View source for Warsaw Uprising

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict    = Warsaw Uprising
| partof      = [[Operation Tempest|Operation ''Tempest'']], World War II
| image       = Warszawa Powstanie 1944-08-04.jpg
| caption     = Polish [[Home Army]] positions, outlined in red, on day 4 (4 August 1944)
| date        = 1 August – 2 October 1944 (2 months and 1 day)
| place       = [[Warsaw]], [[Poland]]
| coordinates = {{Coord|52|13|48|N|21|00|39|E|region:PL_type:event_scale:50000|display=inline,title}}
| result      = German victory
* Planned destruction of Warsaw
| combatant1  = {{flagicon image|Flaga PPP.svg}} [[Polish Underground State]]<br>
{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Royal Air Force]] including Polish squadrons
<br />(4 August – 21 September)
<br /> Polish First Army (from 14 September)<ref name="davies" /><br /> Soviet Air Force (from 14 September)
<br />{{flagicon|South Africa|1928}} [[South African Air Force]]<ref name="university" />
<br /> [[USAAF]]
<br />(18 September only)
| combatant2  = {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} [[Nazi Germany]] (and auxiliaries from German-controlled [[Lithuania]] and German-controlled [[Ukraine]]
| commander1  = [[Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski]]{{POW}}<br />[[Tadeusz Pełczyński]] {{POW}}<br />[[Antoni Chruściel]]{{POW}}<br />[[Karol Ziemski]] {{POW}}<br /> [[Edward Pfeiffer]] {{POW}}<br />[[Leopold Okulicki]]<br /> [[Jan Mazurkiewicz]] <br />[[Konstantin Rokossovsky]] <br />[[Zygmunt Berling]]
| commander2  = [[Walter Model]] <br /> [[Nikolaus von Vormann]] <br /> [[Rainer Stahel]] <br /> [[Erich von dem Bach]] <br /> [[Heinz Reinefarth]] <br />[[Bronislav Kaminski]] <br />[[Petro Dyachenko]]
| strength1   = Range 20,000<ref name="Borodziej, Włodzimierz 2006" /> to 49,000<ref name="Borowiec, Andrew 2001" /> (initially)
| strength2   = Range 13,000<ref name="borodziej" /> to 25,000<ref name="ReferenceA" /> (initially)
| casualties1 = '''Polish insurgents''': <br /> 10,000 [[Killed in action|KIA]]<ref name="FAQ" />
<br /> 5,200–6,000 [[missing in action|MIA]]<ref name=FAQ />
<br />
5,000 [[Wounded in action|WIA]]<ref name=FAQ />
<br /> 15,000 [[prisoner of war|POW]]<ref name=FAQ />
<br /><br />
'''Berling 1st Army''': 5,660 casualties<ref name=FAQ />
----150,000–200,000 civilians killed,<ref name="borowiec" /> 700,000 expelled from the city.<ref name=FAQ />
| casualties2 = '''German forces''': <br /> 7,000–9,000 KIA<ref name=FAQ />
<br /> 7,000 MIA<ref name=FAQ />
<br /> 9,000 WIA<ref name=FAQ />
<br /> 2,000 POW<ref name=FAQ />
---- 310 tanks and armoured vehicles, 340 trucks and cars, 22 artillery pieces and one aircraft<ref name=FAQ />
| campaignbox = 
}}
In 1944, the Polish resistance Home Army  rebelled against [[Nazism|Nazi]] [[occupation]] of [[Warsaw]]. This [[rebellion]] is known as the '''Warsaw Uprising'''. The resistance Home Army wanted to free [[Warsaw]] from [[Nazi Germany]]. The resistance army fought against German troops for 63 days. After that, there was no chance of winning, so they surrendered. German troops killed many [[Civilian|civilians]] in the city. After the uprising, the city of Warsaw was destroyed almost completely. At the time of the uprising, the [[Red Army]] was stationed on the other side of the river [[Vistula]], which runs through the city of Warsaw.  

The Uprising was the largest attack done by any European [[Resistance movement|resistance]] movement of World War II.<ref name="sortdropdown" /> The [[Slovak National Uprising]], which happened from 29 August to 28 October 1944, is comparable.

