27 Facts About Warsaw Uprising

1.

Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation.

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2.

The Warsaw Uprising was fought for 63 days with little outside support.

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3.

Warsaw Uprising began on 1 August 1944 as part of a nationwide Operation Tempest, launched at the time of the Soviet Lublin–Brest Offensive.

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4.

The inhabitants of Warsaw Uprising ignored his demand, and the Home Army command became worried about possible reprisals or mass round-ups, which would disable their ability to mobilize.

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5.

Warsaw Uprising was intended to last a few days until Soviet forces arrived; however, this never happened, and the Polish forces had to fight with little outside assistance.

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6.

Leaders of the uprising counted only on the rapid entry of the Red Army in Warsaw and were more prepared for a confrontation with the Russians.

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7.

From this point on, the Warsaw Uprising can be seen as a one-sided war of attrition or, alternatively, as a fight for acceptable terms of surrender.

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8.

In Polish-controlled territory, during the first weeks of the Warsaw Uprising, people tried to recreate the normal day-to-day life of their free country.

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9.

From that time on the citizens of Warsaw Uprising lived mostly on barley from the brewery's warehouses.

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10.

Only support operation which ran continuously for the duration of the Warsaw Uprising were night supply drops by long-range planes of the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, and units of the Polish Air Force, which had to use distant airfields in Italy, reducing the amount of supplies they could carry.

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11.

Role of the Red Army during the Warsaw Uprising remains controversial and is still disputed by historians.

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12.

The Uprising started when the Red Army appeared on the city's doorstep, and the Poles in Warsaw were counting on Soviet front capturing or forwarding beyond the city in a matter of days.

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13.

Red Army was fighting intense battles further to the south of Warsaw Uprising, to seize and maintain bridgeheads over the Vistula river, and to the north of the city, to gain bridgeheads over the river Narew.

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14.

One of the reasons given for the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising was the reluctance of the Soviet Red Army to help the Polish resistance.

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15.

One way or the other, the presence of Soviet tanks in nearby Wolomin 15 kilometers to the east of Warsaw had sealed the decision of the Home Army leaders to launch the Uprising.

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16.

The capture of Warsaw Uprising was not essential for the Soviets, as they had already seized a series of convenient bridgeheads to the south of Warsaw Uprising, and were concentrating on defending them against vigorous German counterattacks.

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17.

The urgent orders issued to the Red Army troops in Poland on 23 August 1944 stipulated that the Home Army units in Soviet-controlled areas should be prevented from reaching Warsaw and helping the Uprising, their members apprehended and disarmed.

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18.

Liberation of Warsaw Uprising was planned by a flanking maneuver after the start of a General offensive in the direction of East Prussia and Berlin.

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19.

Almost entirely destroyed, Warsaw Uprising was liberated from the Germans on 17 January 1945 by the Red Army and the First Polish Army.

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20.

The failure of the Warsaw Uprising provided an opportunity for Hitler to begin the transformation.

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21.

The belief that the Warsaw Uprising failed because of deliberate procrastination by the Soviet Union contributed to anti-Soviet sentiment in Poland.

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22.

Memories of the Warsaw Uprising helped to inspire the Polish labour movement Solidarity, which led a peaceful opposition movement against the Communist government during the 1980s.

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23.

Research into the Warsaw Uprising was boosted by the revolutions of 1989, due to the abolition of censorship and increased access to state archives.

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24.

Meanwhile, in Poland, there is a different view of the Warsaw uprising, presented, for example, in 1974 by Jan M Ciechanowski, the historian and participant of the Warsaw uprising.

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25.

Warsaw Uprising's views were already widely spread in the 1970s, although he was not a Communist historian.

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26.

From this point of view, the Warsaw uprising was most directed against Russia-USSR and was designed to create a confrontation between the United States-Britain and the USSR.

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27.

Bunker in front of gate to University of Warsaw Uprising converted to a base for Wehrmacht viewed from Krakowskie Przedmiescie Street, July 1944.

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