Invasion of Poland 1939 - Fall Weiß - Case White
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- The German Invasion of Poland in 1939 started the Second World War in Europe. The German name of operation was “Fall Weiß” meaning “Case White”. In this video I will take a look at the major German troop movements, the Soviet Invasion of Poland, the losses and a final assessment.
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Maier, Klaus; Rohde, Horst; Stegemann, Bernd; Umbreit, Hans: Die Errichtung der Hegemonie auf dem europäischen Kontient. Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg (DR2WK), Band 2.
Müller, Rolf-Dieter: Hitlers Wehrmacht, 1935-1945
Zaloga, Steven J. : Poland 1939 - The Birth of Blitzkrieg
Wettstein, Adrian: Wehrmacht im Stadtkampf
www.cgsc.edu/CA...
www.cgsc.edu/CA...
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www.westpoint.e...
en.wikipedia.o...
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Song: Ethan Meixsell - Demilitarized Zone
The Counter-Design is heavily inspired by Black ICE Mod for the game Hearts of Iron 3 by Paradox Interactive
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#InvasionOfPoland,#WW2,#CaseWhite
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It's dissapointing how videogame and film industry often "forgot" that WWII started in September of 1939 in Poland (in Europe at least), it's such an interesting theme.
True, though Cod2 has a mod that adds the invasion of poland and france as mission from the german perspective.
Oh damn, Bazz you have my respect bro (not only for creating great content).
I think that they never show the invasion of Poland or the fall of France (so anything prior to 1941) because that is when the Germans (the na z is) were winning. Nowadays people would probably try to boycott the movie/game or “cancel” the producers/creators of the game/movie.
@@RamRam-kr6gv no, its because most Americans believe the war began with Pearl Harbour and that's where the money for films and games is
@@RamRam-kr6gv I really doubt that. It's because the film would be directed towards French/Polish/German audiences and Hollywood doesn't care about them since they know not many Americans would watch
the funny thing is that poland was outnumbered, outgunned, attacked from both sides. and still did better than france and england during the invasion of france in 1940.
I don't know if you know this, but demanding land in any peacetime offer is so outrageous, that Hitler likely planned for them to deny it. In fact, we know he planned for them to deny it. Siezing Gdansk, (one of the most important and vital cities/port in all of Poland).) would be like France demanding Portsmouth or Poland demanding Konigsberg with the threat of war.
How did Poland do better than France? The Battle of France took longer, caused more casualties on the Germans and disabled more German planes and tanks.
Charles McCarron the length of the russian front compared to the french front was pretty fucking different you dipshit that is not comparable at all...the polish and later the soviets also had nothing comparable to a maginot line...
Charles McCarron lol piss off you peon.
Have you considered the strength of armies? French had more troops, far better equipment and a British expedition corps backing them up. In fact, whereas Poland had half of the strength of the German army, French army was, at least theoretically, equal to Germany's. Also compare the distance between the contemporary German borders and Warsaw and between Paris. Warsaw is twice as close. Despite all that, it took Germans almost as long to capture Warsaw than to take Paris. And then France wasn't attacked from behind by another force equal in strength to German army. Also remember that Poland existed as a country for 20 years before WW2, and its territory was even more ruined by WW1 than France's. Having all that in mind, trying to argue that Poland didn't do better is silly. I mean, yeah, more Germans died during the invasion of France, but France's potential was infinitely larger than Poland's back then. You can't just look at raw death count, you have to keep the context in mind.
Ah, Russians "protecting its population in the boarder regions" CLASSIC. #Crimea
the polish government acted very aggressive against the Soviet Union. while the Russian civil war Poland started a campaign against the USSR and did provokations after it. illegal border crossing, killing civilians and organizing a spy network on the territory of the Soviet Union. Furthermore the polish government refused to fight alongside with the Soviets and blocked a possibile military alliance even before the Soviet German non aggression pact. I don't see why the Soviet Union should not have invaded an enemy government which was openly against the USSR. After all the Soviet Union took back territory which was parts of the former Russian empire.
+sith ari Yeah and explain Lenin's plans for world conquest and the fact that there was a civil war going on and most of the world was on the white's side.
sith ari You mean just like Poland attacked that radio tower in Gleiwitz to kick start WW2? That is the funniest load of bullshit propaganda i've ever heard.
sith ari I'm suprised how well propaganda works.
+dukebielak nope that was a German Provokation. I'm talking about the polish intervention during the Russian civil war. u can google it.
More details please! I want to know where every battalion was at every moment in the campaign and need 3D animations ;)
(I'm kidding)
TIK that's your job :DD
Ville metsänmiettijä yeah... I really don't make things easy for myself, do I?
Not every battalion every soldier and every vehicle!
Prince of Orange Every round of ammunition!
every drop of blood.
Generally a very good and non-partisan report. I would add the following:
-The Polish mobilization was delayed at the specific request of the French and English to not “provoke” Germany.
-German territiory was virtually untouched by WWI. Poland was still recovering from the Eastern Front of WWI passing through Poland several times and then the Polish Soviet War (1920).
-The German GDP was 10 times that of Poland allowing for a higher level of armament.
-Polish units remained individually effective through September 17. (Battle of Jaworów and the annihilation of the SS-Germania regiment).
Can you read? Untouched, meaning not raveged by war like western front.
Poland would never win against Germany and USSR, don't be silly. He had no way to defeat Luftwaffe let alone Panzer divisions.
-Mainland Germany
-Tannenberg (grunwald)
choose one
Add Mokra battle, Bzura - which was the biggest until the German-Coviet war in 1941, and Kock where for godbye gen. Kleeberg destroyed German motorized division
@@xSuperSS maybe, if they knew that dive bombers were coming. They could have defeated the luftwaffe. The pilots were good (battle of britain).
The first Polish fort attacked by the Germans only surrendered when they found out Warsaw had fallen.
They denied the German unit which started WW2 with its salvos easy hopes for decoration with an Iron Cross.
"Let's just give a Battleship an Iron Cross"
Then again, IIRC it was old enough to legally be of retirement age, so it's not too out of the question.
@@randomguy-tg7okcope 😅 Poland surrendered within a few days
Poland did indeed surrender after just over a month (which is more than "a few days", albeit still relatively quick with regards to modern war), but I don't imagine that that was the point I was trying to make.
By first polish fort do you mean Hel Peninsula???
Great video! As always.
By the way Polish High Command knew that Germany would attack but as you said they didn't expect it so early. There were two strategies regarding the defence: ring of defence and total defence of everything. The second one won because Polish leadership was afraid of British and French appeasement towards Germany. The first one was based around abandoning western parts of Poland to concentrate troops on defence of much more defensible areas but the Polish leaders thought that Germans would just stop in these areas and agree with the French and British to annex them. That would leave Poland compleatly dependable on Germany. This fear was based on how the West given up the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. So they chose to defend everything for as long as they could waiting for French and British attack from the west...
And then the french and british just sat there =(
@@DaHuntsman1
Hey the French and British did try.
It was just that well France was France and couldn't do sh*t to penetrate through the Siegfried Line during the not so very known Saarland Offensive.
They planned another offensive but then the Soviets Attacked so they were like.
You know what Poland is f*cked.
Congratulations on 50k subs by the way. You deserve every single one
Korms Gaming Yes, even you
It crazy he doubled in less then a month.
One year later he's at 256,000
723k now
Although some of your pronounciation made me shaking (It was battle of kotsk not kok ;p) , very good job. tank You!
PS. love the UK/FR Allies crossed baggete & tea icon!
so did i lol
I was doing something else while listening to that and heard "Battle of cock", at first I was confused, second later had a burst of laugh.
same here :) And also "the battle of BZURA" (not "Buzra"). Good video! Except for the part where the author quotes soviet propaganda about reasons to stab Poland aback by Stalin. Guess it would be better to give real reasons for USSR's cowardly attack rather than repeating propaganda.
