2023-05-19 01:01:22
Poland have spoken and it seems that they are not eager to repeat the same mistakes they made in the Second World War. The country that bent the knee in less than a month against the German panzers – and their new ‘Blitzkrieg’ – now promises to turn its armed forces into the best in Europe to contain the pressure of the Russian cauldron. Hand in hand with the United States, his older brother from a military perspective, in 2021 he devoted 4.63% of his public spending to Defense. And that, without counting the dignified armored fleet that it hides in its hangars –120 Leopards 2– and the incisive improvement program in its air forces. Almost nothing.
But the reality is that it did not always have an army at the level of a European power. Not much less. In 1939, shortly before the Germans opened the gates of hell when they crossed the Polish border on September 1, the country had an anemic armed forces and, above all, adapted to the Great War that had shaken Europe two decades before. In fact, the best of its assets at that time was the mutual assistance alliance that it had signed with France and Great Britain to alleviate the escalation of German violence against Austrialos Sudetes y czechoslovakia.
Although the measure proved cosmetic after the first skirmishes, Britain was still embracing the pact shortly before the outbreak of hostilities. This is how ABC explained it in June, when the conflict between Poland and Germany over the Danzig Corridor was already beginning to dominate the front pages of the newspapers:
“The Labor deputy Cocks has inquired in the House of Commons whether the British Government, in keeping with its commitments to Poland, intended to employ all its force to its aid, should it be a matter of forcibly modifying the Dantzig statute, or any aggression against the vital interests of the Polish state is carried out. Butler replied that England would certainly honor the terms of its commitment to Poland. To another question from the same deputy, he affirmed that the terms of the guarantee given by the English Government to Poland clearly refer to threats against Polish independence ».
infantry to attack
There are a thousand and one pieces of information that reveal the true depth of the Polish armed forces before September 1, 1939. There are as many as the experts who have dedicated themselves to studying this period. Although one of the greatest authorities at the time is undoubtedly the historian Steven J. Stock. In ‘The Polish Army, 1939 – 1945’ he states that the country had a total of 30 infantry divisions (half a million men) stationed on the borders; however, and according to the state, it could mobilize another 15 more. Most of the soldiers were armed with the same rifle as the Germans, the semi-automatic Mauser Kar 98k; in that sense, they were equivalent.
If one compares with the total of the Polish population, almost 14 million people in 1939, the number of soldiers was considerable. The problem lay, according to experts such as Richard Hargreaves, in that one in three riflemen had not been adequately trained and in that a good part of these troops had to be mobilized after the declaration of hostilities. Nothing to do with the training to which the Germans had been subjected. The infantry division also carried some customs typical of the First World War that they placed her behind her opponents; one of them, relying on beasts of burden to transport heavy weapons.
the basis of everything
Today the European contingents have changed a lot. The specialization, effectiveness and equipment of the soldiers is more important than their number. And Poland understood this paradigm after conducting a thorough analysis of its armies in 2016. That year, the high command understood that, for the first time in three decades, the number of soldiers and employees of the armed forces would increase dramatically. “In the next eight years, the total number of troops will exceed 200,000, including members of the Territorial Defense Forces,” the Ministry of Defense breaks down on its website.
The Polish government prides itself, however, on the hard training of its armed forces: “The training of soldiers at all levels has been intensified and special priority has been given to the support of operational units, situational awareness, creativity and the initiative of the commanders». The maxim is to recover the role of operational art. At the moment, the number of troops is close to 123,000 active soldiers, some 3,000 more than the Spanish armed forces. Although the figure is far from European locomotives such as France –205,000 employees–, United Kingdom –190.000– y Germany –184.000–.
