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War in EuropeThe German Invasion of Poland

September 1, 1939 Nazi Germany Invades Poland

Blitzkrieg Warfare

� “Lightning Warfare”

� Series of quick wars against diplomatically isolated states before they could get mobilized.

� Hitler’s reasoning� Lessons of WWI

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Why Blitzkrieg?� Military

� Fear of a drawn out conflict

� Political � Public Opinion

� Economic� Never transfer into a full

wartime economyHeinz Guderian

creator of Blitzkrieg

What is Blitzkrieg?� Offensive style of warfare

� Comes from the lessons of World War I

� Emphasis is on movement, speed, and flexibility� Tanks smash border defenses and encircle enemy troops� Motorized infantry follows� Tanks move on to next area� Mass of traditional infantry follows motorized infantry,

motorized infantry moves on � All along, there is air support by Nazi Luftwaffe

The Campaign in Poland

� Known as “Case White”� Germans use 52 division (1 million men)� Statistics

� Germans use 1,500 tanks and 1,200 aircraft

� Poland has 300 tanks and 400 aircraft

� Two Groups: North and South� Warsaw reached by September 8

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Bombing of Warsaw� Germans

respond to resistance with civilian bombing.

� This is a new kind of war.

The Collapse of Poland� September 17 �

Stalin sends Red Army into Eastern Poland.

� End of September �Poland Defeated

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Important Outcomes� 90,000 Poles create exile

army in Britain� Largest exile army of war

� Enigma Machine� Poles had been working on

breaking German code� British would later use it to their

advantage

� Hitler begins his “Ethnic Cleansing”

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