+pluki1357 So tell us the real reason for the Soviet attack.
+Kristina S.
Spreading revolution through Europe.
Watching this video is an embarrassment to the French. The Poles fought better! MAN UP YA BAGUETTES!
the french weren't the only ones fighting in 1940 the brits were also were there
+jeffrey dahmere and they were urged to do brexit in 1940.
The French inflicted far heavier casualties on the Germans than the Poles did.
@刘鸿韬 Directly opposite.
+刘鸿韬 what?
8:45 That friendly-fire icon. I see what you did there
;)
oh c'mon, let it go.
funny, though.
Is that a Glock brand Spandau?
I won't let it go, but maybe it will pommel out.
crossed baguettes and a cup of tea , France and GB, epic
yeah, it should be pussy and white flag...
Arek Borowski for who?
Oh, it rhymes
@@jaroftar unintentionally 🙃
Very educative and well prepared video, even if painful to watch for a Polish person. Still, I don't feel ashamed for holding back German arny for five weeks with soviets on a back and never giving up. No disrespect to the French soldiers but their cowardly leadership was shameful.
it's remarkable how bravely polish partisans faught the Germans even after polands occupation. just like Belorussian Ukrainian and Russian partisans fighting against German invasors after barbarosa.
sith ari
The Polish partisans couldn't really fight Germans, it was issued that for every dead German they will capture exactly 100 random people and execuye on spot. Only in some cases, like in Zamość region people rebelled against the brutal occupation, the real fights started when soviets advanced, on a back of the front. Home Army liberated for example Vilnius together with red army and then they were arreseted, killed or sent to the camps. When the uprising in Warsaw started the soviets suddently stopped and even refused allied and Poish planes with aid to land and refuel behind the frontline.
sith ari
So which members of UPA are now in the Ukrainian gov? There are none, not even the members of nationalist (if not neonazi) Svoboda party, which failed to get any serious support in electins and introduced barely 5 or 7 MPs. And yes, they were also killing Ukrainians which refused to cooperate or were cooperating with soviets.
+Oskar and yes I know that the upa killed even their own people. furthermore the second biggest nationality in the red army where Ukrainians. I have great respect for them and all the other nationalities who fought Nazism in ww2. they one big Soviet nation.
sith ari
Poroshenko is the same oligarch as he was in gov of Azarov, he's just cynically playing emotions and nationalist sentiments, just like other politicians, including Putin. I also don't think that Russians can lecture anybody about treatment of opposition and freedom of speech, in case of Ukraine it's clearly because of invasion and infromation war of Russian gov. I'm not surprised that they wants to reduce the influence of anti Ukrainian propaganda aimed at deligitimisation of gov, statehood and even nationality. The same goes for communists of the other forces which agenda is aimed at some post soviet sentiments and "unification" with Moscow. That's all just dangerous to the state.
There's no evidence, nor a reason, why some football hooligans and naonazi thugs needed to train abroad. This kind of people are in every single country and especially in Russia which is also cynically supporting right wing extremists in Europe.
You're clearly repeating the Russian gov propaganda which is just aimed to excuse its political goals, including illegall military intervention and annexation of Ukrainian territory. The Russian puppet separatist rebels were told the same by the Moscow agents such as Girkin and Borodai or by these Russian gov media. As I've said, the popular support for Svoboda or Right Sector is minimal, Ukrainians are just people like other nations and they have to defend their identity and territorial integrity if they wants to survive as a sovereign nation.
The Ukrainian gov doesn't need anything else but elections to legitimize itself, even Moscow recognise it oficially but of course not in its propaganda which is just directed to the people. The nationalistic rheotics and exploitation of these sentiments serves just creation of national identity in opposition to the post soviet and pro Russian. There's no need for creation of anti Russian sentiments, they're already there and clearly in reaction for Kremlin politics. You should not be surprised that people don't like to be invaded or insulted so don't expect love from Ukrainians.
Just 20 min into WW2 a Polish PZ-P 11.c fighter shot down a Ju 87 "Stuka". First air victory of the war!
Your pronunciation of Polish names is terrible.
Repeat after me: Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz, Strzebrzeszyn, trzcina, chrząszcz...
Just watch this: th-cam.com/video/3aVCgV6tIjE/w-d-xo.html
Who cares. Nobody but Poles.
what the heck dude, that was hitlerious :D xD
+Wuggles I care you ignorant fuck
jacob27 Ok
Dude I have no idea how to read that and I am a Slav.
In early September it came
A war unknown to the world
No army may enter that land
That is protected by polish hand
Unless you are forty to one
Your force will soon be undone
Seemed fitting to post a bit of that song.
Don't try to be a hero with Sabaton songs. Poland surrendered after 2 weeks.
SalrazZ Yeah i know that but like i said it seemed fitting with the video
Yeah, maybe it's fitting.
SalrazZ My real question is how long have you been scrolling through the comments
SalrazZ My real question is how long have you been scrolling through the comments
Polish courage and love for their country seems unbreakable
I love Poland and the Polish language
love from Turkey
Shiny Dewott Unbreakable?
Germany and USSR:Laughs...
@@erichvonmanstein1952 Yeah,
- Germany *laughs*
- Allies "hey Germany, you know what?"'
- Germany "what?"
- Allies "Two lost world wars"
- Germany *cries*
@@фрактур nice name in cyrillic. cringe. go to gulag as your parents did
Hey since Sabaton released their new song "Winged Hussars" would be great if ya can make a video about the battle of Vienna and (If I remember correctly) The Largest Cavalry Charge in history! Anyway, keep up the good work, I learn a lot from yer videos!
-Anzei Kazumi
I have been searching for a proper book on the 2nd siege of Vienna for months now. Also I want to do a video on the Winged Hussars itself, although there seems to basically one book out there.
Damn, I wonder why it's so hard to find stuff for such an awesome time in History. Still, love yer work, hope to see these videos soon, good luck on yer quest to look for em!
I was confused when I couldn't find anything in library in Hamburg, but even in Austria the number of titles is quite limited... Also I am a bit picky.
plzplzplz Vienna 1683
How about a video about Hussite wars? I know that non-husitte countries was writing about them like they was devils ravaging Europe. But they small army was quite successful against crusades.
The reason that Polish units were underequipped is because germans caught our army in the middle of modernization process. Many old guns trucks and planes were stored or sold because army was awaiting delivery of new, modern ones. Some of our generals negated the possibility of German invasion, so as many of you guys could see by the map,our troop allocation was shit. It's kinda sad to see such wasted opportunities when we really could have done much better. Great video as always, cheers!
you still would have lost.....might have delayed it weeks thats it
Creole Supreme Of course we would, the simple fact that we would be under attack by 2 big powers was enough. Hell, I doubt UK or France would hold out hyphotetical attack by USSR and Nazi Germany at once.
Commander when the USSR attacked the war was already lost and from what i read the USSR did terrible couldn't even reach some of there marked points like in Finland.
Creole Supreme That's not entirely true. Germans were a bit faster from the simple fact that they were already in the war at the time. Soviets did gain much ground and territory, and they lost in Finland due to topography of the Karelia and Finnish using this geographical advantage wisely. They were also unprepared for the combat in such enviorement (thanks to papa Stalin, he thought war would be fast and easy victory. You never disregard your enemy.) USSR was a deadly enemy, especially when it mobilized it's all industry and manpower (proof - Fate of german invasion in the 1942/1943 period, even without Allies distracting them with Normandy and Sicilly)
Creole Supreme OF course our difference may came from different sources of information, just like MHV said. Our information is biased on our favor, their information on their favor. That is a natural thing, but you have to agree with me that USSR wasn't so weak as you think. A 143 million people superpower, united under totalitarian regime and ideology, with powerfull industrial base and very bright engineers. That could'nt end well for Germans and us.
what anime is this
WW2 is my favourite anime.
