It’s 1939 and the Germans have invaded Poland. The Polish army, unprepared and outnumbered against the tanks and Luftwaffe, was occupied within a matter of weeks. Any hope that they could defeat the Germans with their French and British allies soon crumbled when the Soviets violated their non-aggression pact and launched an attack on Poland’s eastern border on Sept. 17.
Welcome back to This Week in History. This week’s column is significantly gloomier, but nonetheless important in today’s world as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues. Essentially, the Soviet Union’s attack on Poland in that fateful September marked the end of the Polish independence established in 1919, which wouldn’t be regained until the 1980s. So, let’s get into it.
For most of Poland’s existence (and non-existence from 1795-1918, shoutout to the Congress of Vienna), the country has served as what I like to call Europe’s tastiest pierogis, in the sense that everyone wants a piece. Due to its central location and access to the Baltic Sea, Poland served as — and still is — a significant trade route that connects Eastern and Western Europe. Beginning in the 13th century with the invasion of the Mongols, the Poles have experienced their fair share of conflict and destruction. Before the partition of Poland, which split the country into Russia, Prussia and Austria, the Swedes decimated the land during their 17th-century “deluge,” with some historians saying that the damage they caused “proportionally exceeded those during World War II.”
So when Poland finally received their independence after World War I, it’s no surprise that it was swiftly taken away. Hitler had made plans to expand German territory into Poland for “lebensraum,” and the Soviets agreed to back them on the Eastern side as long as they could get their pierogis too. Henceforth, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact came into existence. The pact created an alliance between the Soviets and the Germans to allow them to form their respective spheres of influence in Europe. Leading up to the invasion, Germany would stage a series of false attacks to make it appear as if Poland was antagonizing them. At the same time, the Soviets would invade under the guise of protecting Belarus and Ukraine. This alliance would last until 1941, ending when Germany began to invade the Soviet Union. These countries sought not just the occupation of Poland, but annihilation. It’s estimated that five million Polish people were killed over the course of the war, which was around 17% of the population.
Outside of the war, the Soviet occupation of Poland set the stage for its role as a communist satellite state. The borders shifted once again, with Poland losing some of its Eastern territory and gaining new Western territory. Ultimately, the country would have a long road ahead to achieve independence, culminating in the Solidarity movement, which would set off a domino effect for the fall of the Berlin Wall and eventually the Iron Curtain in Europe.
Even now, Poland finds itself teetering on the edge of conflict, with the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the threat of drone strikes hanging in the air. Hopefully, Poland’s relatively new independence will not have to be tested again. There’s a line in the Polish national anthem, “Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła, kiedy my żyjemy,” which means “Poland is not yet lost for as long as we live,” and I can’t think of a truer way to describe the Polish people and their struggle.