page_title: Heinz Guderian
section_title: Invasion of Poland
hierarchical_section_title: Heinz Guderian / Second World War / Invasion of Poland
caption_attribution_description: Information added by Wikimedia users.Deutsch: Gemeinsame Militärparade der Wehrmacht und der Roten Armee in Brest am Ende des Polenfeldzugs. V.l.n.r: Generalleutnant Mauritz von Wiktorin, General der Panzertruppen Heinz Guderian und Generalmajor Semjon Kriwoschein. English: Common parade of Wehrmacht and Red Army in Brest at the end of the Invasion of Poland. At the center Major General Heinz Guderian and Brigadier Semyon Krivoshein. Cropped version of the following image: File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-121-0011A-22, Polen, Siegesparade, Guderian, Kriwoschein.jpg. Polski: Wspólna Defilada Wehrmachtu i Armii Czerwonej Brześć 1939, Heinz Guderian, Semyon Krivoshein Русский: совместный парад вермахта и РККА в Бресте 22 сентября 1939 года. На трибуне - генерал-лейтенант Мориц фон Викторин, генерал танковых войск Гейнц Гудериан и комбриг Семён Моисеевич Кривошеин (слева направо). Українська: Спільний парад Вермахту і Червоної армії у Бресті 22 вересня 1939. На трибуні (зліва направо) - генерал-лейтенант Моріц фон Вікторин, генерал танкових військ Гейнц Гудеріан і комбриг Семен Мойсейович Кривошеїн.
context_page_description: Heinz Wilhelm Guderian was a German general during World War II who, after the war, became a successful memoirist. An early pioneer and advocate of the "blitzkrieg" approach, he played a central role in the development of the panzer division concept. In 1936, he became the Inspector of Motorized Troops.
  At the beginning of the Second World War, Guderian led an armoured corps in the Invasion of Poland. During the Invasion of France, he commanded the armoured units that attacked through the Ardennes forest and overwhelmed the Allied defenses at the Battle of Sedan. He led the 2nd Panzer Army during Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. The campaign ended in failure after the German offensive Operation Typhoon failed to capture Moscow, after which Guderian was dismissed.
  In early 1943, Adolf Hitler appointed Guderian to the newly created position of Inspector General of Armoured Troops. In this role, he had broad responsibility to rebuild and train new panzer forces but saw limited success due to Germany's worsening war economy.
context_section_description: During August 1939 Guderian took command of the newly formed XIX Army Corps. At short notice he was ordered to spearhead the northern element of the invasion of Poland which began on 1 September. Under his corps command was one of Germany's six panzer divisions; Guderian's corps controlled 14.5 per cent of Germany's armoured fighting vehicles. His task was to advance through the former West Prussian territory (which included his birthplace of Kulm), then travel through East Prussia before heading south towards Warsaw. Guderian used the German concept of "leading forward", which required commanders to move to the battle-front and assess the situation. He made use of modern communication systems by travelling in a radio-equipped command vehicle with which he kept himself in contact with corps command.
  By 5 September, XIX Corps had linked up with forces advancing west from East Prussia. Guderian had accomplished his first operational victory and he gave a tour of the battlefield to Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS. The next day he shifted his corps across East Prussia to participate in the advance on Warsaw. On 9 September his corps was reinforced by 10 Panzer Division and he continued deeper into Poland, finishing at Brest-Litovsk. In ten days Guderian's XIX Corps advanced 330 kilometres (210 mi), at times against strong resistance. The tank had proved itself to be a powerful weapon, with only 8 destroyed out of 350 employed. On 16 September, Guderian launched an attack on Brest Litovsk; the next day the Soviet Union invaded Poland. He issued an ultimatum to the city – surrender to the Germans or Soviets – the garrison capitulated to the Germans. The Soviet Union's entry into the war shattered Polish morale and Polish forces began to surrender en masse to Guderian's troops. At the conclusion of the campaign, Guderian was awarded a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
  The historian Russel Hart writes that Guderian supported the invasion because he "despised the Catholic, Slavic Poles who now occupied parts of his native, beloved Prussia". Foremost in his mind was the "liberation" of his former family estate at Gross-Klonia; Guderian ordered the advance on Gross-Klonia at night and through fog, leading to what he subsequently admitted were "serious casualties".
  During the invasion, the German military mistreated and killed prisoners of war, ignoring both the Geneva Convention and their own army regulations. Guderian's corps withdrew before the SS began its ethnic cleansing campaign. He learned of murder operations and of Jews being forced into Nazi ghettos from his son, Heinz Günther Guderian, who had witnessed some of them. There is no record of his having made any protest.
caption: Guderian with Mauritz von Wiktorin (left) and Soviet Kombrig Semyon Krivoshein at the German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk after the invasion of Poland, 1939
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