Hentai
Kaisura th-cam.com/video/mxMMmfrK1B0/w-d-xo.html
It went downhill for my fanbase at 1943 tho...
that french/british sigil lol
On October 2, the Nazis assumed a position to take Kock. The Poles were particularly hard. The Nazis tried to grab Kock but Kock was firmly held. Action resumed October 3. There was stiff resistance but they were determined to take Kock. On October 4, the Nazis were blasted by Poles. October 5, the Nazis were quite wrecked maintaining their position in their bid to take Kock. After the Poles withdrew and were spent, they surrendered on October 6.
Nazi's? So SS Troops attacked Kock?
The dramatic reenactment I watched on pornhub had them in SS uniforms but that may have been slightly inaccurate. Of course squeaky clean wehrmacht weren't Nazis. Those swastikas on their uniforms were just for style and their loyalty oath to Hitler was just "lip service" if you catch my meaning.
@@billmarmot2069 someone missed the joke
@@froggleggers1805 They didn't just attack it, they gobbled up Kock
Giving no ground for the defense wasn't really so much an error as a political necessity. The Poles were following a plan agreed with with the western allies, and they wouldn't have agreed to it if it allowed the strategic ceding of ground - and, well, Poland's survival relied on having them back it up. Now if only those allies also followed that plan instead of just dicking around, things could have been quite different.
Also, I lost it at the battle of cock. It just came, out of nowhere. Miiiiiiiiight want to check out a speech synthesiser or something to do a double-check as to how certain names are pronounced, at the very least in cases where things turn inadvertently hilarious.
Poland had similar situation in 1939 like Germany i 1945. Poland was ataccked by many side from first day of war, long borders to protect, compare it with France in 1940, Maginot Line, short borders to protect.
September Campaign
Poland:
39 divisions (some of them were never fully mobilized and concentrated),[4]
16 brigades,[4]
4,300 guns,[4]
880 tanks,
400 aircraft[1]
Total: 950,000[Note 1]
against
Germany:
60 divisions,
6 brigades,
9,000 guns,[1]
2,750 tanks,
2,315 aircraft[2]
Slovakia:
3 divisions
Joined on 17 September:
Soviet Union:
33+ divisions,
11+ brigades,
4,959 guns,
4,736 tanks,
3,300 aircraft
Total:
1,500,000 Germans,[1]
466,516 Soviets,[3]
51,306 Slovaks
Grand total: 2,000,000+
But Poland fought to the end, had 700 000 soiders in the west and east front in 1945 and captured Berlin with Soviets th-cam.com/video/Ih4t6kunlYI/w-d-xo.html
They fought on all fronts, from day 1 to the end of the war.
The Polish flag: Hoisted aloft | The Economist www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2012/05/polish-flag
Yeah you took berlin ahjajajajajajaj
@@sahipkran9447 th-cam.com/video/uI5S_VlvlJo/w-d-xo.html
@@tombry76wawa I did not say that the Polish Army was not part of the Battle of Berlin, I meant that your support and power is insignificant. You were a shattered nation, the Allies rebuilt you and that´s it. You are like a child that has been helped by its parents to achieve a minor goal :)
@@sahipkran9447 faster you are similar to primitive child. When Poland use tanks, planes your ancencors rode on cammels or horses only in british colony and was english slaves without any fight.
Bet the Poles back then felt betrayed by the British and French after having been used a bargaining chip and "leverage" on Hitler. Both assured Poland they had to drive a firm line and not cave in to German demands, and also assured they would defend Poland in case of a war.
After Poland so valiantly helped lift the Ottoman siege on Vienna in 1683, the Austrians were one of the tree powers that partitioned up Poland in 1772. So much for trusting the Austrians.
So are Poles today any smarter? No, unfortunately they somehow think that the USA will be any better and won't at all use Poland as the same kind of bargaining chip and leverage on Russia. When Trump's in charge no less. Unbelievable.
If the Poles are as brave and resourceful as they say how about going your *own* path? Stop selling yourselves out to the highest bidder to fight enemies that aren't yours to begin with.
You sound like a Russian troll. Trust Russia and Putin. Yeah, that has worked out so well for Georgia and Ukraine.
I know it seems people love to hate on France in WW2 and call them "Cowards" but people seem to forget the Shock and Awe it caused when Army Group A broke through at Sedan. The French thought the Maginot line was unbreakable and there were defenses in the Ardennes but they where nothing compared to what was on the French-German Border. The French were Psychologically Defeated in 1940 as well as militarily. The Power of the Blitzkrieg really showed in France against the French, British, Dutch and Belgians. For those who think the French were "Cowards" should look up Bir Hakeim.
I don't call them cowards, I also have a video about Cpt. Billotte. Yet, when it comes to Poland the Allies failed several times during and after the war.
Yeah i just saw a few comment's calling them cowards. ill check that video out, would love to see you do a video on Case Yellow (Fall Gelb) and Case Red (Fall Rot). btw keep up the great work your videos are something very unique and really well researched.
Of course, we can't generalise and call all the French as cowards- that would be unfair. But I've read many stories from 1940 telling that whole regiments retreated in panic just because there appeared German patrol on two motorcycles.
"The French thought the Maginot line was unbreakable" and for the third time forgot that something like Belgium exists.
Peter Jolley people forget that France was one of the major military powers in Europe for a LONG time and ww2 happens and we won't let France forget it
I believe there's a historical debate around whether the invasion of Poland was a true "blitzkrieg" or not. What are your thoughts?
It used rapid breakthrough and encirclement of the enemy on a strategic scale with mobile units, followed up by infantry, artillery, and airstrikes to finish the job. If that's not blitzkrieg, what is?
***** except in Poland the tanks had to wait for the infantry. There were no strategic independent armoured formations like there would be in later campaigns... from what I've heard. I've not studied the Polish Campaign of 1939
Blitzkrieg was a propaganda tool lmao. used by Joeseph Goebbels. Lmao The germans big thing was "mechanized infantry" their tatics of moving and being mobile.
No, it was not a blitzkrieg. In fact, the term blitzkrieg is a post-war term. German pre-war doctrine was basesd on war of manoeuvre (Bewegungskrieg), that emphasised mobility, combined arms operations and mission-type tactics (Auftragstaktik). This very mobile war (compared to static trench warfare of WW1) was later named "blitzkrieg". But in german army, the whole concept of war of manoeuvre (Bewegungskrieg) goes back to napoleonic wars.
TIK
Have you ever thought about making a HOI4 or Company og Heroes 2 play through? I think you would have great commentary and can talk about historical accuracy in thr games.
once was thinking about commenting the national decision trees in HOI 4, because there historical commentary would probably make the most sense. For the historical accuracy stuff I need a lot of details I am not fully aware yet, but with every video I am getting closer.
+Sthursen Politics is an important part of history and also affected military. As long as he remains unbiased I think he's fine as long as he covers the sides/factors.
+Sthursen I'm not saying that he needs to delve into politics, just wanted to say that it was important.
I wish I was mature enough to keep a straight face through "the battle of kock"
Very solid (german, so it was quite obvious) job, with one proviso...
According to allied pact with UK and France Polish Army was obliged to defend the whole front line and not to deflect or withdraw from the fight. It wasn't a tactical mistake (source: "History of Poland" by Norman Davies, "September defence 1939" by prof. P. Wieczorkiewicz.
The was no "pact" with Britain. There was with France.
