Axis Blitzkrieg: Warsaw and Battle of Britain By Skyla Gabriel and Hannah Seidl Background on Axis Blitzkrieg ● A military strategy specifically designed to create disorganization in enemy forces by logical firepower and mobility of forces ● Limits civilian casualty and waste of fire power ● Developed in Germany 1918-1939 as a result of WW1 ● Used in Warsaw, Poland in 1939, then with eventually used in Belgium, the Netherlands, North Africa, and even against the Soviet Union Hitler’s Plan and “The Night Before” ● Due to the non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, once the Polish state was divided up, Hitler would colonize the territory and only allow the “superior race” to live there and would enslave the natives. ● On August 31, 1939 Hitler ordered Nazi S.S. troops,wearing Polish officer uniforms, to sneak into Poland. ● The troops did minor damage to buildings and equipment. ● Left dead concentration camp prisoners in Polish uniforms ● This was meant to mar the start of the Polish Invasion when the bodies were found in the morning by Polish officers Initial stages ● Initially, one of Hitler’s first acts after coming to power was to sign a nonaggression pact (January 1934) with Poland in order to avoid a French- Polish alliance before Germany could rearm. ● Through 1935- March 1939 Germany slowly gained more power through rearmament (agreed to by both France and Britain), Germany then gained back the Rhineland through militarization, annexation of Austria, and finally at the Munich Conference they were given the Sudetenland. ● Once Czechoslovakia was dismembered Britain and France responded by essentially backing Poland and Hitler responded by signing a non-aggression with the Soviet Union in the summer of 1939 ● The German-Soviet pact agreed Poland be split between the two powers, the new pact allowed Germany to attack Poland without fear of Soviet intervention The Attack ● On September 1st, 1939 Germany invaded Warsaw, Poland ● Schleswig-Holstein, a German Battleship at 4:45am began to fire on the Polish garrison in Westerplatte Fort, Danzig. At the same time 62 divisions of Germany’s army and 1, 300 aircrafts began the invasion of Poland. ● This would be known as the Blitzkrieg offense ● The first actual bombing raid occurred in Wielun, killing 1,200 ● By 6 am Warsaw was hit by the second of many bombing raids, all while 2 of the divisions of the German army were invading Poland from North Prussia and South Slovakia. ● By the first day Germany had taken full power over the air force,grounding all of Poland’s planes. ● Panzer Spearheads(German Tanks) obliterated Polish lines and allowed the German infantry to move up through the back of the lines Continued ● The Luftwaffe(German military and airforce branch) then bombed railways, roads, and towns. ● September 17th Soviets (Red army) invaded poland from the East ● Warsaw then also conceded on the 27th, after 18 straight days of bombing and destruction ● It is important to note that the German government never actually surrendered, but instead escaped to the west and formed the Polish Government in Exile. Specifics On Warsaw ● On September 1, 1939 the Luftwaffe began air raids and completely grounded all Polish offense planes. ● Land fighting didn't actually begin until September 8th, when German troops, armed, entered the Wola District suburbs of Warsaw. ● Warsaw was one of the cities who put up an actual defense and offense which put Warsaw officially under siege until September 27th when General Walerian Czuma officially surrendered. ● About 140,000 Polish troops and soldiers were taken as prisoners of war. ● By October 1rst, Germany officially began its occupation of Warsaw and the Wehrmacht entered Warsaw and cities all over Poland. ● Over 18,000 civilians of Warsaw were killed in the fighting Civilian Involvement ● After losing so many men in the initial fighting and bombing, General Czuma began to reinforce his troops with volunteers that consisted of women and children. ● Many Civilians began to run the underground affairs of the Polish Government in Exile. ● Many Polish that were not expelled from the land actually helped to hide many polish-jews like in the case of the Zabinski’s. ● In total, in the initial stages of the attack(1939-1940)the biggest part of civilian involvement was in the invasions especially in Warsaw ● Later civilians would form one of the biggest underground uprisings in history. Weapons and Machinery Used ● Panzer Spearheads ● 75mm anti-tank guns ● Turpentine bombs ● Vickers 6-Tons ● 7TPs ● R-35s ● TK3s ● TKS Tankettes ● P-37 bomber ● Ur anti-tank rifle which was the first weapon to use Tungsten-core ammunition ● Warships ● Fighter jets and bomber aircrafts ● 37mm Bofors anti-tank guns ● Mortars(cannons) ● Machine guns ● (There were countless weapons used but there were major ones used by both Germany and Poland) Cities Damaged or Destroyed ● Obviously Warsaw was heavily damaged primarily from the bombing raids