German-Polish War

The German-Polish War took place in 1939 and was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by the German Reich, the Slovak State, and the Soviet Union. The invasion began one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, which would see the division of Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence.
German forces invaded Poland and saw rapid successes, pushing Polish troops back in their wake. Polish forces withdrew to the southeast where they prepared for a long defence of the Romanian Bridgehead and awaited expected support and relief from France. On 3 September, based on their alliance agreement with Poland, the French declared war on Germany; in the end their aid to Poland was very limited. France invaded a small part of Germany in the Saar Offensive, before retreating soon after.
On 17 September, the Soviet Red Army invaded Eastern Poland and this rendered the Polish plan of defence obsolete. Facing a second front, the Polish government concluded the defence of the Romanian Bridgehead was no longer feasible and ordered an emergency evacuation of all troops to neutral Romania. Following the Polish defeat at the Battle of Kock, German and Soviet forces gained full control over Poland. The success of the invasion marked the end of the Second Polish Republic, though Poland never formally surrendered.
After an initial period of military administration, Germany directly annexed western Poland and the former Free City of Danzig and placed the remaining block of territory under the administration of the newly established General Government. The Soviet Union incorporated its newly acquired areas into its constituent Byelorussian and Ukrainian republics, and immediately started a campaign of Sovietization. In the aftermath of the invasion, a collective of underground resistance organizations formed the Polish Underground State within the territory of the former Polish state. Many of the military exiles who escaped Poland joined the Polish Armed Forces in France, an armed force loyal to the Polish government-in-exile.
Category:Conflicts
Category:Conflicts involving the Greater Germanic Reich
Category:Conflicts involving the Slovak State
Category:Conflicts involving the Soviet Union
Category:Conflicts involving Poland