The First Shots of World War II at Westerplatte
That staged murder—theatrical, cold, almost petty—was the opening note of the most destructive war ever fought on European soil.
At 4:45 a.m.—almost to the minute—the old pre-dreadnought Schleswig-Holstein, anchored in Danzig harbor on a “courtesy visit,” opens fire with its 280 mm guns on the Polish military depot at Westerplatte. The first shells arc across the water and explode in orange fireballs. At dozens of other border crossings—from the Baltic coast to the Carpathians—1.5 million German soldiers, 2,000 tanks, 1,300 combat aircraft, and thousands of artillery pieces begin moving forward. No formal declaration of war is ever delivered. The invasion simply begins.
The Long Fuse: Why Poland in 1939?
By late summer 1939, Hitler had already swallowed Austria (Anschluss 1938), taken the Sudetenland (Munich Agreement 1938), and occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia (March 1939). Poland was next for three interlocking reasons.
First, Danzig and the Corridor. Danzig (Gdańsk) was a “Free City” under League of Nations supervision, overwhelmingly German-speaking. The Polish Corridor—a strip of land giving Poland access to the sea—separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany. Hitler demanded both be returned.
Second, Lebensraum. In Mein Kampf and countless speeches, he had made clear that Germany needed agricultural land and slave labor in the east. Poland was the gateway to Ukraine and southern Russia—the first step toward the racial empire he conceived.
Third, testing the West. After Munich, he was convinced Britain and France would never fight for Poland. He wanted to call their bluff. When they issued a military guarantee to Poland (March 31, 1939), he decided to remove the one strategic threat that could stop him: the Soviet Union.
The Devil’s Handshake – Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (August 23, 1939)
On August 23, 1939, Joachim von Ribbentrop flew to Moscow. In the early hours of the next morning, he and Vyacheslav Molotov signed a non-aggression pact. The public document was a collection of ten short articles promising ten years of peace. The real agreement was the secret protocol attached to it.
That protocol drew a line across Eastern Europe:
- Western Poland (including Warsaw, Łódź, Kraków) to Germany.
- Eastern Poland (including Vilnius, Lwów, and Białystok) to the Soviet Union.
- Lithuania (initially German sphere, later swapped for more of Poland).
- Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and Bessarabia were added to the Soviet sphere of influence.
Two mortal enemies—Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union—had just agreed to carve up their neighbor and give each other a free hand. Hitler could now invade Poland without fear of a Soviet stab in the back. Stalin gained eighteen months to rebuild an army gutted by his own purges and to push the Soviet frontier westward.
The Invasion – Thirty-Five Days That Erased a Nation (September 1 – October 6, 1939)
September 1 – Opening Moves
At 4:45 a.m., Schleswig-Holstein fires the first shots of the war on Westerplatte. Within minutes, Luftwaffe squadrons are airborne. By noon, most of the Polish air force—about 400 combat aircraft—has been destroyed on the ground. The German strategy is textbook Blitzkrieg:
At 4:45 a.m., Schleswig-Holstein fires the first shots of the war on Westerplatte. Within minutes, Luftwaffe squadrons are airborne. By noon, most of the Polish air force—about 400 combat aircraft—has been destroyed on the ground. The German strategy is textbook Blitzkrieg:
- Panzer divisions punch deep, bypassing strongpoints.
- Motorized infantry follows to secure the breakthroughs.
- Stuka dive-bombers and medium bombers destroy headquarters, bridges, and rail junctions.
- The aim is not the occupation of every village but the paralysis of the Polish command and encirclement of its armies.
Poland fields roughly 950,000–1,000,000 men, but they are spread along a 1,400 km frontier, lack modern tanks (only about 600 light tanks and tankettes), and have almost no coordination with their air force. The Polish high command still believes in the French model of deliberate, defensive warfare. They are wrong.
September 3–17 – The German Steamroller
Britain and France declare war on Germany at 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on September 3. They do nothing else. No offense in the West. Poland fights alone.
Britain and France declare war on Germany at 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on September 3. They do nothing else. No offense in the West. Poland fights alone.
German Army Group North (von Bock) slices through the Corridor toward Warsaw. Army Group South (von Rundstedt) drives toward Łódź and Kraków. By September 8, the Panzer spearheads are already on the outskirts of Warsaw. The Polish Poznań Army launches a brave counter-attack at the Bzura River (September 9–20), inflicting serious losses on the Germans, but it is too late—the trap is closing.
