Warsaw Pact Invasion of Poland

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On 5 February 1982, the Soviet Union, and later the German Democratic Republic and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic invaded the shortly lived Provisional Democratic Government of Poland following the overthrowing of General Wojciech Jaruzelski's government in December 1981.

Throughout much of the late 1970s, communist Poland found itself in a deep economic recession. The First Secretary, Edward Gierek acquired several loans from foreign lenders to try and end the recession by achieving higher economical output. However, the country instead fell into further debt and the recession worsened. The government imposed strict rationing on essential goods, acting as a stimulus towards the establishment of the first anti-communist trade union in the Communist Bloc, known as Solidarity, in 1980. Gierek, who permitted the trade union to operate, was dismissed as the First Secretary and was placed under house arrest. General Wojciech Jaruzelski replaced Gierek and found himself leading the country through a time of protests and strikes. Determined to end the instability, Jaruzelski was ready to use force if necessary.

Shortly before midnight on 12 December, 1981, the Council of State voted in favor of an introduction to martial law in the country. Just after midnight on December 13, Operation Fir commenced. State Services began arresting hundreds of Solidarity members without previous trials. Later in the morning at 60:00 Jaruzelski announced the introduction of martial law through a televised address. An extraconstitutional military junta, the Military Council of National Salvation (WRON), was formed to rule Poland during the time. The Polish People's Army, Citizens' Militia (MO), ZOMO special paramilitary units, and tanks were deployed on the streets to demoralize demonstrators, begin regular patrols, control strategic enterprises, and maintain curfew. Intercity travelling without a permit was forbidden, food shortages intensified, and censorship was placed on all media and correspondence. The secret services (SB) wiretapped phones in public booths and state institutions.

On 15 December, at the Wujek coal mine in Katowice, the mostly conscripted soldiers of the People's Army found common cause with the striking miners. The nearby members of the ZOMO militia were forced out of the area by the soldiers without a single shot being fired. By the next day, the news of soldiers finding common ground with the miners reached other areas of the country, and soldiers in Kraków, Poznań, Łódź, Gdańsk and Radom mutinied against those that were still loyal to Jaruzelski. By 18 December, entire divisions of the People's Army, including the entire branch of the Navy mutinied against the government. By the early morning several units were approaching the capital, forcing Jaruzelski to flee to the Soviet Union by air. By noon the parliamentary building was stormed, and an end to the People's Republic was proclaimed.

Under the pretext of supplying humanitarian aid, the United States and other countries launched Operation Angel Wings, supplying the Polish Army with light and portable weapons such as the M47 Dragon, the BGM-71 TOW, the FiM-43 Redeye, and small batches of the newly introduced FiM-92 Stinger. James Rodriguez, a USAF whistleblower told CBS news of the secret shipment of weapons, leading to the Soviet Union finding out and forcing the operation to be cancelled.

The Soviet Union initially planned to swiftly seize the newly established Polish government similar to that of Operation Danube in 1968. However, the resistance of the Polish defenders was greater than anticipated, forcing the German Democratic Republic and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic to intervene by opening new fronts in the country. Although the Polish government fell on May 2, members of the New Home Army conducted guerilla operations against the stationed Soviet troops and the new loyal government until the democratization period started in 1988.

Background

Reforms of Edward Gierek and Economic Crisis (1970 - 1981)

After Gierek succeeded Gomułka as the First Secretary, he initiated a set of new reforms to boost the economic growth of the country. His reforms were met with heavy criticism from the communist opposition as they were more liberal and went directly against principles of a centrally planned Marxist economy. The state loosened its control of several enterprises around the country and several small private businesses started appearing in large cities. Through the same period of economic liberalization the country experienced GDP growth and improved living conditions.

Due to his close relationship with leaders in the United States such as President Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, Gierek's government was permitted to borrow large sums of money from creditors in the western sphere. However, due to the government spending more, the debt accumulated and the repayment rates become slower, creditors in the west refrained from granting further loans to Poland.

