Editing Second Polish Republic (section)

==Invasion of Poland in 1939==
[[File:Polish infantry marching -2 1939.jpg|thumb|right|Polish infantry marching, 1939]]
[[File:Defenders of Warsaw (1939).jpg|thumb|[[Polish Army|Polish soldiers]] with anti-aircraft artillery near [[Warsaw Central Station]] during the first days of September 1939]]
{{see also|List of World War II military equipment of Poland}}

The beginning of the [[Second World War]] in September 1939 ended the sovereign Second Polish Republic. The German [[invasion of Poland]] began on 1 September 1939, one week after [[Nazi Germany]] and the [[Soviet Union]] signed the secret [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]]. On that day, Germany and [[Slovak invasion of Poland|Slovakia]] attacked Poland, and on 17 September the [[Soviet Union|Soviets]] [[Soviet invasion of Poland|attacked]] [[Kresy|eastern Poland]]. [[Siege of Warsaw (1939)|Warsaw fell to the Nazis]] on 28 September after a twenty-day siege. Open organised Polish resistance ended on 6 October 1939 after the [[Battle of Kock (1939)|Battle of Kock]], with Germany and the Soviet Union occupying most of the country. [[State of Lithuania|Lithuania]] annexed [[Vilnius Region|the area of Wilno]], and [[Slovak Republic (1939–45)|Slovakia]] seized areas along Poland's southern border – including [[Górna Orawa]] and [[Tatranská Javorina]] - which Poland had annexed from Czechoslovakia in October 1938. Poland did not surrender to the invaders, but continued fighting under the auspices of the [[Polish government-in-exile]] and of the [[Polish Underground State]]. After the signing of the [[German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation]] on 28 September 1939, Polish areas occupied by Nazi Germany either became directly incorporated into Nazi Germany, or became part of the [[General Government]]. The Soviet Union, following [[Elections to the People's Assemblies of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus]] (22 October 1939), annexed eastern Poland partly to the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]], and partly to the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]] (November 1939).
[[File:7TP-2.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Polish [[7TP|7TP light tanks]]]]

Polish war plans ([[Plan West]] and [[Plan East]]) failed as soon as Germany invaded in 1939. The Polish losses in combat against Germans (killed and missing in action) amounted to ca. 70,000 men. Some 420,000 of them were taken prisoners. Losses against the Red Army (which invaded Poland on 17 September) added up to 6,000 to 7,000 of casualties and MIA, 250,000 were taken prisoners. Although the Polish Army – considering the inactivity of the Allies – was in an unfavourable position – it managed to inflict serious losses to the enemies: 20,000 German soldiers were killed or MIA, 674 tanks and 319 armored vehicles destroyed or badly damaged, 230 aircraft shot down; the Red Army lost (killed and MIA) about 2,500 soldiers, 150 combat vehicles and 20 aircraft. The Soviet invasion of Poland, and lack of promised aid from the Western Allies, contributed to the Polish forces defeat by 6 October 1939.
[[File:ORP Orzeł w Gdyni.jpg|thumb|right|[[ORP Orzeł (1938)|ORP Orzeł]] was the [[lead ship]] of [[Orzeł-class submarine|her class]] of [[submarine]]s serving in the [[Polish Navy]] during the Second World War.]]

A popular myth is that [[Polish cavalry]] armed with lances charged German tanks during the September 1939 campaign. This often repeated account, first reported by Italian journalists as [[Polish cavalry#Cavalry charges and propaganda|German propaganda]], concerned an action by the Polish 18th Lancer Regiment near Chojnice. This arose from misreporting of a single clash on 1 September 1939 near [[Charge at Krojanty|Krojanty]], when two squadrons of the Polish 18th Lancers armed with sabers surprised and wiped out a German infantry formation with a mounted saber charge. Shortly after midnight the 2nd (Motorized) Division was compelled to withdraw by Polish cavalry, before the Poles were caught in the open by German armored cars. The story arose because some German armored cars appeared and gunned down 20 troopers as the cavalry escaped. Even this failed to persuade everyone to reexamine their beliefs—there were some who thought Polish cavalry had been improperly employed in 1939.

Between 1945 and 1990, the [[Polish government-in-exile]] operated in London, presenting itself as the only legal and legitimate representative of the [[Polish nation]] and challenging the legitimacy of the [[Polish People's Republic|communist government]] in Warsaw. In 1990, the last president in exile, [[Ryszard Kaczorowski]], handed the presidential insignia to the newly elected [[President of Poland|President]], [[Lech Wałęsa]], signifying continuity between the Second and [[Third Polish Republic|Third]] republics.