Case Black: Poland 1940
World War 2 began when Germany demanded that Poland cede Danzig to the 3rd Reich. Poland refused, and having observed the speed of Germany's takeover of Czechoslovakia earlier in the year, Poland instituted a plan called Case Black.
Since 1936 Poland had been preparing for an invasion from the Soviet Union to the East, and had undertaken a massive supply stockpile and fortification program around Warsaw. Utilizing every rail car in the country, every motor car, and every horse, the Polish army withdraw to its pre-planned defensive positions around Warsaw. The German Wehrmacht was stymied when they encountered no resistance, indeed the population followed the orders they were trained for and welcome the Germans as liberators.
The first Germans to run into Polish troops at Warsaw were shocked by the scope of the fortifications and the sheer number of soldiers there. The Wehrmacht laid in for a siege, not expecting that the Poles had stored enough supplies in Warsaw to feed and supply the population, army, and industry for a period of at least five years. Thus the well-provisioned defense force of one-hundred divisions, some of which were still being formed even a year after hostilities began, would make it a waiting game with the Germans.
The question then became, would the Poles starve before the French ended the phony war in the West and did something, anything?
Since 1936 Poland had been preparing for an invasion from the Soviet Union to the East, and had undertaken a massive supply stockpile and fortification program around Warsaw. Utilizing every rail car in the country, every motor car, and every horse, the Polish army withdraw to its pre-planned defensive positions around Warsaw. The German Wehrmacht was stymied when they encountered no resistance, indeed the population followed the orders they were trained for and welcome the Germans as liberators.
The first Germans to run into Polish troops at Warsaw were shocked by the scope of the fortifications and the sheer number of soldiers there. The Wehrmacht laid in for a siege, not expecting that the Poles had stored enough supplies in Warsaw to feed and supply the population, army, and industry for a period of at least five years. Thus the well-provisioned defense force of one-hundred divisions, some of which were still being formed even a year after hostilities began, would make it a waiting game with the Germans.
The question then became, would the Poles starve before the French ended the phony war in the West and did something, anything?