In the Polish campaign the German forces were stronger,
but they did not have an overwhelming numerical superiority over the Poles,
so why did it take the Germans only more than a month to completely defeat Poland?
The Germans had two key advantages: their army was larger and had better equipment than Polish forces
and also the Germans possessed tanks, which would give them greater punch and much faster movement.
Poland used two strategies to counter the German advantages. The Poles had made an
alliance with Britain and France so that they could put pressure on Germany from the West.
In this way Germany would have to keep a large part of their forces there and could not deploy
a strong force against Poland. In order to counter Germany's superior offensive capabilities,
such as tanks, Poland had adopted another strategy. It had created two defensive lines.
The main line was behind the Vistula river and its tributaries and they could retreat
to a shorter line on the Romanian bridgehead, if things went badly. But there was a problem. Poland
could not start the war with all of its forces deployed behind its defences. Otherwise there
was a chance that Germany could capture part of the Polish territory without fighting and Britain
and France would not declare war on Germany. So Poland deployed its forces forward to the border
to receive the German attack and make Britain and France declare war on Germany. After that
they would have to make a difficult retreat under German pressure to their main defences. On
September 1st 1939 the Germans launched the attack along the whole front. The Poles had established
an intermediary defensive line, where they planned to halt the initial German advance. In the North
the Germans encircled some of the Polish units and reestablished land connection with East Prussia.
In the South the Germans reached the Southernmost part of the Polish defensive line.
They then launched several tank attacks against it. In the South and Center the Poles were able to
contain the Germans, but in the North the Polish lines were broken. The Poles had their reserves
ready to cover the Northern direction. They also pulled back their forces in the South. Soon the
reatereting forces ran into trouble, as they were pursued by fast moving German tanks. In the North
the Polish reserves reestablished the front line and for some days could continue the withdrawal.
But then the German tanks broke through once again. This time the Poles did not have any
reserves to send against them. By that time Poland might have benefitted from a French attack on the
Western front, but the Allies had not expected the events to take place so quickly and did not give
effective assistance to Poland. Polish forces decided to launch a desperate counterattack
against the German forward units to allow their forces to escape. However, most of the Polish
units were too disorganized to counterattack and in the South their forces were encircled. The
Polish counterattack in the North allowed some of the Polish forces to withdraw to the Warsaw area,
but soon the Germans turned their attention towards the counterattacking force and cut it off.
The Germans succeeded in their plan to cut off most of the Polish forces before they could reach
their main defenses. By that time they had already breached the Polish defenses from the North.
Ten days earlier the Germans had reached the Polish main defensive line from the North.
The Poles misjudged the situation and their troops were out of position, which allowed the Germans to
find a weak spot in the Polish defences and cross the river. The Poles attempted to make a stand
behind another river line, but the Germans used momentum to cross it before the Poles had readied
their defences. The main Polish defensive line was now breached from the North. The
Polish forces were now ordered to retreat to their final defensive line at the Romanian bridgehead.
Part of them ignored the order and remained to defend Warsaw. During that time the Polish units
in the South had been falling back. The Poles were not able to hold a solid front and the faster
moving German units bypassed them and crossed the main Polish defensive line with little opposition.
They now moved to capture the center of the Polish resistance at Lwow. The Germans were
unable to take Lwow, but they cut off the Polish units that attempted to fall back to the town.
The Germans were now in position to prevent the rest of the Polish army
from reaching the Romanian bridgehead. The next Polish forces approached from the West.
The Germans moved in from several directions and cut the Poles off from all sides.
After the Poles could not break through the German defences, they surrendered. The Germans were not
in a good position to easily destroy the Polish forces coming from the North. But by that time the
Soviet Union had joined the conflict and attacked the undefended Polish border from the East. The
Red Army quickly advanced and cut off the retreat path South for the Polish forces. The Poles had
no choice but to break through the Soviet or German lines to escape to the South. They chose
to attack the Germans, but they were unable to break through and surrendered. With that most
of the largest formations of the Polish army had been destroyed. Without any help from the outside,
the Polish defenders in Warsaw surrendered to the Germans. By early October the Soviets and
the Germans had finished mopping up the remaining Polish forces and the campaign was over. So,
why was Poland defeated only in a month? You can see from the campaign that the reasons the
Poles hoped to win the war did not come into play. Poland gave up its defensive positions in order to
be sure to get the help from Britain and France. But no one expected the Germans to advance so fast
and Britain and France were not ready to give Poland significant aid so early. So Poland could
not utilize the foreign aid nor its defensive advantages. Meanwhile the Germans could make full
use of their stronger army and tank formations and this resulted in a quick Polish defeat.
It is time to pay respects to the E company for its contribution to the coverage of the Polish
campaign. You may want to join its ranks, as in the next episode, we will continue
on our way East to look at a long, but often overlooked conflict between two great powers.