✦ History

Part of World War II, European theatre of World War II

Invasion of Poland

September 1 – October 6, 1939

Result German–Soviet victory

Nazi Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, and the Soviet Union invaded from the east on 17 September under the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Slovak Republic overran Polish defenses, and the campaign ended on 6 October with Poland divided between Germany and the Soviet Union. The invasion marked the beginning of World War II in Europe.

Overview Contemporaries

Axis

Allies

Germany
Soviet Union joint invasion under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Slovak Republic
Poland
United Kingdom
France
Adolf Hitler Ordered German invasion Joseph Stalin Ordered Soviet Invasion Hermann Göring Commander, Luftwaffe Semyon Timoshenko Commanded the Ukrainian Front in the Soviet invasion Gerd von Rundstedt military commander Fedor von Bock military commander Albert Kesselring military commander Franz Halder military commander
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Günther von Kluge military commander Walther von Brauchitsch military commander Johannes Blaskowitz military commander Georg von Küchler military commander
Neville Chamberlain Declared war, British Prime Minister Edward Rydz-Śmigły military commander Tadeusz Kasprzycki military commander Wacław Stachiewicz military commander

Strength and losses

Strength
2,000,000
Casualties
59,000
Killed
1,475
Wounded
2,383
Tanks
4,736
Tanks lost
43
Aircraft
3,300
Guns
4,959

Units

Army Group North 3rd Army (Wehrmacht) 4th Army (Wehrmacht) Army Group South 10th Army (Wehrmacht) 14th Army (Wehrmacht) 8th Army (Wehrmacht) Belorussian Front (1939) Ukrainian Front (1939) 10th Army (Soviet Union) 11th Army (Soviet Union) 12th Army (Soviet Union) 3rd Army (Soviet Union) 4th Army (Soviet Union) 5th Guards Combined Arms Army 6th Guards Combined Arms Army Field Army Bernolák Panzergruppe Kleist I Army Corps (Wehrmacht) IV Army Corps (Wehrmacht) VII Army Corps (Wehrmacht) VIII Army Corps (Wehrmacht) X Army Corps (Wehrmacht) XI Army Corps (Wehrmacht) XII Army Corps (Wehrmacht) XIII Army Corps (Wehrmacht) XIX Army Corps XV Army Corps (Wehrmacht) XVII Army Corps (Wehrmacht) 17th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 18th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 1st Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 1st Panzer Division (Wehrmacht) 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler 206th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 218th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 225th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 24th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 258th Infantry Division 29th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 2nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 2nd Light Division (Wehrmacht) 2nd Panzer Division (Wehrmacht) 301st Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 30th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 32nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 3rd Panzer Division (Wehrmacht) 44th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 4th Panzer Division 50th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 57th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 5th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht) 61st Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 6th Panzer Division 83rd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) Panzer Division Kempf Soviet Navy Luftflotte 1 Luftflotte 4 Kampfgeschwader 55
Army Kraków Army Pomorze 9th Infantry Division (Poland) Army Poznań Army Łódź 16th Mechanised Division (Poland) 1st Legions Infantry Division 23rd Infantry Division (Poland) 26th Infantry Division (Poland) 36th Infantry Division (Poland) 38th Infantry Division (Poland) 44th Infantry Division (Poland) Polish Air Force

Battles and events 23

Key events

1939 23 events

Before and after

Followed from
Munich Agreement September 30, 1938
Led to
World War II September 1, 1939 – September 2, 1945

Related events 1 degree away • 2 degrees away

1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
 
Munich Agreement
 
World War II
 
Invasion of Poland
 
Battle of France
 
The Holocaust

Also involved 17