The Year of Aggression
Part 3: War over Danzig, May 1 – June 9, 1939
Before turning our focus back to Italy’s own acts during this year of aggression, it may behoove us to look in closer detail at some of the war-making already occurring in Europe. The first of these campaigns was the German invasion of Poland over the question of Danzig. It was this city, and its future, which plunged Europe into carnage and began its reshaping.
The war began on the 1st of May, though Mussolini never received a formal notice. Its beginning passed him by until he happened to notice news of the war in Italian newspapers, in a strange reversal of roles. This discovery was on the 5th, by which point the Germans had already begun overrunning the southwest corner of Poland, which apparently lay completely undefended. Elsewhere along the frontier, German and Polish troops were locked in combat: half of the border between East Prussia and Poland was ablaze, as was most of the Silesian-Polish border. Mussolini immediately dispatched a handful of general staff officers to observe the campaign, mostly to gauge how competent the Wehrmacht was against a second-rate foe such as Poland. He himself began periodically requesting compilation reports of the fighting. Already on the 5th he could see what the Germans were going to do: a wide envelopment of all of western Poland from the southwest.
The German invasion of Poland had begun!
Within five days, Mussolini could be sure of his judgment. Krakow had fallen and, while the Germans made some progress in the west and north, the Polish line was only just barely beginning to form in the southwest as the Poles threw units into that area to desperately try to halt the German advance. While Warsaw was already being threatened from the north, it seemed most likely that it would fall by the push from the southwest: a full German armored corps was racing northward. Nevertheless, in the west and north the Polish frontline was being hammered hard, though it was not broken. The Poles were proving themselves to be doughty fighters and did not like to give up the ground of their homeland if they could possibly avoid it.
The invasion of Poland progressing, with great signs of collapse already evident in the southwest.
By the 19th, barely any progress had been made in the north. In the west, the Germans had pushed forward though still had not actually penetrated the Polish line. In the southwest, however, the German advance was an unstoppable tide. German units were racing into the undefended tracts of eastern Poland, and German armor was pushing ever closer to Warsaw despite stiffening Polish resistance. Western Poland was becoming a bag, in which numerous Polish units were soon to be trapped: the lock was Warsaw, and it would soon be in danger.
The Germans pushing their advance hard everywhere except the north.
Three days after this report, another came that promised a quick end to the conflict. The bag of western Poland had shrunk, but many units were unlikely to escape it as the German spearheads proved faster than the routed Polish. Warsaw found itself besieged from north and from south as the Germans began a minor breakout from East Prussia. Eastern Poland lay invitingly open, though the Germans were focused enough not to dedicate more than a minor selection of units to its conquest. All that territory was to go to the Soviet Union any way, Germany had no real incentive to push much farther eastward than it already had, which in itself was already verging on too far. The Polish Army was in a state too far gone to do more than desperately stand in place and fight to the last bullet. By this sad point there was no way that it could possibly hope to survive, even if the Allies did forcefully intervene, which they were not by any stretch of the imagination.
The Poles were, by this point, most very definitely losing.
Nevertheless, that capability that the Polish Army did have it utilized to the very utmost. It resisted stoutly for over two more weeks, pushing Germany’s victory to the second week of June. Germany, stymied at Warsaw, pushed ever eastward, occupied Lvov and nearly reached the old Polish-Soviet border. The Poles thrive on desperate situations. The entire course of their sad history comprised of a succession of forlorn, glorious last stands against invaders or occupiers, including many notable rebellions against Russian occupation in the 17th and 18th centuries. Though Mussolini had been taken aback by the tenacity and length of the Polish resistance, if he had been even cursorily acquainted with Polish history he would not have been overly surprised. Polish romanticism thrives on the tragedy of the impossible conflict, and this war was merely one episode in a long series. The Poles did not give up; hundreds of thousands fled abroad, to France or to Britain, to recover and dream of their resurgence.
Poland, consumed by Germany and the Soviet Union.
After the conclusion of this war, Mussolini did not pull his observers back yet but instead ordered them westward. Germany, concurrently with the latter weeks of the invasion of Poland, had begun a limited foray against the Maginot Line and had managed to breach it. Additionally, there were rumors afloat that an invasion of the Low Countries was in the works. There was yet more to observe. Additionally, Mussolini was not yet satisfied that the Allies were fully engaged with Germany to move yet himself. He would wait, and watch, for a little while longer.
