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The Warsaw Uprising (''Powstanie Warszawskie'') was a World War II struggle by the Polish Home Army (''Armia Krajowa'') to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. The Uprising began on August 1 , 1944 , as part of a nationwide Rebellion , Operation Tempest . It was intended to last for only a few days until the Soviet Army would reach the city. The Soviet advance stopped short, however, while Polish resistance against the German forces continued for 63 days (until October 2). The Uprising began at a crucial juncture as the Soviet Army Was Approaching Warsaw . The Uprising's chief objective was to drive the German occupiers from the city, helping with the larger fight against the Axis. Secondary political objectives were to liberate Warsaw before the Red Army arrived, so as to underscore Polish Sovereignty , and to undo the Allied division of Central Europe into Spheres Of Influence . Polish Authorities were to reappear in liberated Warsaw and challenge the Soviet Puppet Government That Was To Rule Poland . By September 16 , 1944 , Soviet forces had reached a point a few hundred metres from the city, across the Vistula River , but they made no further headway during the Uprising leading to allegations that Stalin had wanted the insurrection to fail. Polish losses amounted to 18,000 soldiers killed and 25,000 wounded, in addition to between 120,000 and 200,000 civilian deaths, mostly from mass Murder s conducted by retreating German troops. German casualties totalled over 17,000 soldiers killed and over 9,000 wounded. During the Urban Combat approximately 25% of Warsaw's buildings were destroyed. Following the surrender of Polish forces on October 2, German troops systematically burned the city block by block. Together with earlier damage suffered in 1939 and during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943), over 85% of the city had been destroyed. By January 1945, when the Soviets finally entered the city, Warsaw had practically ceased to exist. EVE OF BATTLE See Also: Lead up to the Warsaw Uprising 1}} The Warsaw Uprising, or at least some form of was planning a national uprising against the German forces. Initial plans created by the Polish Government-in-exile in 1942 assumed that the Allied invasion of Europe would lead to the withdrawal of considerable German forces from the Eastern Front for the defence of the Third Reich . The Home Army would act to prevent troop transfer to the west and to allow the British and American forces to seize Germany by breaking all communication links with the majority of the German forces massed in the Soviet Union . with " Anchor " device.]] The Home Army's initial plans for a national uprising, Operation Tempest , which would link up with Western Allies forces, changed in 1943 when the situation on the Eastern Front made it apparent that the Red Army , rather than the Western Allies, would force the Germans from Poland. By 1943 it was clear that the allied invasion of Europe would not come in time, and that in all probability the Red Army would reach the pre-war borders of Poland before the invasion could make notable headway. In February 1943, General Stefan Rowecki amended the plan. The Uprising was to be started in three phases, the first being in the East (with main centres of resistance in Lwów and Wilno ), before the advancing Red Army . The second part was to include armed struggle in the belt between the Curzon Line and the Vistula river, while the third phase was to be a nationwide uprising throughout Poland. Warsaw was chosen, partially, because of its status as a pre-war Capital and partly because it was assumed that the Germans would wish to hold onto the city for as long as possible, as a tool for morale boosting, and as a base for communications, supply, and troop movements. The Polish Government-in-exile carried out frantic diplomatic efforts to gain support from their allies prior to the start of Battle . However the Allies support for the Polish resistance was not high on the priority list. The Polish government in London asked the SOE and the Foreign Office several times for an allied mission to be sent to Poland; since such missions had already been dispatched to all other resistance movements in Europe, such as Albania , Czechoslovakia , France , Greece , Italy , Norway , Yugoslavia . However, the Polish pleas were not heeded until December 1944. , early 1930s .]] For the Soviets, this represented more of a hindrance than a help. Polish-Soviet relations were broken off on April 25 , 1943 as a result of the Katyn Massacre and Soviet Partisans