Thank you for your video, I am half Polish and both my grandfathers fought against the Germans in WW2 - one as a Guerrilla fighter, the other one as part of the Polish forces in the Soviet army after the Barbarossa. Nevertheless, I am surprised that you did not mention the concept of Blitzkrieg itself. After all it was the very first time when it was actually used and it proved to be just as effective psychologically. The troops were not expecting such concentration and coordination of attack force and the German advance seemed even more unstoppable which was utterly demoralising. No mention of sabotage on the part of German population living in Poland either. Also, I must say that I am slightly disappointed that you forgot to mention the alliance of Poland with France and GB, who withdrew on their promise to attack Germany and just stood back and watched - policy they were very skilled at since 1933. All Poles knew that we could not defend successfully against the German attack, but the alliance gave us hope and strengthened the will to fight even when the situation was close to hopeless, yet the promised help did not come. Because of this even today there are some Poles who see France and GB as nothing more than cowards and liars and hold a bit of a grudge.
there was no concept of "Blitzkrieg". I guess I need to make a video on that at some point.
and I am pretty sure I mentioned the lackluster performance of France and UK in that video... there is a baguette in there.
Yeah I noticed that and a cup of tea at 15:50. I really hope that I do not sound like I am trying to school you - I am perfectly aware that you must have forgotten more about the subject, than I have ever learned. However, it looks to me that you took it up as a Scholar, digging deep into numbers, but forgot or ignored the bigger picture and what it all represented and meant in the context. All your mention of that pact narrows down to just one sentence - "GB and France took a defensive stance at the beginning of the War" The thing is, I have actually spoken with the Polish people alive at the time (my family and their friends mostly) who were living in very different areas of the country - Southern Silesia, Present day Ukraine and in case of my grandmother also Pomerania. All were absolutely adamant and united that this alliance kept them going and there was an absolute elation when the West declared war on Germany. This explains perfectly why the initial German estimates of Polish fighting capabilities turned out to be false and there was no capitulation after 11 days of fighting. On top of that, when presenting the "isolated" situation of Poland at the time that is not what the Poles felt. All knew it was bad but also all knew that they have the largest empire in the world (GB) and incredibly well defended (due to Maginot Line) and strong ally backing them up and working tirelessly to rescue them as promised. They all "saw" in their imagination how Germany fights in Poland, pushing for Warsaw while at the same time is being gutted in the west, with our allies pushing for Berlin- As if to take first punches from a bully so your friends could have easier job finishing him off when he gets tired and shows them his back. We know now that it was not the case, now we know that it was in fact isolated, or rather left abandoned - now - it was not so, or at least was not suppose to be like that at the time. That is what the ordinary people and our leaders at the time thought and believed in. If that is not one of the major reasons why the campaign lasted a month instead of a week, then I do not know what is. Therefore I see it as much more crucial in the story of this campaign and deserving more than just one sentence... and a baguette. At 15:40 you say "Poland was politically isolated" which is blatantly not true. To say that it was isolated despite having political and military alliance with arguably 2 of the wealthiest and strongest countries in Europe at the time is like saying that today Israel is "is politically isolated" because it is surrounded by hostile neighbours.
I will wait for it then and will be most happy to learn all about it. As to my other comment about you forgetting the pact between France, GB and Poland I really do hope that you will not get upset over it. You did a brilliant job presenting this campaign and I am absolutely aware that there will always be someone out there who may poke at one thing or the other. I am just hoping to help you to improve your future work and provide constructive feedback. By forgetting the pact and the larger context the campaign you presented kind of "hangs in the air" detached from larger story of the conflict that will shape the world we live in. If someone not knowing that part of the history was to watch this video now, they would learn about troop movements and their strength, but will have no idea why WW2 actually started with that campaign (officially). They will have no idea what it meant for the people of Poland and how great a gamble was Hitler actually taking if France and GB actually kept their promise etc, etc. You see, to an extend they may get the numbers from one source or the other but the all important human context is not present here and they may never learn about it or realise it. After all our history is not so much a history of number of swords, guns, cannons being used, but it is just that - a history of humans. No, I do not mean you should talk about feelings and bring up heart wrenching stories and who cried where and over what - you are Germanic, being very precise is in your nature after all, talking about feelings probably not so much - just the "human context", not the details. Just try to add a bit more of that into your videos and you cannot miss to make them more interesting and relevant.
I took me more to 20 hours for this video. My videos are all about leaving out stuff with a strong focus on Military History.
To say it one word: SCOPE
Germans should have taken Modlin bus. It would have been faster...
Hahhahahahaha
Unfortunately, the bus was booked to capacity with a sports team, and tickets were too pricey. So , yea.
Battle of kock. o god I feel the jokes coming(sorry if this offends anyone)
yep, if morons like this one in video cant prenounce names correctly
long live Poland
WAS? We still are here you moron. 1 000 years of History and its not END !
Actually Poland is much older than 1000 years. 1000 years has catholic slavonic country under name of Poland. Before names used: Lechia, Slavia, Sarmatia, Scythia, Hiperborea. Name of Lechia/Lechi/Lehi is used in Bible (old testament).
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+15&version=NIV
Yeah, yeah, but those slavs WAS NOT polish. Poland as country have 1 000 years (more les).
of course it was Poland. If you change the country name in does not change the country. Vide: Persia → Iran. The same you can say regarding Partition of Rzeczpospolita. In 1795 Rzeczpospolita was parted, but in 1918 Poland appeared. King Bolesław Chrobry was a king of Slavs, Goths aka Poles (Regnum Sclavorum, Gothorum sive Polonorum). Name od Poland has started to be used after Gniezno Meeting (AD 1000). Earlier name was Slavia vel Lechia.
You are not right Polanie (polish people ) develop much later. Beside in time of tribes Sarmatia, Scythia, Hiperborea ther was no slav in europ. We come to europ MUCH later. And after some time from slavic tribes arisen Polish Rusians Czechs and so on. Sorry but Polish nation and country exist from 1 000 years more les. Bóg Honor Ojczyzna !
Words can't express how much I love your content :D You're one of the most educational, fun, detailed and professional history channels on youtube!
Great video, and I loved the length of this one, I tend to find most of your others just a tad too short. I am surprised that you didn't mention the myth of the Polish cavalry charging German tanks on horseback, it would have been great for you to mention it in order to help debunk that myth.
thx, is that Myth still around? For me it's like the Myth that Spitfires won the Battle of Britain, because basically everything from the last 20 years around states: no cavalry charge and more hurricanes when I read anything about those two topics.
I think that there are for more interesting and more important myths out there, e.g., "wonder weapons" if only earlier and their "delays".
Have you heard about Polish Ur antitank rifle? Did you know that Germans discarded it because they didn't know how to utilize it? Original rounds for Ur were like modern HESH rounds in action principle, but Germans tried to utilize rounds with tungsten core as penetrator, which was less effective against armor. (That rifle was designed to inflict more damage against crew of tank than to tank itself- it is harder to replenish troops than weapons).
yeah, I even have an illustration of it in my Polish Division video, which I didn't link for some reason.
Military History Visualized
You know, I don't know but I wouldn't be surprised if it still was. After all, the myths of Medieval European swords being dull, full plate armor being so heavy that you needed a crane to get on a horse still exist so I wouldn't be at all surprised if some history books still insist that the Polish cavalry charged German tanks with lances on horseback.
if i can add something to that, and unfortunatly i didn't find anymore the source of it :( that myth is some of this many half-truths, the polish cavalry didn't charge german tanks with lances on horseback, but they used their horses as a very mobile strike force, the battle was around one of the river areas and the german armored forces had more problems to cross them, than the polish cavalry. They did flank the german units descending from their horseback, strike them hard as possible and retreating as soon as they attacked, which caused some disarray in the german movements in that battle. I wish I could remember the name of that battle >.< and sry for my bad english
2015-2016 Germany gets invaded by 1.5M muslims. Have fun with that. lol
And the US by 160 Million nazis, kek
Omar Saadeh If you call that an invasion I wonder what you think when your neighbour comes over to ask for sugar. Do you hide under your bed and call the police?
hedgehog3180 Your are so naive
Omar Saadeh Are you butthurt or something?
Omar Saadeh that is not a war. And in case you missed it, the channel is called MILITARY history.