== Overview ==
At the same time as the attack, the [[Soviet Union]]'s [[Red Army]] got close to the east of the city and the German forces retreated.<ref name="uprising" /> However, the Soviets stopped moving forward. This allowed the Germans to destroy the city and defeat the Polish resistance.

The Warsaw uprising began on 1 August 1944. It was part of a big plan, [[Operation Tempest|Operation ''Tempest'']]. Operation Tempest started when the Soviet Army got near Warsaw. The goals of the Polish resistance were to push the German troops out of the city. They also wanted to free Warsaw before the Soviets arrived. This would help the [[Polish Underground State]] to take control of the city.

At the start of the battle, the Polish resistance got control over most of central Warsaw.  By 14 September, Polish forces under Soviet command captured the east bank of the [[Vistula]] river.  

[[Winston Churchill]] asked [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] and [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] to help the Polish troops, but the Soviets would not help. Churchill sent over 200 drops of supplies by air. The [[US Army Air Force]] sent one drop of supplies by air.

About 16,000 members of the Polish resistance were killed and about 6,000 were badly wounded. In addition, between 150,000 and 200,000 Polish civilians were killed. The Germans also found many [[Judaism|Jews]] the Poles were hiding. 

More than 8,000 German soldiers were killed or went missing, and 9,000 were wounded. During the fighting in the city about a quarter  of Warsaw's buildings were destroyed. After the surrender of Polish forces, German troops destroyed 35% of the city.

==Background==
By July 1944, Poland had been occupied by Nazi German troops for almost five years. The [[Armia Krajowa|Polish Home Army]] was loyal to the [[Polish government-in-exile|Polish government in London]]. It had planned to attack the Germans. Germany was fighting a group of [[Allies of World War II|Allied powers]], led by the [[Soviet Union]], the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United States]].

At the start, the plan of the Home Army was to join with the invading forces of the [[Western Allies]] as they freed Europe from the Nazis. In 1943, the Soviets were about to reach the pre-war borders of Poland before the Allied invasion of Europe got very far.<ref name="davies1" />

The Soviets and the Poles were both enemies of Nazi Germany. But they had different goals. The Home Army wanted a [[Democracy|democratic]] [[Capitalism|capitalist]] Poland that was allied with the West. The Soviet leader [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] wanted to make Poland a [[Communism|communist]] country that was allied to the Soviet Union.
[[File:Flaga PPP.svg|thumb|A [[Flag of Poland|Polish flag]] with an "[[Kotwica|anchor]]" device was used as an emblem by the Polish resistance.]]
The Soviets and the Poles did not trust each other. [[Soviet partisans in Poland]] often disagreed with Polish resistance troops that were allied to the Home Army.<ref name="polandinexile.com" />

Stalin stopped all [[Poland–Russia relations|Polish-Soviet relations]] on 25 April 1943 after the Germans told the world about the [[Katyn massacre]] of Polish army officers. Stalin refused to admit that he ordered the killings.

The Home Army commander, [[Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski]] made a plan on 20 November, called [[Operation Tempest|Operation ''Tempest'']]. On the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]], local units of the Home Army were to attack the German ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' and help Soviet troops.

==Evening before the battle==
[[File:Tadeusz Bor Komorowski.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski]] commanded the Polish Home Army]]
On 13 July 1944 as the Soviet attack crossed the old [[Polish border]], the Poles had to make a decision. They could either start to attack the Germans, which might not be supported by the Soviets, or do no attacks and be criticized by the Soviets.

The Poles were worried that if Poland was freed from German occupation by the Red Army, then the Allies would not accept the [[Polish government-in-exile|Polish government in London]] after the war.