September 17 – The Soviet Stab
At 3:00 a.m. on September 17, without a declaration of war, Soviet troops crossed the eastern border. Molotov announces the Red Army is “protecting the Ukrainian and Belarusian minorities.” In reality, Stalin is collecting his share of the secret protocol. The Polish government flees across the Romanian border. Eastern garrisons are ordered not to resist the Soviets. Within days, the Red Army occupies Vilnius, Lwów, and everything east of the agreed line.
At 3:00 a.m. on September 17, without a declaration of war, Soviet troops crossed the eastern border. Molotov announces the Red Army is “protecting the Ukrainian and Belarusian minorities.” In reality, Stalin is collecting his share of the secret protocol. The Polish government flees across the Romanian border. Eastern garrisons are ordered not to resist the Soviets. Within days, the Red Army occupies Vilnius, Lwów, and everything east of the agreed line.
September 27 – Warsaw Falls
Warsaw is surrounded on September 8. Relentless bombing and artillery fire continue for nineteen days. Civilians dig trenches, fight fires, and eat horses and dogs. On September 27, the city capitulates after losing 25,000 civilians to air raids and shelling alone. The last significant Polish unit surrenders at Kock on October 6. In thirty-five days, Poland disappears as a sovereign state.
Warsaw is surrounded on September 8. Relentless bombing and artillery fire continue for nineteen days. Civilians dig trenches, fight fires, and eat horses and dogs. On September 27, the city capitulates after losing 25,000 civilians to air raids and shelling alone. The last significant Polish unit surrenders at Kock on October 6. In thirty-five days, Poland disappears as a sovereign state.
The Immediate Carve-Up & the Beginning of Terror
Germany and the Soviet Union divided Poland along the agreed line (roughly the rivers Narew, Vistula, and San):
- Western and central Poland became the General Government under Hans Frank—a zone of open exploitation, forced labor, ghettoization, and later extermination.
- Eastern Poland was annexed by the USSR. Mass deportations began immediately (1.2–1.5 million Poles, Jews, Ukrainians sent to Siberia and Kazakhstan). In spring 1940, the NKVD executed ~22,000 Polish officers and intellectuals in the Katyn forest and other sites.
The West Watches – Phoney War Begins
Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3, but launched no serious offensive. The “Phoney War” or “Sitzkrieg” began. Allied troops sat in the Maginot Line while Poland burned. The guarantee to Poland proved hollow in practice. Germany could concentrate all its forces to the east without fear of a western attack.
The Legacy of September 1939
The invasion of Poland wasn't merely the beginning of World War II; it was the moment when the mask finally dropped. Hitler showed he would lie, stage false-flag operations, and break every treaty. Stalin showed he would shake hands with the devil to buy time and territory. The speed of the German victory stunned the world and proved that Blitzkrieg worked. The Soviet stab in the back stunned Poland and convinced millions that the two totalitarian systems were, in practice, mirror images.
Today, when people walk the preserved ruins of Westerplatte or stand in front of the rebuilt Gleiwitz radio tower (now a museum), they remember that the Second World War did not begin with a formal declaration or a clash of millions. It began with a murdered prisoner dressed in a Polish uniform, a fake radio broadcast, and the roar of guns that did not stop for six years.
Poland was the first victim—and one of the greatest sufferers. Six million of its citizens (nearly 20% of the population) would perish before the war ended.
What part of September 1939 still unsettles you most?
The cold-blooded staging of Gleiwitz with a murdered prisoner?
The handshake between Ribbentrop and Molotov that made the double invasion possible?
The speed with which a proud nation was erased from the map in thirty-five days?
Or the terrible silence from London and Paris while Warsaw burned?
The cold-blooded staging of Gleiwitz with a murdered prisoner?
The handshake between Ribbentrop and Molotov that made the double invasion possible?
The speed with which a proud nation was erased from the map in thirty-five days?
Or the terrible silence from London and Paris while Warsaw burned?
Write whatever is on your mind below. I read every word.
Books that shaped how I understand the invasion:
- Poland 1939: The Outbreak of World War II by Roger Moorhouse (the clearest narrative of the campaign)
- The Invasion of Poland 1939 by Alexander B. Rossino (detailed on German planning and false-flag operations)
- The Devils’ Alliance by Roger Moorhouse (full story of the Nazi-Soviet pact)
- Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder (the human cost of the partition and early occupation)
- The War That Ended Peace by Margaret MacMillan (long background leading to September 1939)
Reliable sources I leaned on for key facts:
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