Thank you for this video, I would like to add some personal history to this account. My dearly departed father was Polish, born near to Lodz. He attempted to join the Polish airforce but discovered he was colour blind, so he was rejected, they feared he would shoot down his own aircraft. (Lol).
He then joined the Army firstly as a machine gunner, but ended up as a chef cooking for his regiment, in the German invasion his unit was captured, apparently they were given the option of enlisting into the German Army, or going to a concentration camp, he decided to enlist one reason was that they were better fed rather than starve in a camp.
, The second reason will become apparent.
He rarely spoke of his war years, I guess he saw some horrible sights and was not particularly proud fighting for the Wehrmacht, luckily his unit was put on the western front so he and many other Poles escaped to the Allies lines. His brother's Polish unit was captured by the Russians he was never heard of again, it's believed many we're sent to work in the salt mines.
After my father escaped he was reposted to Scotland from what I understand is that the Poles were going to be used to invade Norway but the end of the war came first. After the war the Poles were given the option to return to Poland, many didn't as they feared Russian rule, that's why there were many Poles living in the UK prior to joining the EU.
I'm very proud of my father, he could not be described as being a war hero but his decisions were for survival when at a time so many perished, I'm thankfull for his decisions as I, my three daughters and eight grandchildren would not be here today.
A minor correction: Modlin to the north of Warszawa is not a city, just a small town, but it had an important fortress (Twierdza Modlin) that protected the capital from the north and had a significant defending garrison. Great vid overall.
thx, got lost in translation, reason is in German (or maybe just Austria) we don't really have different words for town and city, well maybe "Kleinstadt" vs "Stadt" vs "Großstadt", but well you see there is always a "Stadt" in it. Similarly, we don't have colleges in the way the US/UK has, everyone goes to university no matter if graduate or undergraduate.
no army may enter tata land, that is protected by POLISH HAND
40 to 1
Constantine V unless you are 40 to 1 breh
Gotta love that despite the Polish having virtually every possible disadvantage they kept fighting anyway. Respect for Polish courage!
And did way better then france did
Don't frak with the Poles. They're majorly tough.
All while fighting on two fronts against two major powers.
Do the 30 Years War next!
Honestly though I'm a nut for that era lately. I'd even gladly gift ya this really awesome book I've come across about it over Audible.
It was thanks to a small polish group giving there results and research (to the British diplomatic service) betley park was able to develop what the group stated and know about the German codes/decryption and communications
yeah, as far as I know the Polish provided some considerable information for Engima-breaking etc. something that is widely unknown. Not sure if it is worth a whole episode, maybe something for a "little known but important facts" series.
that one of the first part of the Bletchley Park Tour they take you to and talk about the memorial dedicated to there work the Polish group did.
I love how France and the UK are represented with baguettes and tea
If only the Poles had some Bren guns
They would have done better if they had Spendaus.
We had own-produced RKM Wz.1928 (heavilly modified version of B.A.R), they were good enough
+Commander will LindyBeige do a video saying the American's won the war because of BARs
katana shooting bren gun?
Well said.. Well said..
I wonder what would be the outcome if Army Poznan would launch their offensive towards Berlin? I think it would be a major twist in the German plan.
The germans would harve pulled their panzers and motorized off the front to chase the army.
Number of tanks and aircraft's would be better comparison than the only number of troops
Tanks: 600 to 2800
Aircrafts: 400 to 2000 -> PZL P.11c vs Messerschmitt Me 109 Bf there was giant technology step between those two.
Artillery: 4500 to 11000
It is an old video, but I would like to add the most probable reason why Edward Rydz-Śmigły decided to defend every inch of the country - he probably wanted to avoid Appeasement tactics.
Just a year before, Czechoslovakia was forced to give up its territory by the Munich Agreement/Diktat. Śmigły worried that, if he used the Vistula-San defensive line with Romanian border swamps and San as a fallback line, the Western powers would just give up Western Poland to the Reich. Thus, he needed to put up a fight in utterly undefensive areas near the border - Pomorze, Wielkopolskie, Śląsk, etc.
how can I add Polish subtitles? :)
there should be a guide out there, I definitely allow subtitles and people added various to other videos, you also get listed automatically in the video description.
+Military History Visualized
spasibo, i'll look for that
Great video, thank you.
You never fail to educate and impress; congrats on 50k subs!
616k now. keep it going!
Well, you should have mention that France and UK forced Poland to demobilize army at 29 August 1939.
There were no orders to fight Soviets, more over there was order to not engage Soviet troops in first few days after 17.09.1939
Later on 23.08.1939 France retreated from taken positions (they taken some ground on 15-16.09.1939) after learning about Soviet advance.
I do not know how much truth is in this, but I heard that after Polish campaign, Germans had seriously depleted their arsenal and were not capable to fight in winter 1939.
About that part of ill equipped. Poland was during modernization, which was planned to end in 1940-41. And you should take into consideration that Polish Army was being prepared to counter Soviets not Germans. Poland considered USSR a greater threat than Nazi-Germany. Modernization was planned for defensive against Soviets in 1940s, not against Germans - Poland hoped that alliance with UK and France would secure them from war with Germany.
I hoped you would mention popular myths and misconceptions about Polish campaign.
Oh, and loses were much higher than in German and Soviet documents. Both were made for propaganda, especially Soviets - they lost probably twice the number - that is still high if you remember about Polish soldiers ordered not to engage Soviets.
there were two motorized brigades in Poland. the 10th motorized Cavalry Brigade and the Warsaw Armoured-Motorized Brigade. The 10th operated primarily in the south.
Polish geography is terrible in terms of defense. It's totally flat except of line of mountains on South. It's borders are something like 700 km of flat ground on West and East attacker can enter whatever point he like. And you can't defend entire borderline. I realized that, when I moved to Finland. It's the opposite of Polish geography. Short borders, rocky terrain. When moving between cities like Helsinki and Turku you are going through several very long tunnels through mountains. There are rivers all over. It's defenders dream. But agriculturaly nightmare. And costs of building are higher because very often you need to blow up or destroy rocks in other ways.
i wantet to like, share and sübskribe but you didnt ask me.
I'm 82 years old now and came to love the Russians, but I love Poland, too. Still, it should always be mentioned that a few days after Germany attacked Poland, the Russians attacked as well and war was not declared on them by Britain and France! Don't you find that strange? In school (I went to school in Dresden/former East Germany) we didn't hear a word of the Sowjet attack. But they took (and kept!) the whole East of Poland. And in the middle of Poland the Russians embraced German soldiers. Obviously they are speculating (by not mentioning that fact) the world forgets! Specially that Britain didn't declare war on Germany! I had to move to a Schoolbook Publisher in Cape Town to learn about that fact! Reporting anything else is simply crap!
fuck yer new vid man your channel is growing fast =D nice!
Grundsätzlich ganz nett gemacht. Allerdings finde ich die geographische Darstellung in der Form wenig hilfreich. Mit den kurzen Pfeilen bleibt ziemlich unklar, wer wann wo genau war. Da sollte man eher mit klassischen, verbundenen Pfeillinien und exakterem Kartenmaterial arbeiten. Vielleicht ist es hilfreich, stärker jeweils neue Karten an verschiedenen Kalenderdaten einzusetzen.
You forgot to mention Slovakia. They attacked Poland from the south.
Really really good. like allways. very objectiv, good sources and some information I didn´t know. keep up with this nice work!!! It´s every time very interesting how long the Polish Military hold Poland against the German Forces and Red Army. It´s sad what happend in Poland after Fall Weiss (Katyen, Einsatzgruppen and so many more) the national movement during the 1840/47 the Poles and germans were so close and it ended up with things like that.