Mixed with protests throughout the 1970s and the oil crisis of 1979, the economy started taking a slump. Demand outpaced the supply of several goods and shortages became common. As a result, the government introduced rationing on several products such as sugar, meat, and dairy. Imported goods from foreign nations such as coffee and tobacco became so scarce that they became the new currency on the black market.

Following the strikes of 1980, Gierek was forced with little to no choice but to negotiate with the Solidarity movement. Granting them status as the first trade union in the Communist bloc.

Jaruzelski's Tenure and Martial Law

Prelude to Martial Law

After the short tenure of Stanisław Kania, General and Minister of Defence Wojciech Jaruzelski was chosen as the new first secretary. Before assuming office, Jaruzelski ordered the Polish General Staff to update plans for a nationwide martial law on 22 October 1980.

On 5 December 1980, Kania spoke of the preparations relating to martial law at the Warsaw Pact Summit in Moscow. He presented his own view of how to weaken Solidarity and insisted that a "psychological-operational method" would be most appropriate to prevent violence. This method entailed strong propaganda against the movement and deploying secret services (SB) to go undercover and infiltrate Solidarity headquarters in the hope of creating internal conflicts within the opposition. General Jaruzelski was not fully satisfied with the plan, and, in case of failure, already planned radical actions involving the army. Stanisław Kania warned Brezhnev that an armed intervention from the Soviet side to aid Jaruzelski would be met "with a violent reaction, or even with a national uprising" that would shake the politics of the Eastern Bloc.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, chief security advisor to US president Jimmy Carter, stated that if the Soviet Union would undertake an armed intervention in Poland, the US would strike back in a riposte manner. According to historian and publicist Paul Kengor, then-US president Ronald Reagan considered sending American troops to Poland to scare off the Soviets. This claim was not supported by Brzezinski nor by Richard Pipes from Harvard University. Kengor then elaborated that Reagan eventually abandoned the plan after he was convinced by his own advisors that the US army stationed across Europe was less capable and much weaker than the Soviet forces. The United States eventually struck back with economic sanctions against Poland and the USSR.

In July, the Soviets increased their military presence in the military base at Borne Sulinowo, where the Red Army stationed per Warsaw Pact agreement as in all other Eastern Bloc countries. Without notifying the Polish authorities, the Soviets unexpectedly sent over 600 tanks to Borne Sulinowo. A month later, commander-in-chief of the Warsaw Pact, Viktor Kulikov, requested that Soviet military advisors be placed in the Polish General Staff and assigned to nearly all Polish regiments. It is suspected that Kulikov, acting on behalf of the Soviet Union, was tasked with sending undercover KGB agents to monitor the situation in Poland from the Polish military's perspective. His request, however, was immediately denied by the Polish government.

13 December 1981; Operation Fir and Introduction of Martial Law

On 12 December 1981, shortly before midnight, the Polish Council of State gathered in Warsaw's Belweder Palace and approved nationwide martial law. Simultaneously, the Military Council of National Salvation (WRON – Wrona is translated as "Crow") was founded and its members were high-ranking generals or military officers in the Polish People's Army, who were in charge of the military junta. The generals and officers later became known to the public as evil "Crows", in relation to the Polish name of the council.

At precisely 00:00, the Motorized Reserves of the Citizens' Militia (ZOMO) began "Akcja Jodła" (English: Operation Fir) and arrested the first members of Solidarity who were at close reach. They were then placed in previously-prepared detention facilities. In total, between 70,000 and 80,000 soldiers of the People's Army and 30,000 functionaries of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (including SB, ZOMO and the militia) were deployed for action. Around 1,750 tanks, 1,900 armoured combat vehicles, 500 militarized transport units, 9,000 cars and several helicopter squadrons were in service. Twenty-five per cent of all units concentrated in the capital, Warsaw, or in surrounding localities.

