Invasion of Poland:

The attack on Poland by Germany in 1939 marked the start of WW2. On September 1st,
Germany launched a surprise attack on Poland, at the port of the Free City of Danzig, but Poland
was very reluctant to go to war and was even willing to forget the invasion if Germany had
retreated by September 3rd. But Germany refused to retreat, causing Great Britain and France
to declare war on Germany. This happened because Hitler wanted Germans to live there and
expand his territory. He considered the Polish people inferior and only fit as a workforce. In the
last three months of 1939, the Nazis murdered 65,000 Jewish and non-Jewish Poles. Along its
eastern border, West Prussia Poznan, Upper Silesia and the former Free City of Danzig were
among the many former Polish territories that Germany annexed- that is, took control of land or
an area by force or without permission. The Polish also had a new type of tank that had a diesel
engine that did major damage compared to the average tank, but it was still not enough to fight
the Germans. The German forces had pushed 140 miles into Poland to the edges of Warsaw and
in desperation the Polish commanders even sent horsed cavalry(soldiers fighting on horsebacks)
into battle against the German machines and heavy armour.

(Poland, parade for Adolf Hitler, September 1939) (Map of German invasion of Poland)

Nazi german eventually occupied all of pre-war Poland after invading Soviet-occupied eastern
Poland in June 1941 as part of their attack on the Soviet Union. Although Germany was able to
conquer Poland, Germany also suffered losses as it took twice as long as expected, causing the
Germans to lose 50,000 men. However, in 1944 and early 1945, German invasion of Poland
came to an end as the Soviet Red Army forced the German military to retreat through the
country towards Berlin. The attack on Poland caused many casualties, including 66,000 dead,
133,700 wounded and 694,000 captured. The invasion on Poland is a significant event because
it caused Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany, directly leading to the start of
World War II.
 If Hitler hadn’t underestimated Poland’s allies and had retreated by September 3rd, the
outcome would’ve turned out differently. Hitler’s selfish desires led to many innocent people
losing their lives, families and homes as Germans were forced to go to fight in the battle or else
they would get killed. WW2 also wouldn’t have occured, or wouldn’t have taken so many lives if
Hitler wasn’t appointed chancellor of Germany because Hitler was someone who lacked
empathy, social responsibility and conscience.

Harvard Referencing:
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/invasion-poland-september-1939
Richie, A. (2023). The Invasion of Poland. [online] The National WWII Museum | New Orleans.
Available at: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/invasion-poland- september-1939.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Invasion-of-Poland
Gilbert, A. (2022). Invasion of Poland | Description & Facts | Britannica. [online] www.britannica.com.
Available at: https://www.britannica.com/event/Invasion-of-Poland.

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/invasion-of-poland-fall-1939

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (2019). Invasion of Poland, Fall 1939. [online] Ushmm.org.
Available at: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/invasion-of-poland-fall-1939.
Battle of Stalingrad:
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of WW2 that occured from August 23rd
1942 to 2nd of February 1943. In the summer of 1942, Hitler launched a major attack into southern
Russia, seeking to destroy what was left of the Soviet Army and capture the Caucasus oil fields. The
initial attack went well and the German Sixth Army was ordered to capture the city under the command
of General Friedrich, but Stalin demanded the city had to be defended at all costs. Soon, every available
soldier and even healthy civilians were summoned. Having to defend the city at all costs, the battle
quickly escalated, turning into a bloodbath with endless fights, resulting in heavy casualties on both
sides, about 7,700 casualties every single day and irreversible consequences. There were more than
790,000 Soviet casualties including civilians who fought in the war and 740,000 Axis casualties and
91,000 more were captured. Out of the 91,000 German soldiers captured, only less than 6,000 lived to
return home as many died from diseases, sickness, starvation and the cold.

On July 9th, Hitler altered his original plan and commanded to capture both Stalingrad and Caucasus
simultaneously(at the same time). Hitler split Army Group South into Army Group A and Army Group B,
causing a gap between the 2 forces, therefore allowing Soviet forces to escape from the German armies
and retreat to the east. But eventually, Stalingrad, now called Volgograd, was heavily bombed by the
Luftwaffe, the German Air Force which was considered as the largest and most feared air force in Europe.
Stalingrad was an important invasion for Germany as it was a large industrial city stretching 50 km along
the banks of the Volga river and Germany gaining control of the city would cut Soviet transport with the
south and allow Germans to have access to the oil fields of Caucasus. The battle of Stalingrad was
considered the greatest defeat of Germany’s army in the war and was a very significant turning point
which marked the beginning of Germany’s retreat. This battle caused Germany to lose a total 500,000
men, including 91,000 prisoners and many innocent civilians.

The battle of Stalingrad occured due to Hitler wanting Germany to become more powerful and expand
his territory across europe. Stalingrad was also one of his priorities because it stretches across the banks
of the Volga river, making transportation of goods more convenient. If Hitler had thought about the
consequences and had cared about the lives of people, the battle of Stalingrad wouldn’t have been that
bloody and maybe wouldn’t have occured at all.
Harvard referencing:
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-battle-of-stalingrad#:~:text=Stalingrad%20was%20
one%20of%20the,the%20Soviet%20dictator%2C%20Josef%20Stalin.
Imperial War Museums (2023). What You Need To Know About The Battle Of Stalingrad. [online] Imperial War
Museums. Available at:
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-battle-of-stalingrad#:~:text=Stalingrad%20was%
20one%20of%20the.

https://www.rusmoose.com/battle-of-stalingrad/
RusMoose.com. (2017). Battle of Stalingrad - Facts, Timeline, Tour Guide. [online] Available at:
https://www.rusmoose.com/battle-of-stalingrad/.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Stalingrad
Limbach, R. (2018b). Battle of Stalingrad | Facts, Deaths, & Summary. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. [online]
Available at: https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Stalingrad.

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/invasion-of-poland-fall-1939
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (2019c). Invasion of Poland, Fall 1939. [online] Ushmm.org. Available
at: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/invasion-of-poland-fall-1939.