But anyway Danke für diese Video´s es ist echt super was Sie machen! Besitzen Sie eigentlich ein Lehrstuhl oder ähnliches, in Potsdam gibt es ja Beispielsweise Militärhistorie als Studienplatz, weiß nicht wie es da in Österreich aussieht :)
You should cover the invasion of France,Belgium,Holland and the Balkans
German WW1 battleship arrives at Danzig, gives Polish government its terms of peace with Germany. The Polish government meets in its building to discuss the terms. While they're in session, the battleship, under orders from Hitler, opens fire on the building with its massive guns and murders the Polish government. Poland is now ungoverned. In the end, the only person who can sign for Poland is a defeated and captured general. Shortly after he signs the unconditional surrender, he is taken away and shot. And people wonder why the Allies razed most of Germany to the ground. We had had enough of the Germans.
I find videos detailing campaigns like this especially interesting. Informative and well-made. Going to link this to a few others. :)
Polish were unlucky when they were fighting Germany Russia found the opportunity to attack from behind Poland fighting two strong armies in that time
Well done. You presented a brief but competent video on the war in 1939. The Polish Army counted on resisting long enough for the Western Allies to join the war and crush Wehrmaht. That led to initial fierce resistance, then withdraw to the line of Wistula-Narew, considered easy to defend for a while. That was undone by comrade Stalin, despite non aggression pact. One grain of salt, where it is due, however. Your pronunciation of Polish place names grated on my ears enormously. For future videos you may try Google Translate. There is a function that allows to play the word being looked up.
thx, I know, the video took way longer than suspected, more than 20 hours before I started recording (another 1 hour recording + 2 hours editing), thus I hadn't time to revisit all names, I only checked for "Lwow". If you look at my facebook page you will see a "premature apology" from yesterday.
One has to keep in mind when comparing numbers is that the Soviet battle order is always different. Soviet infantry divisions would go from 6000 to 8000 men, and their "armies" would go from 20-30000 to 50-60000 men at most, which would be more like an army corps of a Western Army instead of being designated an Army itself.
So while saying 26 Polish divisions vs 35 Soviet Divisions sounds like it's the Polish at numerical disadvantage, it would be quite the opposite.
A very good summary. keep up the good work
France demanded than Poland not mobilize in fear of provoking Germany. Britain and France did not deliver in their promise to attack Germany from the West. Instead they let Poland fight alone.
Apart from a few incorrect Polish pronunciations, very well made!
thank you! "few" is very polite ;)
+Military History Visualized Looking at the rest of your channel. Keep up the amazing work.
It's cute how you use baguette and tea in your graphics for France and Britain. I guess it's better than mustache and umbrella....
Just recently discovered your channel and I'm loving it so far. Just one question when it comes to this video in particular however; is there a reason you didn't mention the Battle of Westerplatte and the Bombing of Wieluń? These two engagements were literally the first battles (and I mention both as equally significant because although the Bombing of Wieluń commenced five minutes before the shelling of the Polish position at Westerplatte, the former was hardly a "battle/engagement" compared to the latter, but it did commence first) of the Invasion of Poland that kickstarted the Second World War as we know it, and I was surprised you didn't mention them at all.
yeah, I didn't mention Westerplatte because nearly everyone starts with it and I personally think it is only just useless trivia in the grand scheme of things. It's like people mentioning the exact birth date of someone, which is usually completely irrelevant.
Same I usually say Barbarossa happened in Summer 1941 and not 22nd of June. This also relates to this video: th-cam.com/video/ahNmXqi2wrQ/w-d-xo.html
or in short: my videos are mostly about understanding and explanations, Westerplatte doesn't provide any of that.
Military History Visualized Wow, I didn't expect you to reply so quickly, especially on a video you uploaded nearly a year and a half ago; thank you!
And thank you for the explanation, both those engagements not really being part of the "grand scheme of things", as you said, is what I assumed must be the reason of their exclusion in your video. You're right, as significant as these two engagements were, they were not part of the big picture of the main German troop movement and thrust into Polish territory.
Keep up the great work, I'm enjoying every one of your videos so far since the past couple of days I've discovered your channel. I'm especially looking forward to a follow-up on your Operation Olympic video (an Operation Coronet video would be amazing, just crossing my fingers), and hopefully a Battle of France one as well in the near future!
well, Coronet probably not gonna happen, but the next video will be about Kamikaze and quite extensive. Should be out on Tuesday.
Military History Visualized That's a bummer that a Coronet video is not going to happen (I assume it's because since it's an operation that eventually never took place, it's all too hypothetical to truly analyze?), but I'm seriously excited for your upcoming Kamikaze video!
A book on the Polish Air Force I read, possibly (I don't have the book, this is a citation from a library catalog) History of the Polish Air Force, 1918-1968.by Jerzy B. Cynk, makes a point about Polish military strategy: up to this time, Hitler's policy of aggression had been based on "salami" (a slice at a time) tactics, as in the treacherous way the German government of the time made a case for annexing the Sudentenland to "Grosse Deutschland" and seizing the rest of Czechoslovakia later. According to my source, the Polish government expected Hitler to proceed in the same way, seizing critical Polish territory, calling for a cease fire, and then putting the economic, political, and military squeeze on the remainder of Poland later. Accordingly, they felt it necessary to defend the whole of the country without compromise. Given the recent history, the Polish assessment was at least reasonable, and given their assessment, the reluctance to give up territory also makes sense. You might want to reconsider your comment about the wisdom of Polish defence strategy or at least consult more sources.
I love the Polish and Ukrainian. Cheers from an American
But Ukraine doesn't exist, it's just eastern Poland...
Poland hate ukraians
Bartek Ikrzak
What you talking about? germany is north Turkey, germans have they own country just because in germany is still some germans.
Kapitan Knykieć Learn some English, polish boy.
Bartek Ikrzak
Good ripost, little nazi fuck.
You're a legend mate. You can be funny as well but not this time.
i found the symbol for the british-french alliance quite funny ;)
Yeah,we were completely out maneuvered in this war. There were hardly any battles and if you read memoirs of Polish soldiers they write mainly about marching and being contantly attacked by Luftwaffe.
You did good job with this video.
Hardly any battles? WTF? There were many of them lol
Difference between La and Yak/ Bf-109 and Fw 190 or Soviet Air Army organization episode?
As soon as war broke out, the British sent a shipment of bren guns to their Polish allies, but it was stopped by the German navy in the baltic. Had it arrived the outcome would have been very different.
:D
Lol, it wouldn't.
If Great Britain didn't sign treaty of Munich in 1938 outcome would be différent cause Germany wasn't able to win against Tscheqoslovakia and Poland at the same time. Tscheques had in 1938 thé Army more motorized than Wehrmacht.
That sounds like something Lindybeige could have said! :D
You do realized the Poles and Cechoslovakians weren't exacly friends right ? So common defense wouldn't be possible.
I really like your videos and I know this is an older one -- The map is a bit difficult to follow especially since you mention towns that are not on the map. I would suggest that you at least put a dot on any town you plan to mention and draw a frontline for advancing troops since a map full of arrows gets really cluttered.
nicley done video, Polish army was not that weak as it could seem... nobody in whole world could withstand attack of soviets and nazis.......... heres nice video showing polish army th-cam.com/video/nQPJLrdFkas/w-d-xo.html
Taaa. Czołgu typu twardy.... Ja dalej wole PZKPFW IV
Xyz Xxxc hehe od razu może tygrys15
Good work for a German, but few mistakes.
Government left the same day Russian invaded but not before they invaded.
Bzura battle was an organized, offensive operation in its first days.
10 Cavalry Brigades and 2 Motorized/Armored Brigades.
Prusy Army never organized to 6 divisions and got liquidated division at the time, at best only 2 as divisions, rest at best as separated regiments.
Some other, rather small technical issues.
Problematic is the final analysis which at best can be described as overly simplified.