Preceding Jodła was "Akcja Azalia" (English: Operation Azalea), which began at around 22:30 on 12 December. Per Azalea, the SB secret services, paramilitary troops, the Militia, ZOMO and Border Protection Troops stormed 451 telecommunications exchange facilities and cut telephone lines to allegedly prevent the spread of misinformation. However, the operation's true purpose was preventing Solidarity from contacting its branches in other cities to mobilize protesters. Radio and television stations were also besieged. Any volunteers wishing to assist in the arrests were drafted into ORMO.

At 06:00 General Jaruzelski announced the introduction of marshal law through a televised address.

15 - 18 December 1981; Overthrow of the Government

Just two days after the restrictions were imposed, the miners at Wujek Coal Mine in Katowice began striking against the introduction of martial law by General Jaruzelski. Through the day, Jaruzelski ordered ZOMO and ORMO squads to move in and suppress the strikes by any means necessary. However, as the squads moved in with vehicles equipped with water cannons, the mainly conscripted soldiers of the People's Army began protecting the protestors by blocking the water cannons with their APCs. The confusion amongst the ZOMO and ORMO squads lead to their withdrawal as the soldiers outnumbered them with combat vehicles. The small number of the loyal officers amongst the soldiers were quickly surrounded and disarmed by the soldiers.

By the next day the news of the mutiny at the Wujek Coal Mine reached other units of the People's Army, causing further mutinies in several areas of the country. Although the mutinies were largely bloodless due to Jaruzelski's government being hugely unpopular, some exchanges of fire occurred.

On 16 December, as the 6th Mechanized Regiment advanced on the A4 highway near Krakow, an Mi-24 of the Polish Air Force opened fire on the convoy with unguided rockets, leading to the death of 3 soldiers, and 14 injured. A nearby soldiers responded by shooting down the Mi-24 with an 9K34 Strela-3 rocket.

On 17 December, the Polish Navy mutinied in its home port of Gdynia. However, the crew of the ORP Warszawa remained loyal to the government, leading to an exchange of gunfire at the port. After a few hours the crew attempted to scuttle the destroyer but the seafloor was too shallow, causing moderate damage to the ship that was repaired by the initial invasion later in February. The crew of the ship was disarmed and detained with no deaths but 2 injuries.

In the early mornings of 18 December, units from all around the country were closing in on Warsaw. General Jaruzelski seeing no choice, fled the country to the Soviet Union from Warsaw Okęcie Airport via his Tu-154. Members of the ZOMO and ORMO dispersed as they did not want to fight a battle with no chance of victory and without real leadership. By noon of the same day, antigovernmental forced occupied the parliamentary building and proclaimed an end to the Polish People's Republic.

The Interwar Period

Government Takeover

Czesław Piątas, a major within the 10th Armored Division was selected to rule the country due to his close links with the Solidarity movement before the initiation of martial law. As one of his first acts, Piątas ordered the rounding up and execution of ZOMO and ORMO leaders. This act drew heavy criticism from western leaders as many believed that the new provisional government wouldn't have such authoritarian acts. On 23 December, Piątas announced that free elections will go ahead in April 1982, shortly after media and censorship rules were relaxed. Within the Armed Forces pro-communist leaders were removed and replaced. On 30 December, Piątas resigned as the head of state and fled to the United States due to fears for the lives of his family members. He was replaced shortly after by Bogdan Borusewicz.

Western Support

On 21 December, the CIA presented President Ronald Reagan with credible information that the Soviet Union will attempt an invasion of Poland to restore a pro-communist government within less than 3 months. Shortly after Reagan invited several NATO leaders to discuss the ongoing situation in Poland and to present them with a plan to arm the country once an invasion occurs. Just 2 days later on 23 December, the leaders agreed to arm the Poles with specialized weapons to cause as much casualties against the Soviets. The delivery of the weapons was agreed to be kept secret and that it should be delivered under a false narrative of humanitarian aid.