When the Poles saw the actions of the Soviet forces, they realized they needed to make a decision. In [[Operation ''Ostra Brama'']], [[NKVD]] forces shot or arrested Polish officers and forced lower ranks to join the Soviet-controlled Polish forces.<ref name="warsawuprising372" />

On 21 July, the Home Army decided to launch Operation ''Tempest'' in Warsaw soon.<ref name="davies2" /> The plan was intended as a way of showing Poland was its own country and as an attack against the German occupiers.<ref name=FAQ /> On 25 July, the Polish government-in-exile (against the views of Polish Commander-in-Chief General [[Kazimierz Sosnkowski]]<ref name="borowiec3" />) approved the plan for an uprising in Warsaw.<ref name="davies4" />

In the early summer of 1944, German plans required Warsaw to be the defensive centre of the area. The Germans wanted to hold on to Warsaw no matter how many losses they had. The Germans had built fortifications and sent many new troops to the area. This slowed after the failed '20 July plot' to kill [[Adolf Hitler]]. The German troops in Warsaw were weak and did not feel confident.<ref name="Poloniatoday 2009" /><ref name="site_text" />

However, by the end of July, German forces in the area had new troops sent to them.<ref name="Poloniatoday 2009"/> On 27 July, the Governor of the Warsaw District, [[Ludwig Fischer]], called for 100,000 Polish men and women to build fortifications around the city.<ref name="davies5" /> The inhabitants of Warsaw did not follow his demand.

The Home Army became worried about possible [[revenge]] actions by the Germans or mass [[Arrest|arrests]], which would make it hard for the Poles to start an attack.<ref name="borowiec6" /> The Soviet forces were approaching Warsaw, and Soviet-controlled [[Radio station|radio stations]] called for the Polish people to attack the Germans.<ref name="Poloniatoday 2009"/><ref name="borowiec7" />

On 25 July, the [[Union of Polish Patriots]] made a radio broadcast from Moscow. It told Poles to attack the Germans.<ref name="documentation" /> On 29 July, the first Soviet [[Tank|tanks]] reached the edges of Warsaw. They were counter-attacked by two German [[Panzer|Panzer Corps]]: the 39th and 4th SS.<ref name="David M. Glantz 2001" /> On 29 July 1944 Radio Station Kosciuszko located in Moscow told Poles to "Fight The Germans!".<ref name="selection" /><ref name="warsawuprising" />

Bór-Komorowski and several senior officers held a meeting on that day. [[Jan Nowak-Jeziorański]], who had arrived from London, said support from the Allies would be weak.<ref name="google69" /> On 31 July, the Polish commanders General [[Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski]] and Colonel [[Antoni Chruściel]] ordered the Home Army forces to be ready by 17:00 the following day.<ref name="davies8" />

== Wola massacre ==
During the uprising, [[Heinrich Himmler]] had given the order to storm [[Wola]], a part of Warsaw. The rebels were holding this quarter. Himmler ordered that all people in Wazaw, who were not German, must be killed. This order was applicable to both civilians, and fighters, and also did not take into account if the people supported the uprising. With this order, Himmler wanted to break down the resistance of the Polish people against the German occupation. As a result, there were mass killings of people, mostly between August 5 and August 7. Estimates are that between 20,000 and 30,000 civilians were killed. in these three days. According to sources, about 20 German soldiers were killed, about 40 were wounded. Until August 12, about 50,000 Polish civilians lost their lives in Wola. 
==References==
{{commonscat}}
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="davies">{{cite book| last = Davies| first = Norman| title = Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw| year = 2004| publisher = Pan Macmillan| isbn = 978-0-330-48863-1 }}</ref>
<ref name="university">Neil Orpen (1984). Airlift to Warsaw. The Rising of 1944. University of Oklahoma. {{ISBN|978-83-247-0235-0}}.</ref>

<ref name="borowiec">Borowiec, p. 179.</ref>

<ref name="Borowiec, Andrew 2001">{{cite book| last = Borowiec| first = Andrew| title = Destroy Warsaw!: Hitler's Punishment, Stalin's Revenge| url = https://archive.org/details/destroywarsawhit0000boro| year = 2001| publisher = Praeger Publishers| isbn = 978-0-275-97005-5| page = [https://archive.org/details/destroywarsawhit0000boro/page/6 6] }}</ref>

