The beginning of World War II
1939 is characterized by the frantic preparation of the European capitalist states for military confrontation - for a future world war. Hungary, Poland, Germany sought to grab a fatter piece. March 14 - Hungary, with the consent of Nazi Germany, occupied the entire Transcarpathian Ukraine with troops. March 15 - occupation of the whole territory of the Czech Republic by German troops. Creation of a puppet pro-German government in Slovakia. April 3 - Hitler approved the Weiss (White Plan) plan - an attack plan on Poland. Poland rejected the offer of the USSR on military assistance in case of aggression. April 28 - Termination by Germany of unilateral non-aggression pact with Poland and maritime agreement with England. August 26 - The completion of Nazi Germany’s preparations for an attack on Poland. The Soviet government, fighting for peace in Europe, on April 17 invited the governments of England and France to conclude a tripartite agreement on mutual assistance in case of aggression. On August 12-21, negotiations were held in Moscow between the military missions of the USSR, England and France on the conclusion of a mutual assistance agreement. However, on August 21, these contacts were interrupted due to the absurd position taken by England and France. The USSR had no choice but to conclude the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in two days. It was necessary to lead the country away from the impending war.
What was Poland during this terrible time? The innocent victim of the fascist "wolf"? Well no! In the period between the two world wars, Poland openly reoriented itself to Germany, which became especially evident after Hitler came to power. The dictator Pilsudski was no longer there, but the seasoned “Pilsudchina” remained the dominant force in pre-war Poland. Poland acted as Germany’s ally in Europe, supporting its position under the Munich Agreement and taking part in the partition of Czechoslovakia with Germany, capturing the Tieszyn Territory. At the same time, the Polish government impeded the process of creating a defensive anti-German bloc and reaching an agreement between the USSR, England and France. Here is a description of the situation given in August 1939 by General Dumenc, the head of the French military mission at the Moscow talks: “There is no doubt that the USSR wants to conclude a military pact and does not want us to turn this pact into an empty piece of paper that does not have a specific meaning. The failure of the negotiations is inevitable if Poland does not change its position. ”
The immediate cause for the confrontation between Poland and Germany was the question of Danzig and East Prussia. This territory, geographically separated from Germany, under the Versailles agreements was not part of Poland, but a free city under the control of the League of Nations. Hitler demanded that Poland in 1939 consent to the inclusion of Danzig-Gdansk in Germany and the provision of the last transport corridor for communication between the main part of Germany and East Prussia and the free movement of citizens between these parts of the country. The Germans would like to annex Danzig to Germany, even at the cost of a final rejection of Pomerania and ensuring Polish interests in Danzig, but Beck, the Polish Foreign Minister, under pressure from Polish public opinion, did not allow any talk on this subject. Furious nationalism, the essence of the “Pilsudchina”, had its effect when they shouted “Poland - from sea to sea”.
It must be understood, of course, that the cause of the war itself was not at all in the dispute between Poland and Germany about Gdansk, but that inter-imperialist contradictions pushed Germany to revenge and further “world domination”, and her allies were preparing for a similar redivision of the world. Of paramount importance to all the capitalist powers was the question - which country, or group of countries will take on the mission of attacking the USSR, destroying the first country of socialism?
About the beginning of World War II. The key point here is the “attack” on the radio station in Glavice, or the Gliavice provocation — Germany’s staging of Poland’s attack on the German radio station in the city of Glavice. The operation was organized by Reinhard Heydrich and his subordinate - the head of the VI-F group (sabotage), SS Sturmbunführer Alfred Naujoks at the direction of Adolf Hitler. According to Heydrich’s plan, SS officers disguised as Polish military uniforms had to: attack the radio station in Gliwice (now Gliwice, Poland) and broadcast the anti-German appeal in Polish; attack the forestry in Pinchen north of Kreuzburg (now Kluczbork, Poland); in Hohlinden, on the border between Gleivitz and Ratibor (now Raciborz, Poland), destroy the customs point. The role of "those killed during the attack" was intended for concentration camp inmates shot dead by the SS men and dressed in Polish military uniforms.