On 26 December, under Operation Angel Wings, the flow of humanitarian aid to Poland began via air. Only a selected number of members in the Polish army were made aware of the weapon supply due to fear of someone alerting the Soviets. By 8 January 1982, the Poles began hiding the delivered anti-tank and anti-air weapons in caches around the country to cause as much damage through guerilla warfare after the Soviets take over. A few days later, on 12 January, James Rodriguez, a USAF loadmaster for the C-141s leaked to CBS news that weapons were being secretly delivered to Poland. The next day the Soviet Union demanded a stoppage to the shipment or else it would establish an air blockade of the country. Seeing no other choice, Operation Angel Wings was suspended the same day.

President Reagan signed a law on January 24 granting refugee status to any Pole that left the country and arrived into the United States. By the next day all LOT tickets to the United States were fully sold out for the next month. The ocean liner, TSS Stefan Batory, was also fully booked and began non stop transatlantic journeys between Poland and the United States up until the invasion. As the invasion was apparent to the public, on its last journey to the United States the entry crew was overwhelmed with people that didn't purchase tickets previously, and the ship left with a compliment of 3,016 passengers, almost 4 times as much as it could normally carry.

Warsaw Pact's Military Buildup

In early January 1982, the Soviet Union announced military exercises that would begin on the Polish border on 20 January that would go on until 10 February. A total of 225,000 Soviet troops were deployed to the Polish border between 11 January and 5 February. On 22 January, the Czechoslovak and East German governments announced joint exercises from 30 January until 20 February. Knowing that this was just a pretext for the invasion, the Polish military began preparing defenses within the country for the upcoming attack.

As the military exercises started, the Soviets began reinforcing its garrison of its troops at the bases in Szprotawa and Świętoszów with an additional 15,000 men, 350 tanks, 400 IFVs, and 100 pieces of artillery. On February 1 all Warsaw Pact nations issued travel restrictions to Poland. By the next day the Soviet Union removed all of its nuclear weapons from the country. On 4 February, just a day before the invasion all Warsaw Pact nations evacuated their respective embassies in Poland. Important documents were burned in the courtyards of the embassies, raising suspicion among the Polish government which led to all reservists being called up on the same day.

The Invasion

Initial Soviet Attacks

At 01:00 on 5 February 1982, KGB agents within Poland began sabotaging communication cables, railway lines, and destroyed some radio towers. Just a little over an hour after at 02:20 130 Kh-20 cruise missiles were launched from Tu-95 bombers towards the Polish airspace. 92 Missiles successfully struck their targets such as airbases, barracks, radar and air defense sites, the rest were either shot down or missed. Although some missiles targeted airbases, majority of the Polish aircraft fleet managed to escape or were moved before.

5 February - 25 February; The Initial Invasion

At exactly 03:00 on 5 February, Soviet forces crossed the border in Poland at several locations. Through the first day convoys were ambushed and attacked by Polish anti-tank teams leading to high casualties and the slowly down of the advancement. Nevertheless, by the end of the first day the Soviets reached towns and cities such as Ostrów Mazowiecka, Rzeszów, and Lublin.

By the end of the first week the invasion didn't appear to be going to plan for the Soviets. The Soviets finally reached the Polish defensive lines along the Vistula and among the eastern flat plains. The initial attacking force didn't expect to encounter heavy Polish resistance and as such not much supplies were prepared. Behind the lines, Polish guerilla fighters began ambushing Soviet supply and helicopters with ATGMs and MANPADS. The situation in the northern marshes became so bad for the Soviets that an order was given out to completely bypass that area and not to take it. In the western region, Soviet forces from East Germany relived the garrisons at Szprotawa and Świętoszów with little resistance.