In addition, Poland gave birth to a new contingent in 2016, the Territorial Defense Force, which, in 2019, added some 24,000 troops. According to the Government, this paramilitary force was created with the aim of “defending civil security and the cultural heritage of the Polish nation” at the local level, as well as “preventing and combating non-military threats.” The striking thing is that it is made up of part-time volunteer soldiers. These units are similar to those that have performed so well in the Ukraine in that they know the terrain, have the ability to coordinate with the region’s inhabitants, and are efficient with a minimum of training. All of them, ideal characteristics for a hybrid conflict.
tanks
In World War II, the case of the armored park was similar to that of the infantry. Although Poland was the second country after the Soviet Union that invested the most money in the defense of its homeland, more than one billion zlotys between 1938 and 1939, the scarce development of the mechanized doctrine made the army opt for the massive use of weapons. tanks. A mistake, because they could do little or nothing months later against the armored divisions of Nazi Germany. Shortly before the invasion, the armed forces had 450 TKs and TKSs, small vehicles commanded by a two-man crew mounted with a heavy machine gun or – at best – a light cannon.
German main battle tanks advance through Polish territory in 1939
It is false, however, that the country did not have tanks. He had them, and featured. In the 1930s, for example, they acquired 38 Vickers E Type A and a production license from the same company. The heavier 7TP and some models of Renault they completed a total cast of 475 units. And that, without counting the spectacular armored trains.
The Polish army, as a good contingent inherited from the IGM, did not lack artillery. According to different sources, it had a total of 2,065 howitzers and 774 anti-tank pieces; all of them, capable of destroying without palliatives any Panzer of the time. Where, then, were the elite of the armed forces? In the cavalry. A nation of horsemen since time immemorial, the most well-versed soldiers used to request passage to this branch. Thus, the country had 70,000 horsemen in 1939. However, and contrary to the image that has survived, its purpose was not to carry a lance at the ready. The truth is that they were armed with a rifle and that they only kept the saber for extreme cases.
Modernize
Already today, Poland is a very cryptic country when it comes to its armored divisions. It’s hard to figure out the number of tanks you have at your disposal. One of the few data in this regard was offered in 2022 by ‘Global Firepower’. This military analysis website revealed that Warsaw had 863 tanks, the highest figure in all of Eastern Europe and that it exceeds –by far– the 266 in Germany, the 406 in France and the 327 in Spain, to give just three examples. .
As if that were not enough, the Polish armed forces have been reinforced in recent years by their European and overseas neighbours. As Rosalía Sánchez explained on ABC last Tuesday, since 2013 it has 120 Leopards, 2 Germans; a tank that is among the best on the planet. The same is true of the 250 Abrams M1A1 that Warsaw acquired for 4.9 billion euros from the United States to replace the same number from the Soviet era ceded to Ukraine. Its tentacles have also spread to South Korea, a country with which it has reached an agreement to buy, among other things, K2 tanks and K9 howitzers.
Its most striking acquisition has been the American M142 HIMARS, an acronym for ‘High Mobility Artillery Rocket System’ – High Mobility Rocket Artillery System’–. Deployed for the moment on its northwestern border, they are mobile platforms capable of firing 227mm missiles. GPS guided. Its fifty-mile range, accuracy, and ability to fire six rounds at once make it one of the most versatile and deadly weapons in its field. Retired general and military analyst Mick Ryan specified it this way a few months ago: “The fighting in Ukraine is changing.”
From the USSR to NATO
Before the outbreak of World War II, Poland had an anemic air force consisting of 1,900 aircraft. At least on paper. In practice, 650 of them were intended for the training of new pilots and another 700 were obsolete. According to Zaloga, its real potential was only around 392 front-line fighters: 158 fighters, 114 light bombers, 36 medium bombers and 84 observation devices. The models, which ranged from PZL P.11 to the P.7, they were already outdated and could do little against the Teutonic BF109. The comparison was not very flattering also in quantity, since the Third Reich deployed a whopping 2,152 devices to invade the country.
As for today, the reality is that the Polish air force still has a large remnant of Soviet aircraft such as the MIG-29 and Su-22. However, Warsaw strives daily to integrate effectively into NATO, to which it has belonged since 1999. 19 years ago it acquired 48 modernized F-16s – old fighters, but efficient despite everything – and, this same year, will receive as many Korean FA-50s; part of them, a specific version for the country. It is expected that the first European pilots will travel to the Asian country at the end of the year to begin training and take the first steps in what will be the definitive modernization of the army.
#secret #revolution #turned #Polish #army #deadliest #Europe