Often Clashed With Polish Partisans . It became obvious that the advancing Red Army might not come to Poland as a liberator but rather, as General Stefan Grot-Rowecki put it, as "our Allies' ally." On November 26 , 1943 , the Polish Government-in-exile issued an instruction to the effect that if diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union were not resumed before the Soviet entry into Poland, Home Army forces were to remain underground pending further decisions. However, the Home Army commander took a different approach, and on November 30 , 1943 , the final version of the plan, which became known as Operation Tempest , was devised. Although doubts existed about the military wisdom of a major uprising, planning continued nonetheless. The situation came to a head on 1944 the High Command of the Home Army decided to expand the scope of Operation Tempest to include Warsaw itself. The date for the Warsaw Uprising was set as 1 August . On 25 July the Polish Government In Exile in London approved the planned uprising in Warsaw. In the early summer of 1944, German planning required Warsaw to serve as The Defensive Centre Of The Area and to be held at all costs. The Germans had fortifications constructed and built up their forces in the area. This process slowed after the failed July 20 Plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler , but by late July 1944, German forces had almost reached their full strength again. On July 27 , the head of the General Government , Hans Frank , called for 100,000 Polish men between the ages of 17–65 to present themselves at several designated meeting places in Warsaw the following day, as part of the plan which envisaged the Poles constructing fortifications for the Wehrmacht in and around the city. The Home Army viewed this move as an attempt to neutralise the underground forces, and the underground urged Warsaw inhabitants to ignore it. Fearing German reprisals following the ignored order, and believing that time was of the essence, General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski ordered full mobilisation of Home Army forces in the Warsaw area on 1 August , 1944 . This mobilization decision had some key ramifications for the Soviet Union . Stalin decried for not being officially consulted on the uprising and thus suspected subterfuge from his Western allies. In retrospect, both sides were jockeying for regional political alignment, with the Polish Home Army's desire for a pro-Western Polish government and the Soviet's intention of establishing a Polish Communist regime. The official Soviet , the first Soviet armoured units reached the outskirts of Warsaw, but were counter-attacked by German 39th Panzer Corps , comprising 4th Panzer Division , 5th SS Panzer Division , 19th Panzer Division , and the Hermann Goering Panzer Division . David M. Glantz , The Soviet-German War 1941-1945: Myths and Realities: A Survey Essay Retrieved on 20 May 2007 "When Titans Clashed. How the Red Army Stopped Hitler" - How the Red Army Stopped Hitler . Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus. Retrieved on 20 May 2007 By 10 August, in the ensuing Battle Of Radzymin , the Germans had enveloped and inflicted heavy casualties on the Soviet 3rd Tank Corps at Wołomin , 15 kilometres outside Warsaw. Opposing forces soldiers in Wola during Warsaw Uprising]] , wearing armband in the National Colours , at a Warsaw Uprising Barricade . He is using the Polish submachine gun Błyskawica .]] s marked on a prewar Map of Warsaw .]] 's medieval city walls, commemorates the Child Soldier s that fought in the Warsaw Uprising. The boy wears a captured German helmet with Polish National Colours . Honour guard of Polish Boy Scouts .]] See Also: List of military units in the Warsaw Uprising Poles The Home Army forces of the Warsaw District numbered about 45,000 soldiers, of which 23,000 were equipped and combat-ready; about 2,500 further soldiers came from the ranks of other formations like the far-right Narodowe Siły Zbrojne and the communist Armia Ludowa . Most of them had trained for several years in Partisan and Urban Guerrilla warfare, but lacked experience in prolonged daylight fighting. The forces lacked equipment, especially since the Home Army had shuttled weapons and men to the east of the city before the decision on 21 July to include Warsaw in Operation Tempest. A number of other partisan groups also subordinated themselves to Home Army command for the uprising. Many volunteers, including some Jews freed from the concentration camp in the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto , joined during the fighting. The exact number of Poles of Jewish ancestry and Jews to take part in the uprising is a matter of controversy. General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski estimated the number of Jewish Poles in Polish ranks at 1,000, other authors place it at between several hundred and 2,000. See for instance: 2 General Antoni Chruściel , codename 'Monter', commanded the Polish forces in Warsaw. Initially he divided his forces into eight areas:
