Polish Military Brass

Discussions on all aspects of Poland during the Second Polish Republic and the Second World War. Hosted by Piotr Kapuscinski.
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Narvik
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Polish Military Brass

#1

Post by Narvik » 06 Sep 2002, 01:43

What exactly did Polish military planners have in mind for the defense in Poland in the 1930's?

Polish leaders must have known that the Soviet Union was building and stockpiling thousands of tanks. And by 36' everyone knew Germany was rearming herself. What was the Polish response to two unfriendly(at best?)
nations growing stronger by the day? Why didn't Poland petition the Allies for massive aid before it was too late? Did someone fail to notice that Russia still laid claim to much of Poland? Did anyone forget that there were plenty of Germans peeved at not having control of Prussia? Shouldn't the poles have taken their defense more seriously in light of all her potential enemies?

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sylvieK4
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#2

Post by sylvieK4 » 06 Sep 2002, 02:08

Poland has always been vulnerable, and surely those in power at the time were aware of both what was going on in Germany and the USSR, and the ambitions of the two great nations.

Maybe the Poles relied too heavily on diplomatic and military alliances, trusting that those would be as important a line of defense as anything their own military forces could muster.


prj453
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#3

Post by prj453 » 08 Sep 2002, 22:24

Like Sylvie said, I think that the Poles relied too much on their military alliances. They seemed to rate the French Army highly, and probably felt that no nation would risk going to war with them, especially one in Germany's geographical position.

They must have been aware that both Germany and the USSR wanted parts of their nation, but perhaps their feeling was that if the Allies gave them certain lands (the Danzig Corridor for example), they would be willing to help them defend it. Again, this reflects their reliance on diplomatic and military aid from France and Great Britain.

-Patrick

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tyskaorden
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#4

Post by tyskaorden » 09 Sep 2002, 15:16

Germany and Poland actually did have an nonaggression pact, but as things went this pact wasn't worth anything.

An rearnament programe was also under way, but Poland lacked the financial strenght to rapidly implement the programe.

Best regards,
Marcus Karlsson

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