It's funny how evryone thinks they can make fun of France and undermind us, because of the second WW. When everybody forgets that we won WWI and we paid the price of it. Or like how everybody forgets that've been our own country for a 1000 years, and that except for that 4 years period that I admit we don't like to talk about, w'e've always been independant, and that is far MORE than most of you can ever clam (not England, i love you england). So stop back stabbing us for your pleasure !! Nobody gives a hard time to Italy, though they were on the wrong side of the war and lost. You know why you like so much to make fun of France, it's because it's still a great country, and it was even greatter at that time, so yeah we lost, we were beatten, we sufferd and it's still an open wound to this day, but would Great-Britain have done better, or anyone else for that matter ?! So chill before you lash out at us for beeing weak or else, because indeed if we look at the far more greatter painting of history, well no doubt we beat you all !
everyone gets made fun of on this channel. (see link below) Germans/Austrians and French are the primary target.
In case of Italy people don't make fun of them, they just blame them or despise, which I think is way worse.
th-cam.com/video/yeLEY1zOlQw/w-d-xo.html
Hi, thanks for your answer i wasn't expecting it :)
I just wan't to say that I wasn't targetting you or your channel in particular, but the general feeling that you find over youtube in military and historic videos like yours. And you can't argue French bashing among Anglo-saxon countries is a fact, no other country gets this kind of atention.
Max
Let us see Napoleon was a peaceful guy,. France never caused a war. France won the Franco-Prussian war. France won WW1 all by itself. France's role in the Versailles Treaty helped prevent WW2. France helped contain the spread of communism prior to WW2. France assisted Poland as promised by treaties against aggression. France single handedly stopped Nazi aggression. France peacefully granted independence to it's colonies after WW2. France was a major part of NATO to protect European sovernity against Soviet aggression. France is a major partner in stopping radical Muslim infiltration of Europe. No, today France is controlled by economic Nazism under the guise of the European Union. And once again has stabbed it's own people in the back and folded back into it's illusionary state.
Max
No offence against france - but I must say that you are mistaken with the point about ww1. Sure, France suffered a lot and the main battles in the west were in France - noone will ever deny that France has a great history!
Still, if it wasnt for the USA to join in 1917, Germany might have overwhelmed France as France was heavily dependend on help from the British empire and its colonies and later on the US troops to fill the gaps and finally bring the turning point in 1917/18.
France played a role in winning ww1 and was important - but France also played a huge role in starting the war due to hating Germany for the war 1871 and looking for a revanche. This hatred lasted untill the treaty of versailles where France couldnt stop winning and prepared a new stage for Germany to look for a revanche as well. And in the 2nd WW, you already mentioned it , France got pretty much wiped by the Wehrmacht .
Christopher Clark summarized this quite good and showed how France was itching for a clash with germany in forming military pressure on Germany and talking with russia to mobilize troops and surround Germany and do nothing to prevent the war.
Serbia as well had a huge responsability for this war. A little state that was looking for war the whole time.
So its not just Germany and Austria-Hungary. Its mainly France and Russia as well.
History isnt as black and white as many believe.
could you do a video on the proxy war that was the 2nd spanish civil war (1936-1939) and how the victory of the axis-supported side motivated the start of ww2
I love how he casually skips how German and Soviet armies were slaughtering civilians on their way...
there are several reasons for this.
in short: 1) mentioning atrocities is highly discouraged by TH-cam policy and politics. 2) My knowledge and interest in them are also limited. 3) Considering that even the military losses are highly debated, well, I would mostly talk out of my ass. 4) This channel is focused on several aspects of Military History like vehicles, organizations, operational aspects, blunders, myths, yet war crimes is not one of them.
Furthermore, out of my FAQ:
What is your opinion / will you cover on Einsatzgruppen/Extermination War/Holocaust/etc.?
I very briefly covered the Extermination War (“Vernichtungskrieg”) in
my Barbarossa Blunders video. The little paragraph took me about 3
rewrites and ages to write. This topic is just a minefield, also TH-cam
is quite problematic with just “normal” Military History, thus at this
point I will make no more videos or comments on this topic unless
necessary. Not to mention the “ability” (better inability) of society
and politics in Germany and Austria to properly deal even with simpler
issues surrounding World War 2. Thus, I will only mention these topics
when they are really important like Barbarossa, because they were a
central part of the campaign, but even then I will keep it short. See
also the follow-up question.
Will you make a video about [INSERT ss-division here]?
No, nope, NEIN, nyet, I have very little interest in the waffen-ss.
Furthermore, it is just a political minefield and also TH-cam policy is
quite insane as it is. Not to mention the “ability” (or better
inability) of society and politics in Germany and Austria to properly
deal even with simpler issues surrounding World War 2. In short: little
interest + loads of trouble."
militaryhistoryvisualized.com/faq/
+Military History Visualized Thanks for the answer, it clears it up a bit.
Well, I do understand the purpose of these video and the channel. I actually like this video very much. But... at least mentioning in the video that such things happen but you can't cover them from various reasons would be nice.
Also, you could mention that discrepancies in loses especially those of polish army exist partly because both Soviets and Germans were hiding the fact that they were killing captives.
Nonetheless, I leave a like. Keep the good work.
Jakob Nordtrop If it's something universally known that give me at least three examples of massacres done by German or Soviet soldiers in September 39.
we are not forced to feel ashamed. we have an obligation to remember. its part of our history. just because u don't like doesn't mean we can just ignore it.
I find it quite absurd that people feel ashamed for things some other people did long time ago... On the other hand I find it ridiciulous that some people feel more valuable for things some other people suffered long time ago...
Good video. I would only add that in the 1920s and especially 1930s Poland and the Polish Armed Forces were preparing for another war against the Soviet Union. This had significant impact on the way Polish troops were organized, equipped and trained.
Before the germans Bombed Warsaw into Rubble it demanded the the City and its defenders to give up. 24 Hours before they flew over it and let papers rain down on the city with that stated.
So ja.. in that state of war, the Polish might aswell should have surrendered.
Poland never had a chance against Germany alone and its strategy had to be based on allied offensive from the west, the idea was to defend as long as possible and engage as many German forces as they could. The speed as well as targetting civiilans and massive carpet bombings were surprising for everybody. In 1939 Warsaw was destroyed "just" in about 10%, the rest was finished after Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 1943 and Warsaw Uprising 1944.
The French straight up lied into the Polish faces when they said they would attack germany. Such plans never existed.
And Poland felt therefore confident enough not to make any kind of deal about Danzig and the Germans still living close to Poland during that time.
They thought they now could demand anything from germany without any dire consequences.
ACElicious
Demand what? Poland had no demands from Germany, it was the opposite way. In march 1939 Germany broke Munich agreement and invaded the remains of Czechoslovakia, installed protectorate of Bohemia, created a puppet Slovak gov and granted part of its territory to Hungary. Hitler could not be trusted and he already proved that appeasing his ridiculous demands is just a show of weakness that will be exploited. There was no deal that Poland could make with Germany, Danzig was under control of league of nations, had a nazi goverment since early 30s which brought it to bankrupcy and organised multiple massacres of Jewish and Polish minority, burned synagogue and devastated other places. Its annexation was just a formal gesture that changed nothing and that would not appease Germany which was clearly frustrated about the outcome of WWI and existence of Polish state the same as soviets were.
The alliance with France and Britain was the only retional way for Poland to remain independent and secure territorial integrity. German invasion was a gamble which also ended with a defeat and destruction few years later, especially because the betrayal of soviets and foolish declaration of war on America. Lets be honest, Germany destroyed Europe and let two new superpowers to rise on its ruins.
Nah.. That story is outdated.
England and France were increasingly worried about germanys uprising in economics, culture and science.
Therefore they were heading to a anti german politic.
Germany had no Colonies left and wanted its original territory back.
It was generally always interested in peacful and diplomatic solutions.
Poland wanted to be a big country and conquered a lot of terretories when it was founded by the politicians in versailles, who didnt give a lot about politcal independence of people.
Czecho Slovakia was the best example. It was a state where the czech ruled over hundred of thousands of minorities. Like the Sudeten Germans.
