Poland Betrayed: The Nazi-Soviet Invasions of 1939 (Campaign Chronicles) by David G. Williamson

This is a far from satisfying history of Poland at war against Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. Although the author provides new first person insights from Polish participants, both military and civilian, there is nothing new in this history at the strategic level that has not already been published. Williamson has taken advantage of English, German, and Polish sources, but has not availed himself of any of the new Russian sources available on this conflict. There is not a single Russian source listed in his bibliography. The portion of the book dealing with the Red Army's invasion of eastern Poland is thus severely lacking. I bought this book hoping to find out more about this part of the war - and was left disappointed. This book is recommended for those who know little to nothing about the German invasion of Poland in 1939.

This is a good first book to introduce yourself to the German-Polish and Soviet-Polish Wars of 1939, but it is for the non-specialist and is really mainly a generalist introduction. I really wanted to love this book, esp. as its subtitle, "The Nazi-Soviet Invasions of 1939", states it also covers the USSR's perfidious "stab in the back" cooperation with Nazi Germany. But this book leaves me a bit cold & distant, and wanting so much more.

First, there are no notes. No page footnotes, chapter endnotes, or back-of-book endnotes. So while the sources/bibliography seems decent, there is no way for the reader to tie so much of what is written to any specific source, except for specifically cited sources directly quoted at length (usually nicely indented for the reader).

Second, and extremely critically off putting, there are just two 1-page maps up front. Neither map is very good. The first shows Poland in 1939, cutting off the extreme northern portion that lies between Lithuania and the USSR. The map shows East Prussia and eastern Germany, southern Lithuania, and a sliver of western USSR. Most of the major rivers are marked as are the major cities. The second shows the "conclusion of the campaign", with bubbles near cities telling what happened from about Sept 17th thru Oct 6th. But note that there is NO map of the actual German campaign, showing where the German armies started and how they advanced or where the Polish armies started and where they collapsed. So the reader encounters discussion after discussion in the text about Germany Army Groups, Armies, and Divisions on the move, attacking or defending, as well as Polish Armies, doing same, without having any exact idea as to where they are on a map! There is absolutely no excuse for the publisher to have failed to have included a good map or two showing the actual locations and movements of the 3 nation's armies during the body of the main campaigns (Germany--Sept 1-17; USSR--Sept, 17-21).

Third, this book is short. The primary text is only 170 pages of rather large, easy-to-read print, with the text rather significantly indented on all 4 sides. So it reads fast and easy. The author touches on things without going into much detail. So the book covers the material in some width (including air force and naval activity) but little depth.

The book does greatly benefit from the following:

1. The Soviet invasion is covered in more detail than most other similar books. It is on pages 116-130.

2. The author makes a strenous sttempt to portray the defeated Polish in an honorable fashion, trying to show how they fought very well at times against a larger force that was more technologically and tactically advanced. Williamson points out the false historical legend of Polish calvary attacking German tanks or mecanized units; they were taught to dismount and fight, and fought as they were taught.

3. Since the war doesn't even begin until p. 63, Williamson does a very good job getting the reader familiar with events from Poland's post-WW I independce and the 1920 Russo-Polish War, through the 1920s, Great Depression, and the pre-war 1930s. He makes sure the reader appreciates the weaknesses of the Polish economy that precluded them from being able to fully re-arm or build up their own arms industry.

4. Williamson ensures the reader appreciates the difficulties faced by the Polish military both strategically and technologically from Germany and the USSR. The defenseive strategy chosen failed miserably, but it wasn't illogical and part of its failure was due to French and British insistence that Poland not fully mobilize until it was too late!

5. In the Campaigns, the Aftermath, and Survivors' Reminiscences, Williamson brings out the atrocities committed by the Germans and Soviets against all Poles, civilian and military, both during and after the invasions.

There are 16 pages of nice B&W photographs between pages 62 & 63.

