The Polish government knew the war was coming. The Germans would do anything in their power to undo the Polish corridor, capture the free city of Danzig, and reunite the two sections of Germany separated by a territory that gave Poland access to the Baltic Sea.
The two nations realized a massive battle was about to erupt, but they had to pretend nothing unusual was happening to mislead the opponent.
In true Trojan Horse fashion, Germany then sent an old warship, SMS Schleswig-Holstein, on a ceremonial visit to the port of Danzig. Inside its hull, hundreds of German soldiers silently awaited the start of the war.
Early on September 1, 1939, the warship fired the first shot of World War 2 against the Westerplatte naval base in a defiant surprise attack that was projected to dethrone the defending Polish forces in less than ten minutes.
However, the German deceivers had been misled, and the Polish had a catastrophic surprise of their own…
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Do not forget the Massaker against Germans living in Poland before the War.
Huge congrats and honors to that Polish men from the Greek warriors. Their current descendants must have forgotten their fights as they are currently helping the Ukranian Nazis…. Most probably, they will regret this soon…
Lol, americans sure love learning the history of their roots, ever notice that nazi germany is the only country in the world you are NOT racist against? No? Lmfao 😂😂
10:48 – Aftermath – “….. several warships. . . “ ? What other warships? You only talked about the battleship. Did I miss something?
I was def told about this in highschool but it never stuck. Your a fuckin good teacher man you make all kinds of stuff interesting
So many of these tails never mention that Russia also invaded Poland and the Baltic nations.
The dead will not have died in vein if we remember the sacrifices they made and by making the most of the opportunities presented to us because of those sacrifices
nazis could have got ships made by italy like you do now
Very brave
A memorial to brave men who faught evil.
I love all you histories bou ww2 or whatever it is you tryna let us know .kudos 💪
They were brave men to hold out for a week. There was also the defenders of the post office at Danzig that also put up a fierce fight.
The willingness of the Poles to fight back came as a shock to the Germans. The invasion wasn't a walkover for them.
Well – the pictures at 3:04 are from Copenhagen but at least from the correct time.
amazing video, thank you for covering it!
Thanks Dark Seas !
Another cool story. I enjoy learning about these things 👍👌
Millions died around the world over a corridor to a German town. Bad and corrupt people in America and Europe made millions of dollars. BLOOD MONEY 🤑💰💰💰💰💰,
Now. They want more this time it will end with world domination by the world elites. WW 1 was to get rid of the power of the Kings & Queens of Europe, WW 2 the socialist economic ideology was falling only war would save there failures, now WW 3 is coming, why, again the failure of the American and European economies. They owe CHINA there citizens, enslaved citizens.😮
I think it's time Germany regains the territory it lost after ww2
Thank you for another informative video. Live and learn. I did not know about this heroic battle. Like others have said, I learn a lot from your videos. Thank you for taking the time and effort to make these videos.
If Poland had negotiated with Berlin there would not have been a war. But London told Warsaw not to even conduct dialogue with Berlin. It almost as if Britain wanted war with Germany.
Fast forward to 2022. Replace Warsaw with Kiev, Berlin with Moscow and Danzig with Donbas. Funny how history repeats itself
During WWII, Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue. God Bless these Great Men.
Poland was divided in two by the Hitler-Stalin Pact. The absolutely sinister plan of the two dictators was the annihilation of the state of Poland. The Soviet invasion only began after 2 weeks. Those who fled from the already conquered areas were then directly executed by the Red Army. The Allies had declared war on Germany because of the conquest of Poland. The Soviet Union does not. Since there was no reaction to the action, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania were then annexed by the Soviet Union. An attack on Finland failed.😢
And, at the end of WW2, dumped by Churchill.
Just think how history would have been changed if the Pohls had won this battle!
Small correction: polish losses were relatively light considering the heavy fire from the 28 cm and 10.5 cm naval guns and the attack of the aircraft: a polish sources estimates them at 15 killed, 13 seriously and 25 to 40 lightly wounded.
Why do you sound so mono tone
An amazing story I had never heard. Am grateful to find out about this brave defense against overwhelming odds!
Ships main guns don't fire bullets, they fire shells.
I love your comments.
Very interesting post, thank you , l forwarded it to a Polish friend of ours.
Most people only know Basil Fawlty's insult to the German tourists YOU invaded Poland !