Williamson D. Poland Betrayed: The Nazi-Soviet Invasions 1939

London: Pen & Sword Military, 2009. — 240 p. — ISBN-10: 1844159264; ISBN-13: 978-1844159260Hitler's attack on Poland in 1939 was the first brutal act in six years of world war, but the campaign is often overshadowed by the momentous struggle that followed across the rest of Europe. David Williamson, in this timely and thought-provoking study, reconstructs each stage of the battle in graphic detail. He looks at the precarious situation of the Polish nation caught between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, reconsiders the pre-war policies of the other European powers, particularly France and Britain, and assesses the state of the opposing armed forces before the Germans launched Operation White. In a vivid and fast-moving narrative he follows the course of the campaign as it moved across Poland in September 1939.His book should encourage a fresh understanding of the Polish-German war and of its significance for the wider conflagration that followed. Critical episodes in the German offensive are re-examined: the mock attack at Gleiwitz, the battles at Westerplatte and Bzura, the siege of Warsaw and the impact of the intervention of the Red Army. Throughout the narrative, first-hand accounts of soldiers and civilians who were caught up in events are used to give an insight into the experience of the war. The author dispels myths that persist about the course of the campaign - the apparent destruction of the Polish air force, the Poles' use of cavalry - and he draws attention to often overlooked flaws in German military organization. He also records the immediate aftermath of the Polish capitulation - the division of Poland between Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union and the fate of the captured Polish troops.Poland: The Crucified Nation
Emergence of the New Poland 1918–20
Enemies of the New Polish State
Development of Poland 1919–38
The Re-Emergence of Germany and Russia as Major Military Powers
Germany Rearms
Development of Soviet Armed Forces
Rebirth of Poland’s Armed Forces 1919–39
Air Defence
The Navy
Industrial Mobilization
Poland’s Triumph: Breaking the Nazi Codes
From the Anschluss to the Seizure of Teschen
Poland, Danzig and the British Guarantee
The German Response
Too Little and Too Late
Polish Civil Defence Preparations 1938–39
Plans ‘W’ and ‘Z’
Polish Air and Naval Plans
Fall Weiss
Countdown to War
The Nazi-Soviet Pact
War Postponed for a WeekCampaign ChroniclePreliminary Incidents
31 August 1939: The Wehrmacht’s Orders
1–17 September: Fighting in Danzig, Westerplatte and the Coastal Regions
1–6 September: Rout of the Polish Air Force
1–7 September: The Land War
Elimination of the Corridor
Massacres and Reprisals in Bydgoszcz
The German Advance from East Prussia
All Quiet in the Poznan Salient
The German Breakthrough in the South-west
Britain and France Declare War
8–17 September: Battle of the Bzura
10–20 September: The Situation Elsewhere
7–27 September: The Siege of Warsaw
17 September: The Soviets Intervene
17–30 September: The Russo-Polish War
31 August–14 October: The Polish Navy Escapes to Britain
September–December 1939: Escape from Internment
October 1939–May 1940: The Poles Fight On

AftermathThe German Zones
The Russian Zone
Prisoners of War
Katyn
Resistance
AssessmentChronology of Major Events
Biographies of Key FiguresOrders of Battle
Survivors’ Reminiscences