without water, power or hope of relief.
  11. 119–22 September 1939Battle12 minBattle of the BzuraThe only large-scale Polish offensive of the campaign: it draws the Germans away from Warsaw for a few days but does not change the campaign’s outcome.From 9 to 22 September 1939 Kutrzeba's Poznań and Pomorze Armies struck the flank of the German 8th Army. After early success they were encircled and crushed.
  12. 1217 September 1939EventKey moment12 minThe Soviet invasion of PolandThe secret protocol of the pact is carried out: the Red Army enters without a declaration of war and Poland faces two invaders.At dawn on 17 September 1939 the Red Army entered Poland without a declaration of war, carrying out the secret protocol of its pact with Germany.
  13. 1318 September 1939Event7 minThe Polish government crosses into RomaniaThe night of 17–18 September: the President, government and Commander-in-Chief cross into Romania and are interned, while the Polish state carries on outside the country.On the night of 17–18 September 1939 the President, government and Commander-in-Chief crossed into Romania, hoping to reach France. They were interned.
  14. 1428 September 1939Event6 minThe capitulation of WarsawThe end of the last major centre of resistance in central Poland: after the heaviest air raid and a general assault, Warsaw capitulates at Rakowiec.On 28 September 1939 Generals Kutrzeba and Blaskowitz signed the capitulation of Warsaw at Rakowiec, after its heaviest air raid and a general assault.
  15. 1528 September 1939Event11 minThe German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship TreatyThe two invaders revise the partition line of the August protocol: the border moves to the Bug and Lithuania goes to the USSR.On 28 September 1939 Ribbentrop and Molotov signed the Boundary and Friendship Treaty, moving the partition line to the Bug and giving Lithuania to the USSR.
  16. 162–5 October 1939Battle16 minBattle of KockThe end of organised resistance by regular Polish troops: a battle won, but with no ammunition left, so surrender on 6 October.On 2–5 October 1939 Kleeberg’s Operational Group Polesie fought the German XIV Corps. It won its last battle but, out of ammunition, surrendered on 6 October.