It's only stupid in retrospect. We know that the Germans could not have won and therefore should not have tried to win. It was much more reasonable from their point of view.General Anders wrote:<<In fact, I'm sure they'd get a lot of help from Poles against the Bolsheviks. So tell me, why the Nazis choose to go along that path? >>
++Because the Nazis, if not the German people as a whole, already had a siege mentality--having fought, and lost, a worldwide coalition of superior forces arrayed against Germany--a conspiracy which had reemerged as a border war was thus instantly transformed into a World War, with even greater stakes.++
<<You're trying to equate a siege mentality with sheer stupidity. And that won't wash.>>
Methinks your atrocity tales are exaggerated, but that would require looking at the subject on a case-by-case basis, which I am not prepared to do. Regardless, the Polish nationalists were not going to be Germany's friends, and Germany was not going to be able to feed and arm them anyway, so that leaves exploitation, which was done. I think that may have been a short-sighted policy, but understandable under the circumstances.After having occupied Poland, there was no reason to go around shooting thousands of people, who weren't even invloved in any resisitance whatsoever at that point. Try again...
What shall we have, Silesian nationalism, Poznan nationalism, Krakow nationalism, too? You are going back to the 18th century here with your revanchism, even before the time of the emergence of modern nationalism, which did not really come to the fore until after the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. Polish nationalism circa Versailles consisted of the old nobility, the clergy, and the Polish language.++Remember that the original Nazis were mostly ex-soldiers and ex-Freikorps men, and they had fought the grabby Versailles Polish state before in border areas and districts with dispossessed German minorities, and with lingering resentments.++
<<If Prussia hadn't annexed all these lands from Poland in the first place, we wouldn't have all these complications. So maybe someone should've taught these Germans some history. But of course, no one cared about history in Nazi Germany, they were happy with oodles of propaganda instead.>>
Had the Germans won the war, your people would no doubt be vociferously claiming to be German “for hundreds of years.” And hundreds of years from now, your descendants most-likely will primarily speak English, assuming they still even know Polish. That’s called change. I don't support German revanchism east of the Oder-Neisse line, either, btw, because there are no oppressed German minorities in East Prussia as far as I know. The Allied ethnic cleansing of Potsdam took care of that for good. No warcrimes trials for them.
The Versailles Polish State was one of the least successful petty-nationalisms created. It was utterly corrupted by the Allies who had created it and meant it that way. The only hope at Polish independence was neutrality and not antagonizing the superpowers. Of course, this meant giving up precious German Danzig, which Poland was NOT going to do.
Lots of paranoia all around. The Poles grossly overestimated the Allies’ flattery and willingness to help them, let alone the hard realities. On to Berlin! But no need for too much sentiment regarding the old nobility, the political priests, and the Allied coterie which was instantly swept away forever once the Russians signed a deal with the Germans. Only fools could not see the mene tekel on the wall and that's exactly what the Polish leaders were. The Germans made a mistake too but they almost rectified it skillful force of arms.++By 1939, Poland should have tread very lightly with Germany, emphasizing their similarities not their differences, and absolutely not making crass deals with foreign powers as Israel with Egypt in the sixth century B.C., which was then utterly wasted by Babylon when Egypt couldn't help.++
<<Still doesn't explain why the Germans went bereserk in Poland after the country capitulated. Maybe they were still offended because Poland spurned their overtures? Well, what are we talking about here, international relations, or a love relationship? >>
The Poles were already "going after" the German people. Only German minorities had no self-determination or rights, and that was seen by everyone, a burning issue that Hitler was sworn to make good, and a propapanda weapon that he was able to exploit initially until his patience ran out.++Anyway, the German government didn't care if the Polish people rebelled or not; the only thing dangerous about the partisans was that they were armed by the worldwide enemy.++
<<Well they should've. Firstly because they lost any sort of support from the Polish population, and secondly because when the war turned the Poles went after the German people.>>
I think you greatly overestimate the Polish contribution to Allied victory. Yes, the Germans paid the price, and are still paying. And so did the Poles pay.I doubt the German casualties in the east would've been as high, both civilians and military, if the Polish population was treated with respect in the first place. The Nazis gamlbed it all on a vistory, and the German people paid the price.
Neutrality is always the best way to preserve independence. The ersatz Polish State was puffed with pride. So were the Germans, for sure, but they were able to back it with force and keep at bay an entire world in arms for many years.++And the Germans had little reason to respect the Poles as friends, who would have sold themselves handily to their Capitalist and Communist enemies had war not ensued.++
<<Right, that's why Poland was the first nation to go after the Bolsheviks. And that's why we didn't compromise with the Germans or the Soviets in '39. That statement makes no sense. If anything, Poland wanted to be an independent nation, and THAT was the problem.>>
Just the obvious. That the Allies had no intention of restoring old fascist Poland. They had their own reasons for fighting Germany. Poland was just their catspaw, which ceased to exist as soon as the ink was dry on Molotov-Ribbentrop. However, there was still some chance for Poland, even then, if she had told the Allies to bugger-off and starting talking to Germany at that point. Hindsight is 20/20.So what are you saying with this map?