On September 20 a re-organisation of this structure took place to align with the structure of Polish forces fighting with the Western Allies. The entire force, renamed the Warsaw Home Army Corps (''Warszawski Korpus Armii Krajowej'') and commanded by General Antoni Chruściel (''Monter''), formed into three Infantry Division s. As of August 1 their military supplies consisted of:
In the course of the fighting the Poles obtained further supplies through Airdrop s and by capture from the enemy (including several Armoured Vehicle s). Also, the insurgents’ workshops worked busily throughout the uprising, producing 300 Automatic Pistol s, 150 Flame-thrower s, 40,000 grenades, a number of Mortars , and even an Armoured Car ('' Kubuś ''). Germans In late July the German units stationed in and around Warsaw were divided into three categories. The first - and the most numerous - was the garrison of Warsaw. As of July 31 , 1944 , it numbered some 11,000 troops under General Rainer Stahel 3. These forces included:
These well-equipped German forces had been prepared for the defence of the city's key positions for many months. Several hundred concrete Bunker s and Barbed Wire lines protected the buildings and areas occupied by the Germans. Apart from the garrison itself, there were numerous units stationed on both banks of the Vistula or moving through the city in both directions. These comprised some 15,000 to 16,000 Wehrmacht soldiers. Also, at least 90,000 additional German troops were available from occupation forces in the surrounding area. The second category was formed by police and SS under Col. Paul Otto Geibel , numbering initially 5,710 men.Borkiewicz, op.cit., p.41 These included three Schutzpolizei battalions (1,000 men) and two Sauferkaserne SS battalions (1,000 men), as well as reserve companies (300 men), an SA battalion (400 men), military police, Ordnungspolizei , Sicherheitspolizei , training units and many smaller units up to 400 men strong. The third category was formed by various sentry and guard units, altogether some 3,500 men strong. Among them were detachments of the Bahnschutz (rail guard), Werkschutz (factory guard) and a transport protection battalion. In the course of the uprising the German side received reinforcements on a daily basis. As of August 23 , 1944 , the German units directly involved with fighting in Warsaw included:
THE RISING See Also: Military description of the Warsaw Uprising '' sculpture before bullet-riddled Bank of Poland Redoubt. The " Anchor " combines the letters "''P''" and "''W''," initials of "''Polska walcząca''" — "Poland fights."]] W-hour After days of hesitation, at 17:30 on July 31st, the Polish headquarters scheduled "W-hour" (from the Polish ''wybuch'', "outbreak"), the moment of the start of the uprising, for 17:00 of the following day. Warsaw Uprising - Timeline The decision proved to be a costly strategic mistake as the under-equipped Polish forces were prepared for a series of coordinated surprise night attacks and the daylight exposed them to German machine gun fire. Although a large number of the partisan units were already mobilized and waiting at assembly points throughout the city, the mobilization of thousands of young men and women was hard to conceal and fighting started in advance of "W-hour", notably in the boroughs of Żoliborz , Mokotów and Czerniaków , around Napoleon Square , in the vicinity of the Hale Mirowskie and Plac Kercelego marketplaces, and at Okopowa street. Until "W-hour" these incidents were not generally perceived as part of a larger plan. However, at around 16:00, SS-Standartenfuhrer Paul Otto Geibel , chief of police and SS in the Warsaw District, received a warning about the uprising from an anonymous 'lieutenant of the Luftwaffe', who had in turn been warned about it by a Polish woman. He alerted the units under his command, which thus were prepared for the assault at 17:00. This drastically reduced the element of surprise for the insurgents. On the other hand, while the Germans had been considering the possibility of an uprising, they had no operational plans to meet such an occurrence. |
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