By the end of the month the situation went from "worse to terrible" as described by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990. Casualties among the Soviet forces reached 4,000 and it was apparent that the Poles were prepared for the invasion. Although the East German and Czechoslovak militaries weren't meant to partake in the invasion but were only meant to divert Polish forces to their borders, Moscow began urging the leaders of the countries to intervene. Hungary publicly refused and announced that it would take in Polish refugees.

On 7 February, a flight of two Polish Mi-24s managed to fly into Kaliningrad and destroy several oil silos before safely returning to Poland. The Soviet air defense sites were so unprepared for attack that they believed the Mi-24s were their own without confirming it by radio. On 16 February, several Polish OTR-21 Tockha ballistic missiles struck Stryi airbase, destroying 4 MiG-23s on the ground and hitting an ammunition site.

By 25 February the Soviet forces captured the entirety of the right bank of the Vistula from the Baltic Sea to Serock. Although fighting was going on in the eastern suburbs of Warsaw, everywhere else on the frontline the advancement was halted to allow for the arrival of supplies and reinforcements.

26 February - 17 March; Second Phase

On 26 February, Dmitry Ustinov was dismissed as the Minister of Defence by Leonid Brezhnev. Sergei Sokolov's record in Afghanistan impressed Brezhnev, allowing him to be selected as Ustinov's successor. Just a day after his appointment, Sokolov ordered an attack along the southern front towards Kraków. He ordered the commanding officers to advance alongside the right side of the Vistula and to encircle as much Polish units as possible before advancing further. Just 4 days later the Soviet forces on the southern front reached the outskirts of the city.

4 Days later in the north, the Soviets crossed the Vistula with the aim of capturing the coast. Although the Poles counter attacked and almost encircled the advancing Soviet forces, the Soviets managed to reorganize themselves and pushed the Poles back. By the end of the week Gdańsk and Gdynia were captured. As the Soviet bridgehead across the Vistula expanded and fighting in Bydgoszcz grew larger, the East German leadership was debating an intervention.

18 March - 11 April; East German Intervention and Third Phase

After long domestic debate and constant pressure from Soviet diplomats the East Germans finally decided to cross the border into Poland on 18 March. The next day the Soviets launched their third phase of the war with the hopes of closing the Polish pocket to the Baltic and linking up with the Germans. The East German command decided to take a more slow and steady approach to advancing in Poland, deliberately ignoring forests and large wooded areas as they expected the Poles to ambush them. On 27 March the Soviets and the East German troops linked up for the first time in Koszalin.

By now the Soviets diverted units from Afghanistan to Poland with the aims of quickly defeating the Poles through larger numbers. The entirety of the Polish Air Force was now destroyed but the threat of MANPADS still posed a large enough risk to prevent low flying aircraft from supporting the advancing armies.

As the East Germans and Soviets linked up near Borne, a large pocket of almost 35,000 Polish soldiers became encircled in the north. With a breakout impossible, and the Soviets attacking from all sides, a surrender order was issued.

By now the advancement picked up more pace, the Soviets and the East Germans were pushing from the north towards Poznań, and the fighting in Kraków ended, allowing for a massive spearhead push to Katowice.

12 April - 2 May; Czechoslovak Intervention and Surrender

As the Soviets advanced on Katowice the Polish pocket in the Subcarpathian region decided to launch a raid towards Sambir in the Ukrainian SSR to put pressure off the Poles in the south and allow them to prepare a more organized defensive line. However, with the attack on Sambir the Soviets asked Prague to intervene as it would collapse the Polish front due to a lack of their own defenses on the Czechoslovak border.

Prague agreed, and on the morning of 12 April Czechoslovak troops pushed into Poland almost entirely unopposed. By the next day the Czechoslovak troops captured Opole and Brzeg. The intervention by the Czechoslovaks threw the Poles off guard, with their strength number dwindling and ammunition running low, a retreat was ordered to the Warsaw area. As the Poles retreated they enacted a partial scorched earth policy with the hopes to cause as much damage to up reconstruction cost for the future government. Oil refineries and silos were destroyed, bridges were blown up, and coal mines were collapsed.

