Plan East
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Plan East (
Background
Since its establishment after
In the 1920s and the 1930s, Polish leaders focused their efforts on countering the potential threat from the east. Fresh were memories of the Polish-Soviet War and the
Since both the
Interbellum Polish–Soviet border
Poland's border with the Soviet Union was 1,412 km long. By comparison, the border with Germany, including East Prussia, was more than 20% longer, at 1,912 km. Neither border contained any major geographical obstacles, which made their defence very difficult.
In the north was flat land with huge forests such as
The centre of the country was primarily a huge sparsely-populated swamp, known as
The south, formerly a portion of the
Virtually all Polish industrial and urban centres were in the west and so a long-lasting defence was possible, as a Soviet force would have taken up to several weeks to reach Upper Silesia, Warsaw, Kraków or Poznań.
When they developed the plan, Polish planners assumed that co-operation and support would be forthcoming from Romania, which was Poland's main eastern ally.[6]
Border conflicts
The Soviet government undermined the validity of the
Summary
No complete copy of the plan has been preserved. All that is known are the basic precepts, and restoring the whole plan is impossible. Work on the document was completed on February 4, 1939. The plan was based on the notions of Józef Piłsudski, who until his death in 1935 was sure that war would come from the east. Thus, most army maneuvers and field fortifications were held in the east, and Poland's western border was largely neglected. Some of the fortifications can still be seen in the area around Sarny (see Sarny Fortified Area). Bunkers built by Polish Corps of Engineers in the 1930s were used in late 1940s by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in its guerilla skirmishes against the Soviet Red Army.
Polish planners were well aware that the Red Army was, in many ways, superior to their own. Therefore, the main idea was to organize a so-called "resistance in motion" and to try to split Soviet forces south and north of the vast Polesie swamps. Frontline armies, in the vicinity of the border, were to try to delay the advance of the aggressors and to bleed them, and reserves, mostly in the areas of
The Poles were expecting the Red Army to advance in three directions: along the
Structure of Polish Army
According to the Polish historian Rajmund Szubański, in case of war in the east, the bulk of the Polish Army would be concentrated in the north and the south, with the central section of the border left mostly unguarded. Some military historians claim that Polish planners placed too many units close to the border, which would have resulted in their total destruction in the opening days of the conflict. In contrast, the rear positions were inadequately protected.[8]
Frontline units
Seidner outlines the deployment:[9]
- In the extreme northeast, around the rail nexus of .
- South of Armia Wilno was Armia Baranowicze, with probably four infantry divisions (28th Infantry Division from Warszawa), two cavalry brigades (Nowogródzka Cavalry Brigade from Baranowicze, Podlaska Cavalry Brigade from Białystok) and the 4th Air Corps from Toruń.
- In the centre was Armia Polesie (also called Warszawa), Riverine Flotilla of the Polish Navy and the 3rd Air Corps from Poznań.
- Further south was Armia Wołyń, with three infantry divisions (Wołyńska Cavalry Brigade from Równe) and the 2nd Air Corps from Kraków.
- In the extreme south was Armia Podole, with five infantry divisions (Lwów.
Apart from those units were all of the armies' Border Area Defence Corps units and garrisons of the main cities.
Reserve forces
- Behind Armia Wilno and Armia Baranowicze was Armia Lida, with three infantry divisions.
- Behind Armia Podole and Armia Wołyń was Armia Lwów, with two infantry divisions and a cavalry brigade (5th Krakowska BK from Kraków).
- Far behind the frontlines, around the city of Brzesc, was the main reserve, with probably six IDs, two cavalry brigades (7th Wielkopolska BK from Poznań, 8th Pomorska BK from Bydgoszcz), an armoured brigade and the 1st Warsaw Air Corps.
Red Army along Polish border
In the mid-1930s, the Soviet government started an immense armament program, which resulted in a rapid increase in the number of units. The number of tanks and airplanes along the Polish border grew significantly, and the Soviets enjoyed superiority in all ways. Polish planners anticipated that the Soviets had three times as many soldiers as their
Invasion of Poland
On September 1, 1939, Germany
See also
References
- ^ a b Stanley S.Seidner, Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, New York, 1978, chs. 1-2.
- ^ According to the British historian
- ^ According to the American sociologist
- ^ Stanley S.Seidner, Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, New York, 1978, 105-106.
- ^ Stanley S.Seidner, Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, New York, 1978, 108.
- ^ Stanley S.Seidner, Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, New York, 1978, ch. 2.
- ^ Stanley S.Seidner, Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, New York, 1978, chs. 1
- ^ Stanley S.Seidner, Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, New York, 1978, 108-109.
- ^ a b Stanley S.Seidner, Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, New York, 1978, appendices.
Further reading
- ISBN 83-11-08313-4
- Stanisław Feret, Polska sztuka wojenna 1918-39, Warszawa 1972.
- Stanley S.Seidner, Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, New York, 1978.
External links
- (in Polish) Plan operacyjny "Wschód" discussed on a University of Warsaw forum
- (in Polish) POLSKI PLAN OBRONNY ZACHÓD
- (in Ukrainian) Polish interbellum fortifications in Ukraine - present day photos