Poland's Crucial Role in the Outbreak of World War II

And why this Substack is centered around this important history

Sep 09, 2024

With the 85^th anniversary of the outbreak of WWII taking place on Sunday, 1 September 2024, it seemed the perfect time to launch my new Substack page for Poland At War Tours.

Poland commemorated the 85^th anniversary of the outbreak of the war in a phenomenal ceremony on the Westerplatte Peninsular, the site of the Polish garrison that took the brunt of the first shots of WWII. Whilst significantly outnumbered, they managed to repel the Germans for a miraculous seven days.

It was an absolute honour for me to be at the commemoration ceremony 0448hrs on Westerplatte and remember with the Polish nation.

Here’s a short video of the beginning of the ceremony where sirens rang out marking the moment the first shots were fired 85 years ago.

Where it all began

At approximately 0448hrs on 1 September 1939, The German Pre-Dreadnought Battleship SMS Schleswig-Holstein cleared her guns at the Polish garrison stationed on the Westerplatte Peninsular, near Gdansk, beginning WWII.

By the end of hostilities in 1945, approximately 65,000,000 people had died, with many millions more maimed and displaced.

It’s difficult to point to exactly where the tentacles of WWII began. For me, I look back to the end of WWI and the Allied desire to make Germany pay for the devastation of the war, both figuratively and literally.

That’s not to suggest sympathy for Germany. It is simply to say that the Allied approach to Germany and Japan after WWII appears to be a better model for working with conquered foes than what occurred after WWI.

As we know, the devastation of WWI, political unrest, economic oblivion, and fear in Germany, brought to power a ruthless dictator with a nihilistic desire for revenge.

With its new leader, the German economy improved for many; however, life became irrevocably worse for others. Jews, those with intellectual and physical disabilities, political opponents, and others were persecuted and eventually murdered in genocidal numbers.

Leading up to the outbreak of WWII, signs were everywhere that Germany was spoiling for a fight. Against the Versailles Treaty, Germany grew its military machine at an astonishing rate. Feeling emboldened towards the end of the 1930s, Germany also re-entered the Rhineland and annexed Austria.

It wasn’t until Germany entered the Sudetenland in northern Czechoslovakia that European powers truly attempted to influence Germany to end its drive towards war.

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned to England after a meeting with Hitler in Munich, declaring “Peace for our times” after assuring the world that Hitler was happy with what he’d achieved and would progress no further.

Only problem was, Hitler clearly had no intention of complying and in no time took the rest of Czechoslovakia. Still, nations did nothing. It is understandable, perhaps, that after the utter devastation of WWI, no country had an appetite for further war, but Germany had other plans.

Having ended the German-Polish Declaration of Non-Aggression, which had been in effect since 26 January 1934, Hitler began laying the groundwork for the invasion of Poland when he canceled the pact on 28 April 1939.

The secret planning for the invasion of Poland was termed “Fall Weiss” (Case White in English).

Earlier the same year, on 31 March 1939, the UK parliament assured Poland that together with France, they would come to Poland’s aid should any aggression begin from Germany.

The Anglo-Polish Alliance was eventually signed on 25 August 1939.

Meanwhile, in secret, Germany approached the Soviet Union with its own idea for a non-aggression pact. Stalin viewed this approach favourably, and on 23 August 1939, the so-called Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed in Moscow between the aforementioned foreign ministers of both countries.

However, this non-aggression pact also included plans for the invasion and carving up of Poland between them.

In the week before the outbreak of war, Britain sent a military attaché to Poland. In deep secrecy, the Polish code breakers handed over to shocked French and British Intelligence what they knew of the German Enigma machine, which the Poles had broken in 1932 and had been reading German code ever since.

In the meantime, German forces massed on the Polish border. Several false flag operations were conducted along the border in a weak attempt by Germany to justify the invasion of Poland. The most significant was the Gliwice Radio Station incident on 31 August 1939, which involved a German intelligence officer named Oscar Schindler.

Then, on 1 September 1939, in a coordinated land, sea, and air operation, German forces crossed the Polish border from the north in Gdansk, the west from Germany, and south through Czechoslovakia. World War II had begun.

By refusing to capitulate to Hitler’s demands prior to the outbreak of war, Poland became the “First to Fight” and, subsequently, the only country to have fought Nazi Germany from the first day of the war until the last.

Whilst Britain and France sent frantic messages to the German government to cease and desist, when they received no response, both declared war on 3 September.

With the British declaration of war, Poland also became Britain’s “First Ally.”

With assurances of support from Britain and France, Polish leaders planned a defensive war until their Allies came to their aid. But alas, France and Britain declared war and did nothing.

Hitler had banked on neither France nor Britain coming to Poland’s aid and, therefore, committed the vast majority of Germany’s forces to the Polish theatre of battle, basically leaving Western Germany defenceless.

Then, on 17 September 1939, without declaring war and whilst Polish forces were retreating to their eastern border to set up a final defensive push, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east.

The Soviets' appearance was confusing to Polish forces, who did not know whether they had come as friends or foes until the Soviets began to disarm them.

It was this characteristically deceitful move by Stalin that finally sealed the fate of Poland at the beginning of WWII.

With the Polish Government and its gold reserve having crossed the border into Romania, Poland finally capitulated on 6 October 1939.

However, Poland never actually surrendered to either Germany or the Soviet Union.

Poland’s government transferred power to Polish forces stationed in France, and Polish soldiers either crossed the border into neighbouring countries or disappeared underground.

The initial battle had ended, but the war for Poland had just begun!

Why This History Matters

In my eyes, Poland has become the centre of the human universe. The story of Poland during WWII allows us to observe the entire spectrum of human behaviour from the evilest deeds possible to some of the most heroic and self-sacrificing behaviour in the history of the world.

It was on Polish soil, during a brutal occupation, that the Nazis chose to perpetrate the Holocaust, the greatest crime in human history.

However, it is my observation that whilst much focus is given to the perpetrators of this obscene crime, little attention is given to the extraordinary heroism enacted by Poles, and others, in the face of this tyranny.

Through Poland at War Tours and this newsletter combined, we’ll explore: