The Invasion of Poland: How World War II Started | Full Documentary - video Dailymotion

RAYAN SHAHMEER

How did the deadliest war in human history begin? It started with lies, betrayal, and a brutal invasion.  In this powerful full-length documentary, we dive deep into the events of September 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, igniting World War II. From the Treaty of Versailles to the Nazi-Soviet Pact, from Blitzkrieg tactics to the Soviet invasion from the east—this is the full story of how the war began.  You’ll learn:  • Why Hitler targeted Poland  • How Britain and France responded  • What happened during the Soviet invasion  • The horrors of occupation—and Poland’s unbreakable spirit  📌 Subscribe for more history content every week. 🛎️ Turn on the bell so you never miss an upload.  #WWII #InvasionOfPoland #WorldWar2 #HistoryDocumentary #Blitzkrieg #Poland1939  World War 2, WWII documentary, Invasion of Poland, How WW2 started, Hitler invades Poland, Nazi invasion, Poland 1939, Nazi Soviet Pact, Gleiwitz incident, Blitzkrieg, Katyn Massacre, World War II explained, WW2 history, Poland WW2, start of ww2, Germany invades Poland, Soviet invasion Poland, September campaign, Hitler Stalin pact, WW2 timeline

Transcript

00:00September 1, 1939.

00:03The world wakes to a new kind of war.

00:06Across the Polish border, the rumble of tanks, the screech of dive bombers, and the blast

00:10of artillery signals the dawn of destruction.

00:13Cities burn.

00:15Families flee.

00:16Soldiers fight and fall.

00:19This is not just the invasion of a country.

00:22It is the start of the deadliest conflict in human history.

00:26This is how World War II began.

00:28To understand how the Second World War erupted, we must go back to the end of the first.

00:34World War I had left Europe broken, bloodied, and bitter.

00:38And when the guns finally fell silent in 1918, peace did not follow.

00:43Resentment did.

00:45Germany, the defeated power, bore the full weight of the blame.

00:49The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 imposed brutal terms.

00:54Vast territorial losses, economic reparations, military restrictions, and above all, humiliation.

01:02The treaty was meant to secure peace.

01:05But instead it sowed the seeds of vengeance.

01:08In the streets of a shattered Germany, a wounded veteran named Adolf Hitler absorbed this bitterness.

01:13And in time, he would turn it into a weapon.

01:18Adolf Hitler rose to power by promising to undo Versailles, restore German pride, and build a new empire.

01:25In 1933, he became chancellor.

01:29By 1934, he was Führer, a dictator with unchecked power.

01:33The Nazi regime rebuilt Germany's military, reoccupied Forbidden Lands, and rearmed for war.

01:41One by one, Hitler violated the treaty's restrictions, and the world did nothing.

01:48In 1938, Hitler annexed Austria without firing a shot.

01:53Then came Czechoslovakia, first the Sudetenland, then the rest.

01:57Western leaders clinging to the hope of peace gave in.

02:01They called it appeasement.

02:02Hitler saw it as weakness.

02:04Now he set his sights on Poland.

02:07Poland stood in Hitler's way, for both ideological and strategic reasons.

02:12First, the Nazis believed in Lebensraum, living space.

02:17Hitler dreamed of German expansion eastward into Slavic lands.

02:21Poland was the first domino.

02:23Second, the Treaty of Versailles had taken German lands and given them to Poland,

02:28including the Polish Corridor and the free city of Danzig.

02:32Hitler wanted them back.

02:34Third, he needed a quick, glorious victory.

02:38A war with Poland could rally the German people and prove that the Nazi war machine was unstoppable.

02:43But there was a risk.

02:44Britain and France had pledged to defend Poland.

02:47If Hitler invaded, he could face war on two fronts.

02:50So he made a bold, secretive move.

02:53On August 23, 1939, the world was stunned by news from Moscow.

02:59Germany and the Soviet Union, sworn enemies, had signed a non-aggression pact.

03:03But buried within the fine print was a dark secret.

03:06The two powers had agreed to carve up Eastern Europe.

03:10Poland would be split down the middle, Germany taking the west, the Soviet Union the east.

03:16For Hitler, the pact removed the threat of a two-front war.

03:20For Stalin, it bought time and territory.

03:23Together, the two dictators made a deal that would cost millions of lives.

03:28Now, there was nothing left to stop the invasion.

03:30But Hitler didn't just invade.

03:33He wanted to make it look like Poland started it.

03:36On the night of August 31, 1939,

03:39German SS troops staged a false flag attack on a radio station in Gleivitz near the border.

