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    Poland's Struggle: Before, During and After the Second World War
    Unavailable
    Poland's Struggle: Before, During and After the Second World War
    Unavailable
    Poland's Struggle: Before, During and After the Second World War
    Ebook273 pages3 hours

    Poland's Struggle: Before, During and After the Second World War

    By Andrew Rawson

    4.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Poland was re-created as an independent nation at the end of the First World War, but it soon faced problems as Nazi Germany set about expanding its control on Europe. The Wehrmacht’s attack on 1 September 1939 was followed by a Red Army invasion two weeks later.

    The people of Poland were then subjected to a terrifying campaign of murder, imprisonment and enslavement which only increased as the war dragged on. Polish Catholics faced violence and deportation as they adapted to the draconian laws implemented by the German authorities. Meanwhile, the Polish Jews were forced into ghettos while the plans for the Final Solution were implemented. They then faced annihilation in the Holocaust, code named Operation Reinhard.

    Despite the dangers, many Poles joined the underground war against their oppressors, while those who escaped sought to fight for their nation’s freedom from abroad. They sent intelligence to the west, attacked German installations, carried out assassinations and rose up to confront their enemy, all against impossible odds. The advance of the Red Army brought new problems, as the Soviet's dreaded NKVD introduced its own form of terror, hunting down anyone who fought for an independent nation.

    The story concludes with Poland’s experience behind the Iron Curtain, ending with the return of democracy by 1991.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPen and Sword Military
    Release dateJun 30, 2019
    ISBN9781526743930
    Unavailable
    Poland's Struggle: Before, During and After the Second World War
    Author

    Andrew Rawson

    ANDREW RAWSON is a freelance writer who has written several books, covering campaigns from the Napoleonic Wars, World War I and World War II, including the 'British Army Handbook, 1914–1918', 'Vietnam War Handbook' and 'The Third Reich 1919–1939' for The History Press.

    Read more from Andrew Rawson

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    Reviews for Poland's Struggle

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    • 5/5
      Poland’s Struggle – An Excellent Short HistoryHere in the West little is known of the history of Poland, unless you are from a Polish family, many just think it was because of them that World War Two started. Polish history is at best is very complicated and is a reflection of the history of the whole of Eastern Europe. To understand Eastern Europe, you need to understand Polish history, as it is a gateway to everything that has passed in other countries around them.It is not often we get an excellent introduction that explains Polish history in the twentieth century. While I might be a pedant and point out that Poles did not choose to fight in the First World War, they were forced too, as it meant they were fighting their own families in many cases.11th November 1918 is a time of reflection and remembrance here in the West, to Poles it is they day their country was reborn after one hundred and twenty years of occupation, by the Russians, Germans and Austrians. It would be two of these countries that would try and strangle Poland at birth and reclaim what they saw as their land their peoples. East Prussia was carved out of Poland, and Danzig/Gdansk had been ethnically cleansed over that period.This book quite sensibly does not go into the smallest details of the history, there are other books for that. This book, under various headings gives you an excellent brief history, and introduction, so the general reader is more enlightened about Poland. This is a book that has needed to be written for a long time, and not one written by some one with a Polish background. This is an open an honest history with no bias, and that is important.Whoever decides to read this book will learn something form the pages within and will not be bored. An excellent short history.