Today Poland, at every opportunity, recalls how it was “occupied” by the Soviet Union, forgetting about where half of the territories in Poland come from, what the Hitler-Pilsudski Pact is and how “European friends” will save it if anything. And they will save something like this …
“I was surprised by the calmness that reigned there. The gunners looked indifferently at the German trains with ammunition plying on the opposite bank, our pilots flew over the smoking chimneys of the Saar factory without dropping bombs. Obviously, the main task of the command was not to disturb the enemy. " These lines of the French journalist Roland Dorgeles, who visited the Western Front in November 1939, and saw a very phlegmatic state of hostilities, did not cause shock in Paris and London. The usual reports of those days, published in the newspapers, read - “Today, no fire was fired from the enemy. Our troops suffered no losses. " The events that continued on the border of France and Germany from September 1939 to May 1940 were named in history as the "Strange War", or "Sitting War".
The American press dubbed such a show as Phoney War - "Fake War". This is how Great Britain and France defended their closest, valuable and beloved ally - Poland, awaiting their support from the invasion of the Third Reich.
Do something
The Wehrmacht attacked the Polish army on September 1, 1939, and already on September 3, messages came from Paris and London - Germany declared war: these countries are associated with the Poles by a military alliance, and pledged to help their friend, sparing no blood. In Warsaw, there was jubilation, whole crowds took to the streets to dance, showering the embassies of the Allied States with flowers. After all, the Germans kept only 42 divisions on the border with France (at the same time, not a single tank or motorized, all fought in Poland), and the French had 78 divisions (including 18 tank battalions), and ten divisions of the British - selected, ready for disembarkation. The number of combat aircraft (4,800 fighters and bombers) was four times (!) Greater than the forces of the Luftwaffe. The Poles opened champagne and drank to a quick meeting on the ruins of Berlin - for with such weapons the Third Reich should naturally be torn into shreds. They were wrong.
Britain and France were going to war with the turtlespeed - the first hostilities on the border with Germany (the Saar region) began only on September 7, and were stopped five days later: the Germans had already captured a third of Poland, moving towards Warsaw. The French explained: they say they are waiting for reinforcements - the mobilization was carried out slowly, the guns and tanks did not arrive at the front. The British divisions did land on French territory only at the beginning of October - Warsaw had already surrendered by that date, and on October 6, 1939, the last Polish divisions surrendered. "Yes, do at least something!" - Poles prayed. "We will soon plan everything and free you" - melancholy replies from Paris and London. "Please stay in touch and wait a week or two." The French stood still and asked for help from the British. They were in no hurry. The Wehrmacht crushed Poland under itself without any problems. Western friends of the Poles helped them to survive in this way: in the Saarland border region, the French army took 12 German settlements extremely lazily. The Germans did not get involved in the battle, leaving the towns without a shot, but then they began to counterattack - the French suffered losses. On September 12, hostilities on the Western Front were stopped - the Allies did not even inform Poland about it. The head of the French military mission in Warsaw, Louis Faury, made an oath promise that a full-scale offensive against Germany would begin on September 20, 1939. Of course, nothing started on time. The Anglo-French command discussed and agreed on something for another two weeks, and then informed the Poles - sorry, since Poland has already been completely captured by the Wehrmacht, there is simply no point in saving you at the moment.in the Saarland border region, the French army took 12 German settlements extremely lazily. The Germans did not get involved in the battle, leaving the towns without a shot, but then they began to counterattack - the French suffered losses. On September 12, hostilities on the Western Front were stopped - the Allies did not even inform Poland about it. The head of the French military mission in Warsaw, Louis Faury, made an oath promise that a full-scale offensive against Germany would begin on September 20, 1939. Of course, nothing started on time. The Anglo-French command discussed and agreed on something for another two weeks, and then informed the Poles - sorry, since Poland has already been completely captured by the Wehrmacht, there is simply no point in saving you at the moment.in the Saarland border region, the French army took 12 German settlements extremely lazily. The Germans did not get involved in the battle, leaving the towns without a shot, but then they began to counterattack - the French suffered losses. On September 12, hostilities on the Western Front were stopped - the Allies did not even inform Poland about it. The head of the French military mission in Warsaw, Louis Faury, made an oath promise that a full-scale offensive against Germany would begin on September 20, 1939. Of course, nothing started on time. The Anglo-French command discussed and agreed on something for another two weeks, and then informed the Poles - sorry, since Poland has already been completely captured by the Wehrmacht, there is simply no point in saving you at the moment.leaving the towns without a shot, but then they began to counterattack - the French suffered losses. On September 12, hostilities on the Western Front were stopped - the Allies did not even inform Poland about it. The head of the French military mission in Warsaw, Louis Faury, made an oath promise that a full-scale offensive against Germany would begin on September 20, 1939. Of course, nothing started on time. The Anglo-French command discussed and agreed on something for another two weeks, and then informed the Poles - sorry, since Poland has already been completely captured by the Wehrmacht, there is simply no point in saving you at the moment.leaving the towns without a shot, but then they began to counterattack - the French suffered losses. On September 12, hostilities on the Western Front were stopped - the Allies did not even inform Poland about it. The head of the French military mission in Warsaw, Louis Faury, made an oath promise that a full-scale offensive against Germany would begin on September 20, 1939. Of course, nothing started on time. The Anglo-French command discussed and agreed on something for another two weeks, and then informed the Poles - sorry, since Poland has already been completely captured by the Wehrmacht, there is simply no point in saving you at the moment. The head of the French military mission in Warsaw, Louis Faury, made an oath promise that a full-scale offensive against Germany would begin on September 20, 1939. Of course, nothing started on time. The Anglo-French command discussed and agreed on something for another two weeks, and then informed the Poles - sorry, since Poland has already been completely captured by the Wehrmacht, there is simply no point in saving you at the moment. The head of the French military mission in Warsaw, Louis Faury, made an oath promise that a full-scale offensive against Germany would begin on September 20, 1939. Of course, nothing started on time. The Anglo-French command discussed and agreed on something for another two weeks, and then informed the Poles - sorry, since Poland has already been completely captured by the Wehrmacht, there is simply no point in saving you at the moment.