Part 3: War over Danzig, May 1 – June 9, 1939
Before turning our focus back to Italy’s own acts during this year of aggression, it may behoove us to look in closer detail at some of the war-making already occurring in Europe. The first of these campaigns was the German invasion of Poland over the question of Danzig. It was this city, and its future, which plunged Europe into carnage and began its reshaping.
The war began on the 1st of May, though Mussolini never received a formal notice. Its beginning passed him by until he happened to notice news of the war in Italian newspapers, in a strange reversal of roles. This discovery was on the 5th, by which point the Germans had already begun overrunning the southwest corner of Poland, which apparently lay completely undefended. Elsewhere along the frontier, German and Polish troops were locked in combat: half of the border between East Prussia and Poland was ablaze, as was most of the Silesian-Polish border. Mussolini immediately dispatched a handful of general staff officers to observe the campaign, mostly to gauge how competent the Wehrmacht was against a second-rate foe such as Poland. He himself began periodically requesting compilation reports of the fighting. Already on the 5th he could see what the Germans were going to do: a wide envelopment of all of western Poland from the southwest.
The German invasion of Poland had begun!
Within five days, Mussolini could be sure of his judgment. Krakow had fallen and, while the Germans made some progress in the west and north, the Polish line was only just barely beginning to form in the southwest as the Poles threw units into that area to desperately try to halt the German advance. While Warsaw was already being threatened from the north, it seemed most likely that it would fall by the push from the southwest: a full German armored corps was racing northward. Nevertheless, in the west and north the Polish frontline was being hammered hard, though it was not broken. The Poles were proving themselves to be doughty fighters and did not like to give up the ground of their homeland if they could possibly avoid it.
The invasion of Poland progressing, with great signs of collapse already evident in the southwest.
By the 19th, barely any progress had been made in the north. In the west, the Germans had pushed forward though still had not actually penetrated the Polish line. In the southwest, however, the German advance was an unstoppable tide. German units were racing into the undefended tracts of eastern Poland, and German armor was pushing ever closer to Warsaw despite stiffening Polish resistance. Western Poland was becoming a bag, in which numerous Polish units were soon to be trapped: the lock was Warsaw, and it would soon be in danger.
The Germans pushing their advance hard everywhere except the north.
Three days after this report, another came that promised a quick end to the conflict. The bag of western Poland had shrunk, but many units were unlikely to escape it as the German spearheads proved faster than the routed Polish. Warsaw found itself besieged from north and from south as the Germans began a minor breakout from East Prussia. Eastern Poland lay invitingly open, though the Germans were focused enough not to dedicate more than a minor selection of units to its conquest. All that territory was to go to the Soviet Union any way, Germany had no real incentive to push much farther eastward than it already had, which in itself was already verging on too far. The Polish Army was in a state too far gone to do more than desperately stand in place and fight to the last bullet. By this sad point there was no way that it could possibly hope to survive, even if the Allies did forcefully intervene, which they were not by any stretch of the imagination.
The Poles were, by this point, most very definitely losing.
Nevertheless, that capability that the Polish Army did have it utilized to the very utmost. It resisted stoutly for over two more weeks, pushing Germany’s victory to the second week of June. Germany, stymied at Warsaw, pushed ever eastward, occupied Lvov and nearly reached the old Polish-Soviet border. The Poles thrive on desperate situations. The entire course of their sad history comprised of a succession of forlorn, glorious last stands against invaders or occupiers, including many notable rebellions against Russian occupation in the 17th and 18th centuries. Though Mussolini had been taken aback by the tenacity and length of the Polish resistance, if he had been even cursorily acquainted with Polish history he would not have been overly surprised. Polish romanticism thrives on the tragedy of the impossible conflict, and this war was merely one episode in a long series. The Poles did not give up; hundreds of thousands fled abroad, to France or to Britain, to recover and dream of their resurgence.
Poland, consumed by Germany and the Soviet Union.
After the conclusion of this war, Mussolini did not pull his observers back yet but instead ordered them westward. Germany, concurrently with the latter weeks of the invasion of Poland, had begun a limited foray against the Maginot Line and had managed to breach it. Additionally, there were rumors afloat that an invasion of the Low Countries was in the works. There was yet more to observe. Additionally, Mussolini was not yet satisfied that the Allies were fully engaged with Germany to move yet himself. He would wait, and watch, for a little while longer.