The invasion of Poland, is a very interesting item of history, because granted it is the start of WWII, but its initial proceedings were for lack of a better word staged. With the Nazis wanting to gain back the city of Danzig and Polish corridor, Poland's access to the sea, which was granted under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles as well as, achieved their goal of Lebensraum. The war would begin with several staged skirmishs along the Polish-German border, in which would give the justification to the Third Reich, to launch their upcoming full-on assault. , using the Blitzkrieg tactic on September 1, 1939. These staged skirmishs would be the fruit of a secret military operation known as "Operation Himmler," which would ultimately plunge the world into the Second World War.
This plan would come from the Schutzstaffel, or SS, led by Hitler's second in command Heinrich Himmler and his assistant Reinhard Heydrich, who would devised an ingenious plan to cause an incident and literally as we know set the world on fire. Using part of the SS, known as Sicherheitsdienst, or SD, which was like the Office of Strategic Services, or OSS the early name of the CIA. Anyhow, with the SD there was a group known as the Einsatzgruppen, or Special Action Squads, which would be utilized to carry out this mission. These groups, in which could operate abroad using fabricated identification papers as well as, fake accents could be utilized in several terrifying ways, much like the assets in Robert Ludlum's Bourne Series. Using groups like this one, "Heydrich had devised a scheme to give Hitler his justification for an attack upon Poland. Several border incidents would be created, under what was called "Operation Himmler," after Heydrich's boss. An Einsatzgruppe unit under Naujocks would attack the Gleiwitz radio tower as the main attack along the German-Poland border, then broadcast Anti-German Polish propaganda into the Reich. This attack would be the centerpiece of "Operation Himmler." (Carlson, 2014).
"It wasn't nearly enough, however, to broadcast anti-German propaganda. If the incident was to have a look of authenticity to it, would have to appear as though a small skirmish had indeed taken place near the radio tower. To that end, Heinrich Müller, the head of the Gestapo, had several concentration-camp inmates shot or drugged and their bodies transported to the area. With Polish army uniforms and paybooks supplied by Adm. Wilhelm Canaris, the head of German military intelligence, the former camp prisoners now appeared to be Polish casualties of the battle. This aspect of plan was cynically named "Operation Canned Goods."(Carlson, 2014).
On August 31, the team lead by squad leader Naujocks, "[the man who] Years later, ... would try to cash in on his claim as the 'man who started the war.' " would be put into action and successfully take over the radio tower and stage the bodies. "The attack, such as it was, was a success. Hitler had his propaganda weapon with which to start the war. In his speech to the Reichstag the following day in which he formally declared war on Poland, Hitler cited the various border incidents and Gleiwitz in particular as "frontier violations of a nature no longer tolerable for a great power." (Carlson, 2014).
Blitzkrieg!:
At 0445 on September 1, 1939, World War II would begin as, “some 1.5 million German troops [invaded] Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory.”(History Channel, 2017). Using the Blitzkrieg tactic, the German army would launch a three-pronged attack through the Northwestern, Southwestern, and Czechoslovakia borders of Poland, with three different sections of the German Army. The northwestern assault, would be performed by Army Group North, the southwestern assault on both of the southern attacking points would be performed by Army Group South. At the beginning of the invasion, “German armored forces quickly broke through Poland’s border defenses and penetrated deep into the interior. Meanwhile, the Luftwaffe attacked the Polish air force, but contrary to a persistent myth, it did not destroy most of it on the ground. In fact, Polish planes resisted fiercely during the first few days and many Polish pilots demonstrated great heroism. German numerical and technical superiority gradually took its toll, however, and cleared the skies of enemy aircraft. Meanwhile German medium bombers and Stuka dive bombers attacked Polish troops and communications.”(Lyons, 2010, "Chapter 5/ The First Blitzkrieg: Germany’s Invasion of Poland").
The invasion was overwhelmingly successful, and would only last a month before a beleaguered Polish Army would surrender in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Although, the people of Warsaw would almost fight to death, as many of the civilians resisted the invading Nazi, with great courage but again, it would not be enough. Additionally, “Hitler had intended even before the invasion to treat the Polish people with draconian harshness. The SS now served as the instrument of his policy with the essentially passive compliance of the army, although some officers proclaimed their distaste for what was euphemistically referred to as “housecleaning.” This involved the wholesale executions of Polish army officers, aristocrats, clergy and intellectuals in a concerted effort to eliminate any vestige of a ruling class. The SS also shot many Jews, a preliminary to much more thoroughgoing measures later. The Nazis intended to reduce the remaining Polish population to the role of “slaves of the Greater German World Reich.” As for the Soviets, they, too, executed captured Polish army officers and resorted to mass arrests of “undesirable political elements” who were deported to Siberia and other undesirable destinations in the Soviet Union.” (Lyons, 2010, "Chapter 5/ The First Blitzkrieg: Germany’s Invasion of Poland").
Overall, the Blitzkrieg tactic would revolutionize warfare at the time, (and also be adopted by the United States in the coming decades as their Air Assault Tactic would demonstrate the same force and speed, as shown in 100 hour war during Operation Desert Storm) but would be met doubt as the Western Allies of France and Great Britain would chalk up the success to, “Poland’s inadequate military forces and faulty defensive plan for the disaster and assumed that it would be different when the Germans attacked in the west. The French began to have second thoughts about the potential of tanks, however, and hastily embarked on the creation of four armored divisions.” (Lyons, 2010, "Chapter 5/ The First Blitzkrieg: Germany’s Invasion of Poland"). Furthermore, the lighting war tactic and its success, would plunge the European Continent into World War II, and within two years the entire civilized world.