Defensive War of 1939 - German aggression and defense of Poland |
| The treacherous attack on the Soviet Union and the beginning of the resistance movement On September 17, Soviet units entered the territory of Poland. The Polish authorities, including the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and President of the Republic of Poland (Ignacy Moscicki), decided to cross the border with Romania, where they were then interned. Although the troops were still fighting, Poland was left without leaders. Soon, the center of power was moved to France, where the Polish government in exile was established. Soviet propaganda used the deplorable situation of the Polish state to justify its aggression. Meanwhile, this was a logical consequence of the agreements concluded with Germany. On September 28, the agreement was expanded to include the "Treaty on Borders and Friendship," signed in Moscow, which introduced a new distinction between the powers of partition. On September 22, a joint parade of the occupation forces took place in Brest-on-Bug. Red Army troops had just captured Vilnius and Grodno, and were engaged in fierce battles with KOP troops and civilians. At exactly the same time, fierce fighting continued in the Tomaszów Lubelski area, where Polish troops from the southern sector were trying to break through to the Romanian border. To no avail, most of the units were surrounded, then destroyed or captured. On September 28, Warsaw also surrendered, which could no longer withstand the superior forces of the enemy. The day before, the underground organization Suba Zwycistwu Polski was created, which marked the beginning of the creation of Europe's largest resistance movement. On October 5, the last forces of General Franciszek Kleeberg, who had been fighting for several days in the Koka area, surrendered. The Battle of Kok was the symbolic end of the defensive war of 1939. Poland's defeat was caused by a huge disparity of forces and means, as well as unpreparedness for such kind of battles. As a result of the fighting with Germany, the Poles lost 70,000 people, 133,000 were injured and 420 thousand were captured. The losses during the battles with the Soviet Union amounted to about 6 thousand people killed and more than 500,000 captured. The German losses, despite the operational successes, were serious and amounted to more than 16,000 people killed and almost 28,000 wounded. The Soviets lost about 3,000 men. Poland, divided by two aggressors, has been under brutal occupation for more than five years. The time of the war was a real drama for the Polish people. It is estimated that by the end of the conflict, about 6 million citizens had died, the vast majority of whom were the result of the terrorist, extermination and criminal policies of the occupiers. Poland went through a time of trials, and its soldiers had to set an example of bravery and heroism many times, fighting on almost all fronts of the war. A special case was the activity of the Polish underground - the anti-German and anti-Soviet resistance movement was organized during the defensive war. Until the end of the war, the Poles actively opposed the invaders. For fans of online entertainment, the https://www.1xbet.io/ platform offers a wide selection of gambling games with modern graphics and a user-friendly interface. Players have access to various slot machines as well as popular table games. The site regularly updates its game catalog, allowing users to discover new slots and gaming opportunities. |