On August 31, 1939 at 20-00 Naujoks with subordinates broke into the premises of the radio station. Seeing the worker Foytzik, he pointed his gun and shouted: "Hands up!" Forwards opened indiscriminate firing. Radio station workers tied up and locked in the basement. It takes a lot of time searching for a microphone. Soon the listeners of the radio station heard a “fiery appeal” in Polish against the background of the shots, the meaning of which was that “the time has come for the Polish war against Germany.” The whole operation took no more than 4 minutes. When leaving, Naujoks noticed the corpses in Polish uniform carefully laid out by Müller's people. The same thing happened in other places of the action. The next day, Hitler turned to the German people, saying that Poland had attacked German territory and that from that moment Germany was at war with Poland. Newspapers came out with flashy headlines. Speaking in the Reichstag, Hitler announced 14 clashes on the border, including three major ones. A few days before, Hitler cynically declared to his generals: “I will give a propaganda reason for starting a war, and whether it will be believable does not matter. Then they won’t ask the winner if he was telling the truth or not. ”
The Polish government had no choice but to declare general mobilization. The main headquarters of the Polish army believed that success in the war with Germany could only be ensured by the joint efforts of Poland and its Western allies. But Poland didn’t receive immediate operational help from the Western "allies" - England and France - being alone with its small and poorly armed army face-to-face with a German monster. Only on September 3, at 11 a.m., the British government declared war on Germany, and six hours later France did the same. Following England, the British dominions declared war on Germany: September 3 - Australia and New Zealand, September 6 - Union of South Africa, September 10 - Canada. Some European countries, as well as the United States, declared their neutrality.
In political and military circles of Germany, there was a serious doubt that an attack on Poland would lead to the entry into the war of England and France, and thereby would necessitate an armed struggle simultaneously on the eastern and western fronts. Fascist Germany was not ready for such a war. But immediately before the invasion of Poland, these fears began to dissipate. The political and military leadership of the Third Reich became increasingly convinced that in response to the invasion of Poland, England and France would not take any active action against Germany on the western front.
In Directive No. 1 signed by Hitler on August 31, 1939, it was forbidden to undertake any military operations in the west. Even if England and France entered the war, Army Group Ts deployed along the western border was instructed to conduct defensive battles with maximum energy savings and to ensure conditions for the successful completion of the campaign in Poland.
The decision of the then government of England was certain: not to fight in defense of Poland. The British government was knowingly and calmly preparing to commit treason against Poland. This, of course, was no secret to the German government. In a confidential conversation with Rosenberg, Baron de Ropp stated bluntly: "For England, Poland is more useful as a martyr than as an existing state." On September 8, the Polish military attache in Paris wrote in his report: “Until 7.9.39 10 hours in the west, there is virtually no war. Neither the French nor the Germans shoot at each other. In the same way, there are still no aviation actions ... My assessment: the French are not carrying out either further mobilization or further action and are awaiting the results of the battle in Poland. ”
The defense of the Polish army against the German hordes fell apart in a few days. On September 16, the Polish government fled to Romania, leaving the people and the country, which it brought to a national disaster with its short-sighted policies. Under these conditions, the Soviet government was forced to carry out diplomatic and military actions in order to protect the population of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus from fascist enslavement. The Government of the USSR issued an order to the Soviet Army on September 17, 1939 to cross the state border and prevent the further advance of Hitler aggression to the east. The separation of forces took place along the Curzon line, broken by Poland during the attack on Soviet Russia in 1920. The Curzon line was based on the principle of including only ethnographically Polish lands in Poland, proposed in 1919 by the Entente Supreme Council.
The defeat of Poland was followed by an eight-month pause in the military confrontation between Germany and England with France. The inaction of the allies on the western front, dubbed the “foney” or “sedentary” war, created the most favorable conditions for the unhindered mobilization deployment and increase the military power of the Wehrmacht. England and France, in their plans for war, counted on the Maginot’s “impenetrable” powerful defensive line in France. The German offensive on May 10, 1940 took the Allied forces by surprise. Hitler’s appeal was read at dawn in parts of the Wehrmacht, in which England and France were accused of treacherous politics and reported that "the battle beginning today decides the fate of the German nation for the next thousand years."
The Nazi offensive began with an air attack on airfields, command posts, military depots and the most important industrial centers of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Having captured these countries, German troops concentrated on France and the English expeditionary force there. They did not take the Maginot line - they simply bypassed it. The position of the Allied forces quickly became crisis. The campaign ended with the flight of “those who managed to escape” on English and French ships through the port of Dunkirk.
So, triumphantly for Hitler, the "overture" of World War II ended. Unconquered by him and furiously preparing for defense remained only one country - the Soviet Union.
S.V. Khristenko