that were so extensive. ● Frampol was hit with 70 tonnes of munitions(Bombs) losing 90% of its city and 50% of its population ● Wielun was hit by German bombing raids killing 1,200 people and destroying 70-90% of the city. ● In total there were 156 villages attacked during the invasion of Poland killing well over 60,000, yet, the ones listed above were the most notorious and lethal of them. Scientific and technological aspect ● February 1939- Discovery of Nuclear fission by German doctor ● February 1940- First German Enigma coding machine captured by Britain ● April 1940- Britain studies nuclear weapons Polish Defense ● Polish army mobilized 1 million forces at the beginning of the attack. ● Poland decided to play offense initially, but was met with a strategic attack plan from Germany many soldiers were either captured or killed . ● Poland was hoping to build enough man power to attack from the West, but then the Soviets invaded. ● By October Polish forces had lost over 65,000 troops and thousands of civilians, leading to a surrender. ● There was really no planned offense strategy in place, as their were very unprepared. ● Poland asked for military assistance from both Britain and France. ● By September 3rd, both Britain and France had declared war on Germany, but didn’t bring much aid to Poland’s side ● All help seized with the surrender of Poland. Summary ● Axis Blitzkrieg was a specific war strategy first attempted in Poland Invasion ● Strategy relies heavily upon a heavy, quick, and thorough offense to completely annihilate enemy’s ability to counter the attack ● Essentially giving them a quick and easy win while minimizing attacking country’s casualties and use of fire power ● While used in Warsaw, though met with a decent counter attack, Germany was successful in forcing Poland into a surrender only 1 month after initial attack ● The invasion of Poland in 1939 has been remarked to be the official start of WW2 seeing as how a consequence of the invasion was the declaration of war from both Britain and France against Germany. The Battle of Britain Background ● In June 1940, Hitler defeated France, and he expected to make a peace settlement with Britain ● The British insisted on fighting on, and Hitler decided to invade to end the war quickly ● Hitler chose to take control of England through an invasive strategy codenamed “Operation Sealion” Strategies and Aims ● Hitler wanted to end the war as quickly as possible and began planning for an invasion of England ● The plan was to eliminate any potential threat from the RAF by employing the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) ● The Germans believed that an aerial assault would lead to the defeat of the RAF and ultimately the control of Britain ● After the initial invasion, they Weaponry and Technological Usage: Germany ● In 1940, Germany had the largest and most daunting air force in the world, despite being banned from any air force at all after the Great War ● Germany used bomber, dive-bomber, single-engine, and twin-engine airplanes ● These planes were found to lack the bomb capacity to really do any damage, and were easily shot down by the British fighters ● They heavily relied on the element of surprise Weaponry and Technological Usage: Britain ● Despite not being very large, the RAF had the significant advantage of better aircraft ● The RAF had some of the best fighter planes in the world, which were called the “Hawker Hurricane” and the “Supermarine Spitfire” ● The RAF also developed a strategic air defence network called “The Dowding System” ● The Dowding System Britain combined technology, ground defences, and fighter aircraft ● Additionally, the British had the advantage of a huge technological advancement: they had radar, which gave early warning of any incoming Luftwaffe raids, which gave the British people plenty of time to seek shelter Civilian Involvement ● In September 1940, the Germans dropped bombs “by accident” on civilian areas of London ● In response, the British began bombing Berlin ● This action infuriated Hitler, and he immediately ordered the Luftwaffe to focus entirely on London and other British cities, initiating the Blitz ● By the end of Hitler’s campaign, 40,000 British civilians died due to the conflict Cities Damaged ● London was the most attacked city during the Battle of Britain, especially during the Blitz, in which London was bombed for 57 consecutive days and nights ○ The nonstop bombing caused a lot of damage to the city ● Birmingham ○ Third most bombed city, blitzed three times, 53 workers killed ● Bristol ○ Huge amounts of explosives dropped on the city, historic buildings destroyed, unexploded bombs left behind, 207 dead ● Sheffield ○ Severely damaged, 750 dead ● Clydebank ○ Out of 50,000 people. 35,000 made homeless, area devastated ● Belfast ○ Docks and shipyards hit very hard, residential areas impacted, raging fires, requiring firemen from ireland and mainland Britain. 745 dead Cities Damaged Contd.