Contents:

Table of Contents, pages v-vii
Maps and Illustrations, pages viii-ix
Acknowledgement, page x
Map 1, page xi
Map 2, page xii
Background, pages 1-62.
Campaign Chronicle, pages 63-150.
Aftermath, pages 151-170
Appendix I, Chronology of Major Events, pages 171-176
Appendix II, Biographies of Key Figures, pages 177-184
Appendix III, Glossary and Abbreviations, pages 185-186
Appendix IV, Orders of Battle, pages 187-196
Appendix V, Survivors' Reminiscences, pages 197-218
Sources, pages 219-222
Index, pages 223-228
15 pages of "ads", with lots of B&W photos of the various book covers, for other books in the Stackpole Military History Series

Oddly, in the biographies, there is only 1 Soviet one (Gen. Timoshenko), but there isn't one for Polish President Moscicki, who is only mentioned once in the book, on p. 140.

The Polish campaign which opened the European theaters of the second World War has, inexplicably, been one little examined by the military historians of the last 60 years. This is inexplicable in that it was this campaign that led to many of the military innovations and developments in operational theory, as well as tactics that were used later in the war by Nazi Germany as well as other belligerants. For some reason though, the lessons learned militarily have up till recent years almost assumed to have been 'majically' developed and in place within the Wehrmacht prior to the invasion. What has been needed is rectification of that myth as well as the corresponding one that claims Polish inferiority in arms.

Poland Betrayed is a solid effort that begins the process of rectifying this rather undeveloped area of modern military history. Although I would not agree with other reviewers that this book is anywhere approaching a comprehensive work, Dr. Williamson's narrative is most effective as a concise and fairly well researched overview of the the Polish campaign. He's done a creditable job as well: 1)Describing the political/diplomatic lead up to the war 2)The efforts of the Polish Armed Forces to modernize under the percieved threat of first the USSR and then Nazi Germany. 3)The actual campaign as it developed and played out in September 1939, including the Red Army's 'contributions' to the Polish collapse after 17 September. His writing is crisp and to the point and the editing for the most part is solid, with only the occasional typo or error.

For the sake of this review, the area of the most importance, as I see it, is in simply dispelling the myth of the vaunted Wehrmacht, fighting with superior tactics and operational elan against a backwards Polish Army. Repeatedly, Dr. Williamson provides examples of Polish planning, counter attacks as they happened. Furthermore, he apptly describes the Bzura counter-offensive which, the author convincingly argues, with better resources would have stood a good chance of lengthening the campaign significantly as well as seriously damaging several German divisions. Another area in which he refutes conventional wisdom regarding the campaign is the supposed inferiority of Polish Air Force Pilots. He gives several solid examples based on primary sources of how at least one fighter group gave as good as it got and how it was primarily the Polish equipment in this case that wasn't up to the task.

Where the author is less successful is in two areas: describing how Gen Edward Smygly Rydz was in part responsible for the the debacle on the ground and in providing sufficient maps with which to follow the course of the campaign. In regards to Smygly Rydz, there is very little space spent in detailing how exactly he was to blame; merely accusations made at a few points in the narrative. As far as the map issue goes there are two large scale maps provided at the beginning of the book that provide little if any support for following what proves to be a rather confused and swirling battle(as opposed to the rather straight-forward defeat that has been described by most historians regarding the campaign).

In closing, this is a very solid introduction to the invasion of Poland by Germany and, later, the USSR. It is well written and fairly well edited. Whats more, it will definitely wet the appetite of anyone reading it for a more comprehensive analysis of this campaign...as soon as one is actually written.

It is one of the most detailed history of 2 nations ravaging war torn Poland and Russia enslaving the women and children

Very good ..... A much overlooked campaign. Just wish the book was longer and in greater detail, especially the Soviet Invasion / Intervention .....

The story of Germany's attack and occupation of Poland and Russia's stab in her back is little known in the West. This book deals also with the internal Polish problems of minorities, so as an overall view of the fate it is adequate. For an insight on the military campaign it lacks details. The photographic source for illustration seems exclusively German, but that goes for more losers: Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg and France.

Excellent read