<ref name="borowiec3">Borowiec, p. 4 and Davies, p. 213.</ref>

<ref name="borowiec6">Borowiec, p. 5.</ref>

<ref name="borowiec7">Borowiec, p. 4 and Davies, pp. 164–165.</ref>

<ref name="borodziej">Borodziej, p. 75.</ref>

<ref name="Borodziej, Włodzimierz 2006">Borodziej, Włodzimierz (2006). The Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Translated by Barbara Harshav. University of Wisconsin Press. {{ISBN|978-0-299-20730-4}} p. 74.</ref>

<ref name="David M. Glantz 2001">David M. Glantz (2001). The Soviet-German War 1941–1945: Myths and Realities: A Survey Essay Retrieved on 24 October 2013</ref>

<ref name="davies1">Davies, pp. 204–206.</ref>

<ref name="davies2">Davies, p. 209.</ref>

<ref name="davies4">Davies, pp. 210–211.</ref>

<ref name="davies5">Davies, p. 117.</ref>

<ref name="davies8">Davies, p. 232.</ref>

<ref name="documentation">''The Tragedy of Warsaw and its Documentation'', by the Duchess of Atholl D.B.E. Hon. D.C.L. LL.D. F.R.C.M. (1945, London)</ref>

<ref name="FAQ">{{cite web|title=FAQ: Warsaw Uprising 1944|url=http://www.warsawuprising.com/faq.htm|publisher=Project InPosterum website|accessdate=20 June 2014|year=2013|archive-date=29 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929145555/http://www.warsawuprising.com/faq.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="polandinexile.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.polandinexile.com/rising.htm|title=Poland in Exile - The Warsaw Rising|website=www.polandinexile.com|accessdate=24 February 2024}}</ref>

<ref name="Poloniatoday 2009">"Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Part 1 – "Introduction"". Poloniatoday.com. Retrieved 3 February 2009.</ref>

<ref name="ReferenceA">Comparison of Forces, Warsaw Rising Museum</ref>

<ref name="selection">Pomian, Andrzej. The Warsaw Rising: A Selection of Documents. London, 1945</ref>

<ref name="site_text">{{Cite web|url=https://www.1944.pl/index.php?a=site_text&id=12352&se_id=12352|title=Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego|website=www.1944.pl|accessdate=24 February 2024}}</ref>

<ref name="sortdropdown">(POL)[http://alpha.bn.org.pl/search*pol/t?SEARCH=Europa+podziemna+1939-1945+%2F+Eugeniusz+Duraczy%C5%84ski%2C+Jerzy+Janusz+Terej.&sortdropdown=-&searchscope=5Duraczyński, Jerzy Janusz Terej, ''Europa podziemna 1939-1945'', Warszawa 1974] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114210748/http://alpha.bn.org.pl/search*pol/t?SEARCH=Europa+podziemna+1939-1945+%2F+Eugeniusz+Duraczy%C5%84ski%2C+Jerzy+Janusz+Terej.&sortdropdown=-&searchscope=5Duraczy%C5%84ski%2C |date=2017-11-14 }}</ref>

<ref name="uprising">Stanley Blejwas, A Heroic Uprising in Poland , 2004</ref>

<ref name="warsawuprising">{{Cite web |url=http://www.warsawuprising.com/doc/kosciuszko.htm |title=full text of broadcast |access-date=2013-12-28 |archive-date=2020-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112002820/http://www.warsawuprising.com/doc/kosciuszko.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name="google69">Włodzimierz Borodziej (2006). The Warsaw Uprising of 1944. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 69, 70. {{ISBN|978-0-299-20730-4}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=YHO0F65ifDIC&pg=PA69&dq=jan+nowak+uprising+july+29&hl=en]</ref>

<ref name="warsawuprising372">[http://www.warsawuprising.com/paper/nkvd.htm The NKVD Against the Home Army (Armia Krajowa)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121073022/http://www.warsawuprising.com/paper/nkvd.htm |date=2021-01-21 }}, Warsaw Uprising, based on Andrzej Paczkowski. ''Poland, the "Enemy Nation"'', pp. 372–375, in ''Black Book of Communism. Crimes, Terror, Repression''. Harvard University Press, London, 1999.</ref>

}}
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