Paper title:
 Poland in World War II in the Context of German and Soviet Eastern European Policy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4316/CC.2025.01.08
Published in:
Issue 1 (Vol. 31) / 2025
Publishing date:
2025-07-31
Pages:
179 - 200
Author(s):
Larysa SHVAB, Anatoliy SHVAB, Mariana SHVAB
Abstract:
 The article examines the Polish Resistance Movement during World War II in the broader context of German and Soviet policies in Central and Eastern Europe. It highlights that, after World War I, both Germany and the Soviet Union emerged as major threats to the region's territorial order. The Weimar Republic pursued a “Prussian” policy aimed at revising Poland’s interwar borders and reclaiming former Reich territories. Hitler's temporary halt on these revisionist aims is seen as a strategic move to advance his plan of territorial expansion in Central Europe. Germany’s ambitions were facilitated by anti-communist sentiment and fears of Soviet expansion among Central and Eastern European nations. The authors argue that Stalin’s distrust in the Western resistance to Hitler, his reluctance to confront Germany directly, and various miscalculations contributed to the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1939, which divided Poland and other territories between Germany and the USSR. In response, the Polish Resistance, backed by London and Moscow, launched operations, culminating in the Warsaw Uprising and Operation Tempest in 1944.
Keywords:
 Second World War, German policy, Soviet Union policy, Polish Resistance Movement.




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