It was also planned to use the country for a direct attack way into germany in case of a new war.
Poland was never ready to make any deals with germany, becasue they wanted the confrontation with it. And Poland in their greed for terretory was the perfect puppet for the Allies who had now a reason to declare war on germany.
Germans were killed and their houses burned in poland. They wouldnt even let them leave to germany but instead shot at them, when they tried. Lufthansa Civilian Planes were under attack at 3 occasions when they flew to east prussia.
no no.. Germany was definetly not the bad aggressor there.
Hitler himslef demanded peace 12 times during 39 - 42 with the British Empire.
And by 41 the USSR planned an Attack on germany and all of the europe States while they were quarreling with each other.
Next thing.. USA: Germany never did anythign harmful to them. BUt the US Navy constantly capped german Submarines, helped the british at any occasion and even capped crews of the german Reich. Several aggressive acts.
NO wonder germany declares war on them.
By the way.. the US were aiming for that by treating Japan like their doormatt. Cutting them all Recources and dominating the pacific with their fleet.
Nah.. the Allies arent the good guys here.
Just the Victors.
ACElicious
Please, spare me this laughtable victim complex. Considering the national socialist propaganda, this is even older and outdated story which led to the war. Germans were absolutelly degenerated and amoral people at that time, there was nothing civilised in their behaviour towards civillians, art or history sites. It's not just about military actions but it was all a part of the same, agressive and primitive superiority complex.
You obviously don't realeize how ridiculous your fairy tale of good Germany and evil Poland looks like, it's really a childish and completely ignorant distortion of reality. And just to be clear, I'm not going to repeat your foolish mistakes just to support my national bias. Polish establishment did many mistakes and was far from fair towards the opposition but if you, after the German war propaganda, claim that German civillians were mistreated in Poland then you'd have to prove it, the same as the story about Lufthansa. And please don't show me some staged scenes from UFA Tonewoche or equally fake goverment media. Fortunatelly you don't try to repeat the story about Gliewitz radiostation anymore...
Yeah, even Japanesse were innocent victims of American "provocations"... poor Germany and Japan, it was all the fault of everybody else and especially the Jews, I guess.
Seriously, you're a coward that is incapable of facing reality and taking responsibility when it's not in your interest.
Underrated video.
plot twist:
Germans didn't start WW2 ,they started German-Polish war. Britain and France started WW2 by declaring war on Germany.
Please no, It´s the same thing you say WW2 started with Germany declaring war on the USA. Or the USA declaring war on Japan. To start a War there is an event and the event was that the Schleswig-Holstein open fire on Polish Troops. It´s like Sarajevo(WW1) something happend and other´s react to it. If you take it like that you can say: "Declaring war on Germany means to start an Europa War, but with the SU-GER War, the Pacific War, SU-Jap War you get the World War, but all that start with the Invasion of Poland.
Well, since the French and British had guranteed Poland's independence, Germany effectively *did* declare war on them.
Mike Forester As for the pogroms I have no knowledge of that, so I can't judge, but as for the mobilisation: that stemmed from a german commando unit attacking a railwayknot ahead of time due to misinterpreted orders.
Idiot
John Connor D
Idk but the queen of England was German and started he war either WWI or WWII.
Lol, tea and baguettes = Phony War.
Interesting. Can you do similar overview for German, Hungarian and Polish invasion of Czechoslovakia?
Polish invasion on Czechoslovakia?
+Pakston
Back in 1938 Germany, Hungary, Poland and UK collectively clouded to attack, destroy and occupy Czechoslovakia. Germany attacked form the west, Poland form the north and Hungary form the south, while British roll was to sabotage any political or military assistance Czechoslovakia might get form France or USSR, as well as to threaten and blackmail Czechoslovakian political leadership not to give any military resistance to invading forces.
At that time Poland and Hungary were close political allies is of nazi Germany, and all three were ideologically similar fascist states driven by rabid anti communism and aggressive militarism, and all three had massive support form Chamberlain regime of UK that hoped to use them as proxy force against USSR . Then Hitler ruined those British plans by picking a fight with their allies in Poland over Danzig corridor, and soon after by sighing non aggression agreement with USSR.
How could he make similar overview for Czechoslovakia (just Czech republic really) when we didn't really fight? He could just show mobilisation, 1 skirmish and that's all.
+Elador1000
But it could have fought. Reason for not fighting was not it's inability to fight as Czechoslovakian had decent army and well fortified border with Germany, and Germany was not as powerful in 1938 as was a year later when it invaded Poland.
Reason Czechoslovakia did not fight was same reason France did not fight for Ruhr and why Austria did not fight Anshluß. That reason being weak and spineless political leadership and British meddling in favor of Hitler's expansionism.
ZoneofA Not really. We would a) fight over sudetland against germany with our fortified border, in which case we would face not only germany but germany supported by france and uk since we would be considered aggressors (fucked up, but that's why we gave up sudedland) or b) we would face germany without any border fortification, which the government priortized before WW2 and we would be totaly surrounded by nazis or their proxies. We maybe had some army but we would still face germany, which had about 7*more population (even more without sudetlands), much better economy, better scientists, ports etc... This way czech didn't suffer that much in comparason to poles.
Anyway, he probably wont do this type of video since it's "what if".
I really loved this topic. So many WW2 documentaries and books don't go into much detail at all on this subject. They just mention the quick victory over Poland and continue.
3:51 mistake !!
I would like especially to mention that in Kraków were no street fighting with Wehrmacht. Polish troops retreated due to the danger of envelopment.
You gave biasedly underestimated German losses. The first report says 10,000 KIA and 30,000 missing. The report on 16 000 is incomplete, it does not include the dead of wounds, the Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine and the SS. After counting the losses, the battle logs show 20,000 kia +more than 5,000 dead of wounds until 1940. Polish losses in fights with the Germans and Soviets are 70-90 in total kia. You gave a loss figure of 50,000 against the Soviets. That's impossible. There weren't that many big battles . You gave the highest estimated Polish losses, but you did not give the highest estimated German losses, while several sources mention 90,000. It should also be noted that high Polish losses are Polish soldiers who died of wounds, and finished off by the Germans after battles also shot prisoners of war.
What is your source?
@@MilitaryHistoryVisualized Norman Davies, Leszek Moczulski, :25,000 Apoloniusz Zawilski :90,000 Müller - Hildebrandt, :over 16 000 KIA .Estimates from the Soviet press before September 17, :90,000 (killed and wounded?),US press and provided by the Polish government in exile right after the campaign :90,000. Exact German details are not available ,as it burned in Berlin during the war. The first published German data include only until September 18, without the dead and those who died of wounds until October 6, and those who died of wounds after the campaign. The number of Polish dead should also be higher, there are more than 66,000 graves alone .During the fightings Germans lost 2 killed gennerals, Poland 6 generals and 1 cowardly killed by soviet soldiers .
Thank for making this channel. I never knew Soviet Union also invaded Poland in 1939
Darf ich dich vorschlagen, meiner Bruder, dass du sprechest eher /bí-ikl/ aus als der /vihíkol/ daß du ständig bisher ausgesprochen hast. Und danke nochmals für solcher tolle Arbeit!
These videos are very good! Very professional for a TH-cam channel
Happy blitzkriegday everyone!
u should remembr about partisants 9panzers Maczek's Dev. and Devision 303 and Berling's, Anderson's armies .And u should know "Enigma's" story
You omitted to mention the Slovak involvement, over 50,000 Slovak troops (of the then German Puppet State) formed part of the initial invasion along with their German masters, just an allusion to action in the south at 3' 53". There was also a bit of a backstory with Poland nibbling at Czechoslovakia in 1938, and Hungary nibbling at Slovakia in early 1939.
so glad I found your channel, you're the history teacher I always wanted!
That happen when politics try to lead armies...