03:45They dressed concentration camp prisoners in Polish uniforms,

03:49shot them, and left their bodies as evidence.

03:52The next morning, Hitler addressed the Reichstag

03:55and declared that Germany had been attacked and was now returning fire.

04:00It was a lie.

04:02A calculated, deadly lie.

04:04But by then, the tanks were already rolling.

04:08At dawn on September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland.

04:13The assault was swift and brutal.

04:15More than 1.5 million German troops surged across the border.

04:20Overhead, the Luftwaffe bombed roads, railways, and cities.

04:24Tanks crushed defenses.

04:26Soldiers advanced with mechanical precision.

04:28It was blitzkrieg, lightning war.

04:31Polish troops fought bravely, but they were outmatched.

04:35Many still rode horses.

04:37They lacked modern tanks, aircraft, and support.

04:40Germany attacked not just the military, but civilians.

04:45Cities like Warsaw were bombed relentlessly.

04:48Villages were burned.

04:49Innocents were killed.

04:50This was not war.

04:53This was annihilation.

04:55In London and Paris, the invasion sent shockwaves.

04:59On September 3, 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany.

05:04Sirens wailed.

05:06Soldiers were mobilized.

05:07But no troops were sent to Poland.

05:10For months, Western Europe entered a strange silence.

05:14What would be known as the Phony War.

05:16While Poland burned, Britain and France waited behind their defenses.

05:21Poland had been promised protection.

05:23Instead, it was left to face the storm alone.

05:27Then came the second blow.

05:30On September 17, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east.

05:35Using the chaos as cover, Stalin claimed to be protecting minorities.

05:40In truth, it was part of the secret deal with Hitler.

05:43Polish forces, already stretched to the breaking point, now faced a second unstoppable enemy.

05:49They were surrounded.

05:51Within weeks, Polish resistance collapsed.

05:54On October 6, the last pockets of organized defense surrendered.

05:58In just five weeks, Poland had been conquered.

06:01And divided by two of the most brutal regimes in history.

06:05But the worst was yet to come.

06:07In the German-occupied West, Nazi terror began immediately.

06:12The regime launched Operation Tannenberg, targeting Polish elites, intellectuals, priests, and officers.

06:18Thousands were executed.

06:20Jews were forced into ghettos.

06:22Anti-Semitic laws were enforced.

06:25This was the early stage of what would become the Holocaust.

06:28In the Soviet-occupied East, repression was no less brutal.

06:32Hundreds of thousands of Poles were deported to Siberia.

06:35Families were torn apart.

06:37In 1940, over 22,000 Polish officers and professionals were executed in the Katyn Forest,

06:44a massacre the Soviets denied for decades.

06:47For Poland, the invasion was not just military defeat.

06:50It was national trauma.

06:52How did it come to this?

06:53For years, the world had tried to reason with Hitler, to avoid conflict, to preserve peace.

07:00But appeasement did not buy peace.

07:03It bought time.

07:04For Germany to grow stronger.

07:07And its ambitions to grow deadlier.

07:09The invasion of Poland proved that Hitler could not be negotiated with.

07:14His vision demanded conquest.

07:16His ideology demanded blood.

07:18The world had waited too long.

07:21Now, war was inevitable.

07:23Though defeated, Poland did not surrender.

07:26Its government fled to exile.

07:28Polish pilots joined the Royal Air Force and became heroes in the Battle of Britain.

07:33Resistance fighters launched underground movements, sabotaging German forces and aiding Allied spies.

07:39Polish troops fought across North Africa, Italy, and France, never giving up the dream of liberation.

07:49Poland may have fallen on the map, but it never fell in spirit.

07:53The invasion of Poland marked the beginning of World War II.

07:57But it was more than a military campaign.

08:00It was a signal, to the world, that fascism would not stop.

08:05That lies, terror, and violence would become the new normal.

08:08And that the fight against tyranny would not be won in speeches, but in blood.

08:14Over the next six years, nations would burn, empires would fall, and tens of millions would die.

08:20But it began here, with Poland.

08:23The story of the invasion of Poland is not just a chapter in history.

08:27It is a warning.

08:29About the cost of ignoring tyranny.

08:31About the danger of silence.

08:33About the price paid when evil goes unchecked.

08:35Poland stood alone, in 1939.

08:40But it stood, and the world would never be the same.

08:46If this story moved you, remember to like, share, and subscribe.

08:51History must be remembered, because those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.

The Invasion of Poland: How World War II Started | Full Documentary

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