Soldiers of the Army "Poznań"

Germany commenced direct preparations for the war with Poland in the early spring of 1939. On 3 April German generals presented to Adolf Hitler the outline directive of the Wehrmacht deployment in 1939-1940. Its second part, codenamed Fall Weiß, dealt with the plan of destroying of the Polish armed forces. That plan had to be realized by surprise attack of concentric thrusts from Silesia, Pomerania and East Prussia, beating the Polish armies concentrated in the west of the the rivers Vistula and Narew, and then pursuit eastwards to prevent the Poles to rebuild their defences along Narew, Vistula and San. The focal point of those thrusts was Warsaw, the capital of Poland and its major political, administrative and economical centre, which was supposed to be taken in the third, and last, phase of the war. More >>>

Burma

With the occupation of Malaya and Dutch East Indies rich in oil, rubber and other raw materials, the Japanese had achieved their primary strategic goal. Yet, in order to guard the perimeter of their conquests, they had to establish a system of advanced positions from the Indies to the Gilbert Islands. That is why they laid an eye on Burma - the country located ideally for safeguarding their conquests in the west. High, longitudinally stretched ranges of Arakan, Assam and Manipur could constitute a natural defence line, blocking the only three local roads, impassable during the rainy season. More >>>

Polish coast in war plans

Poland, brought to the independent being after 123 years of absence on the political maps of Europe, on 10 February 1920 received access to the Baltic Sea. However, it was not a reason for excessive joy, as the coast awarded to Poland by the decisions of the Treaty of Versailles constituted merely a 142km-long stretch of sandy beaches from Hel Peninsula to the outskirts of Zoppot. Danzig with adjacent area was declared a free city under the international control; although it maintained certain formal links with Poland, majority of its population was German. Poland was too weak politically to get a better deal. The narrow "corridor" of the Polish Pomerania, wedged between the German Pomerania and East Prussia in a space no bigger than 40 kilometres, was impossible to defend in case of a conflict with Germany. The whole area had barely few fishermen villages, with only one small port in Puck. The Germans made sure that no objects of economic importance was left to the Poles; the land was stripped of anything that Poland might use to build a real sea economy and a navy. In the beginning of 1920s Poland's access to the sea was an illusion rather than a reality. More >>>

Two years of peace

After the outbreak of the war in 1939, the Soviet Union undertook unprecedented measures to speed up its economical and industrial development, especially in the branches of strategic importance. Issuing from the obvious notion that the future war would affect western areas of the USSR, there was made the decision to make bigger investments into the industry of eastern regions to ensure that they would provide at least 20% of the whole industrial output. More >>>

The W-Hour

The day 1 August 1944 in Warsaw was hot and muggy like before a storm. Every now and then the sun was hiding behind the clouds, and one might expect a rain any moment. Yet, the streets were unusually crowded. Trams were running seldom and with irregular intervals; passengers crowded them to the utmost. About the noon to the streets took groups of young men walking quickly in apparent hurry. Reinforced patrols of the German police and gendarmerie were cruising throughout the whole city, but without bothering by-passers. The crowd grew by hour. More >>>

Defence of Sevastopol

In the hitlerite plan of war with the Soviet Union the Army Group Centre was assigned to make the main thrust towards Moscow, whereas the Army Group South was assigned to auxiliary tasks. From the area south to the Pripet Marshes it had to advance to Kiev, Occupy the Ukraine and Crimea, and proceed to the Caucasus. More >>>

Diplomatic initiatives

The whole system of the Soviet diplomatic initiatives in the international relations was focused on preserving peace at any cost, keeping at bay those forces, which were seeking military solutions to their political aspirations, and winning time to consolidate the defence of the Soviet Union. As the Soviet political and military leadership issued from the ideological premises, they foresaw that the most probable enemy of the socialist Soviet Union would be nazi Germany. However, they were afraid of the possibility to face an international crusade mounted by the Western democracies together with Germany. To the Kremlin such a perspective looked very probable in view of the collapse of the Anglo-Franco-Soviet talks in the spring and summer of 1939, as well as mounting anti-Soviet propaganda in the West. In such circumstances the Soviet Union accepted the German proposal to conclude the non-aggression treaty, which was signed on 23 August 1939. More >>>