By 18 April around 85,000 Polish soldiers created a defensive perimeter around Warsaw. Civilians aided the military in constructing defensive sites such as trenches, and ambush points to slow down the Pact's advance. The next day the Soviets announced that they would destroy the city and the defenders, creating a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians and surrendering Poles to leave.

The battle for Warsaw lasted till 30 April, by then the city was without power and a large portion of it was destroyed. The defenders were pushed back to the city center but were so disorganized that they could do little to stop the advancing Pact troops. By morning of that day a surrender order was issued for the Poles in the city.

Although the battle in Warsaw ended on 30 April, the last Polish defenders around the country surrendered on 2 May after negotiations guaranteed them passage home instead of becoming POWs.

The Air War

Main Article: Air Campaign over Poland in 1982

Although the Soviets attempted to destroy the Polish Air Force on 5 February, the majority of the aircraft were able to take-off before the cruise missiles arrived at the airbases. The Soviet Air Forces never followed up with secondary strikes, allowing the Poles to continue using their fighters.

The aircraft number of the Polish Air Force wasn't large, just 37 MiG-23s and 27 Su-20s, but they still managed to cause enough damage to the Soviets. On the opening day of the invasion the Soviets believed that the Polish Air Force was largely inoperable and allowed the usage of military aircraft within its airspace as if there was no opposition. However, after the first day the Soviets lost 8 aircraft, prompting them to be more cautious.

The last action by the Polish Air Force was on 2 April, when the last MiG-23 was shot down over Kielce by an East German MiG-23.

Although Polish aircraft weren't threatening to the Pact, MANPADS were, and over 60 Pact aircraft were shot down by MANPADS usage.

The Naval War

Main Article: Naval Campaign in Poland 1982

Late at night on the 6 February a flight of 3 Tu-22 bombers launched 9 Kh-22 anti-ship missiles at the recently repaired ORP Warszawa in Gdynia. The destroyer was hit by all 9 missiles and was set ablaze after numerous ammunition detonations. By the morning the ship sunk near the port.

On 25 February at approximately 20:57 in the Gulf of Gdańsk, the Soviet Kashin-class destroyer, Obraztsovy, was hit and sunk by 2 Polish P-15 anti-ship missiles. It took over 8 hours for the ship to sink with a loss of 33 crew members.

The only action conducted by a submarine during the war was by ORP Bielik. On 7 March the Whiskey-class submarine hit and sunk a Soviet oil tanker in the Baltic sea with 2 torpedoes. The submarine was spotted and sunk by the Soviet frigate Bditelnyy later in the day.

Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Although the official number of civilian casualties vary, scholars agree that the number is between 12,000 and 20,000. Research conducted by the United Nations found the list of 6,830 dead civilians through names. However, the full list could be larger and the number of injured from the conflict is not recorded.

Military Casualties

Only Czechoslovakia published a full casualty list in 1983. The list named 78 killed and 205 injured.

Although the East German government never published a full list of casualties, following the reunification with West Germany in 1990 an unclassified paper was released that listed the number of deaths at 318. The injury list for the East German side is unknown, however it ranges anywhere from 500 to 5,000.

According to a speech by Yuri Andropov, only around 1,000 Soviet soldiers died during the invasion. However, independent research focusing on military reports during the war in 1982 show that the Soviets lost 4,000 soldiers in the first month of the war. Based on information found by the Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, the names of 9,104 Soviet soldiers can be found as KIA. The number of injured is unknown, but it is believed to be between 15,000 and 30,000.

Due to the disorganization in the Polish defenses during the war it is impossible to find the true casualty number. As of 2024, a paper published by the Jagiellonian University in Kraków found the names of 7,578 dead. However, the number is believed to be much higher ranging anywhere in the 15,000 to 30,000 dead range, and 17,000 to 50,000 wounded.