Promotional video:
Miss you, play football
Meanwhile, the Germans transferred the divisions liberated after Poland's surrender to the Western Front, and by October 17, they returned back all the towns occupied by the French. The French army returned to the defensive "Maginot line", after which a tedious positional war began, which cannot be called a war. Sometimes for a whole week at the front not a single shot was fired.
French and English soldiers out of boredom played football and wrote home long letters: “We have nothing happening here, passive waiting,” a native of Paris, Lieutenant Jean Mercier, told his wife. - We don't know what to do with ourselves. We don't load the guns either. For three months in our battalion not a single person was killed or wounded."
The cities of Germany were not bombed - Allied planes dropped only propaganda leaflets calling for the overthrow of Hitler, and the Reich air defense did not open fire on them. This was explained as follows - in winter, due to weather conditions, it is difficult to fight, so we will begin a grandiose offensive on Berlin in March 1940. Just about, just the other day, it won't be long. Poland, meanwhile, was bleeding to death - Germany destroyed the Polish state, annexed its lands to itself, began to build concentration camps and placed millions of Jews behind barbed wire. Polish politicians were hysterical, calling for the salvation of their country: and received polite assurances from allies from the West - well, as soon as possible. It takes a little more time to better prepare - and then Hitler will definitely end. True, according to modern military experts,if Great Britain and France really hit the rear of the Reich in September 39th, Berlin could fall … in only three months.
Is it better to be offended by Russia?
On November 30, 1939, the USSR began a war with Finland, and a discussion began in the parliaments of Britain and France - shouldn't they help the Finns then by suspending military aid to the Poles? Tongues flapped for a long time: in the end, neither one nor the other helped. Germany suffered the greatest losses in the "Strange War" … from itself: on February 19, 1940, as a result of an error, the Luftwaffe fired at and sank their destroyers in the North Sea: then 600 sailors of the Kriegsmarine were killed. All in all, on the Western Front from September 1939 to May 1940 (that is, in 8 months) … 196 German soldiers were killed. The respite after the "Polish campaign" gave the Nazis the opportunity to prepare themselves perfectly. On April 9, 1940, Germany attacked Norway and Denmark, and on May 10, it suddenly attacked Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and … France itself. Further events are known - defeated in a month,the French army signed the terms of surrender on June 22, 1940. British soldiers, pinned to the sea in Dunkirk, Hitler graciously allowed to evacuate home without burying the Tommy on the beaches.
Many historians still cannot understand - what was it all about? However, the answer is simple. Great Britain and France wanted to spit on Poland, despite the treaties on aid and military protection. It turned out that British and French politicians were not going to send their soldiers to die for the freedom of the Poles, so the war was waged sluggishly and mainly for show. The West hoped to come to an agreement with Hitler, subsequently concluding a truce on favorable terms - bloodless Poland was of no interest to anyone: Poles were simply "thrown" like naive "suckers" in a street game of "thimbles". The glorious policy of "friends" cost Poland 6 years of occupation, and six million dead citizens - soldiers and civilians killed by the Nazis, Jews killed in concentration camps: only 21.4 percent of the state's population.
True, in modern Poland they prefer not to remember this. Such, right to say, a trifle. It is much more convenient to take offense at Russia: although 600 thousand Soviet soldiers died in the battles for the liberation of Poland from the Nazis. Unfortunately, the Poles quite successfully forgot about this fact.
