Why Did Germany Defeat Poland Research Paper
• Why did Germany defeat Poland so quickly?
The rapid defeat of Poland can be traced largely to the numerical and technological superiority of the invading German forces. Poland, while having a substantial military force, including an air force, was outnumbered by the Germans by almost a factor of two. In a battle of attrition alone, Germany already had a great advantage, one that the Poles could simply not match. This shortage of troop on Poland’s behalf was due in part to British pressures before the war to avoid mobilization, seemingly giving Germany a reason to invade. The troops were not able to mobilize effectively in time and were caught out. Moreover, the Germany military was assisted by the Luftwaffe, the most formidable and advanced …show more content…
The governments of Britain and France adopted a wait and see attitude hoping that the situation would resolve itself. France, sensing that after the invasion of Poland they would be next, were more ambitious in their efforts to refortify. An economic blockade was emplaced by the British and France, as the policy had worked to great effect in WWI, hoping that this would bring Germany and Hitler to their senses, it would not. The French knew, however, that the economic blockade would not work as the Soviet Union, as outlined under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, were providing Germany with the materials that were being embargoed by the west. Ultimately, I think that the west did not offer military assistance to the Poles simply because they knew it would not be to any effect. The Polish were being overrun quickly and the amount of time that it would take to transfer troop to the front would not be enough to make an impact. Doing so would seemingly be wasting troops that would invariably be needed in the west on a lost cause in the East. Another possibility as to why Poland was forgotten was because the British and French did not want to risk the Soviet Union getting involved on the side of Germany. The British and French hoped that Poland would allow them to organize and rearm to their utmost ability in preparation for the inevitable invasion of
The rapid defeat of Poland can be traced largely to the numerical and technological superiority of the invading German forces. Poland, while having a substantial military force, including an air force, was outnumbered by the Germans by almost a factor of two. In a battle of attrition alone, Germany already had a great advantage, one that the Poles could simply not match. This shortage of troop on Poland’s behalf was due in part to British pressures before the war to avoid mobilization, seemingly giving Germany a reason to invade. The troops were not able to mobilize effectively in time and were caught out. Moreover, the Germany military was assisted by the Luftwaffe, the most formidable and advanced …show more content…
The governments of Britain and France adopted a wait and see attitude hoping that the situation would resolve itself. France, sensing that after the invasion of Poland they would be next, were more ambitious in their efforts to refortify. An economic blockade was emplaced by the British and France, as the policy had worked to great effect in WWI, hoping that this would bring Germany and Hitler to their senses, it would not. The French knew, however, that the economic blockade would not work as the Soviet Union, as outlined under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, were providing Germany with the materials that were being embargoed by the west. Ultimately, I think that the west did not offer military assistance to the Poles simply because they knew it would not be to any effect. The Polish were being overrun quickly and the amount of time that it would take to transfer troop to the front would not be enough to make an impact. Doing so would seemingly be wasting troops that would invariably be needed in the west on a lost cause in the East. Another possibility as to why Poland was forgotten was because the British and French did not want to risk the Soviet Union getting involved on the side of Germany. The British and French hoped that Poland would allow them to organize and rearm to their utmost ability in preparation for the inevitable invasion of