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Independence for Poland was one of the 14 points enunciated by [[President Woodrow Wilson]] during [[World War I]]. Many Polish Americans enlisted in the military services to further this aim, and the United States worked at the postwar conference to ensure its implementation.  

Independence for Poland was one of the 14 points enunciated by [[President Woodrow Wilson]] during [[World War I]]. Many Polish Americans enlisted in the military services to further this aim, and the United States worked at the postwar conference to ensure its implementation.  

 

However, the Poles were largely responsible for achieving their own independence in 1918 and keeping it shortly thereafter against [[Polish-Soviet War|Red aggression]] from [[Bolshevik]] Russia.  Authoritarian rule predominated for most of the period before [[World War II]]. In the years preceding the outbreak of the World War 2, German leader, Adolf Hitler, repeatedly requested an alliance with Poland. On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the [[Ribbentrop-Molotov nonaggression pact]], which secretly provided for the dismemberment of Poland into Nazi and Soviet-controlled zones. On September 1, 1939, Hitler ordered his troops into Poland. On September 17, Soviet troops invaded and then occupied eastern Poland under the terms of this agreement. On October 6, all remaining Polish resistance inside Poland ceased and Poland fell to Soviet and German occupation. The eastern half of Poland known as the Kresy, was annexed into the Soviet republics of Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Poland was completely occupied by German troops.  

However, the Poles were largely responsible for achieving their own independence in 1918 and keeping it shortly thereafter against [[Polish-Soviet War|Red aggression]] from [[Bolshevik]] Russia.  Authoritarian rule predominated for most of the period before [[World War II]]. In the years preceding the outbreak of the World War 2, German leader, Adolf Hitler, repeatedly requested an alliance with Poland. On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the [[Ribbentrop-Molotov nonaggression pact]], which secretly provided for the dismemberment of Poland into Nazi and Soviet-controlled zones. On September 1, 1939, Hitler ordered his troops into Poland. On September 17, Soviet troops invaded and then occupied eastern Poland under the terms of this agreement. On October 6, all remaining Polish resistance inside Poland ceased and Poland fell to Soviet and German occupation. The eastern half of Poland known as the Kresy, was annexed into the Soviet republics of Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Poland was completely occupied by German troops.  

The Poles formed an underground resistance movement and a government in exile, first in [[Paris]] and later in [[London]], which was recognized by the Soviet Union. During World War II, 400,000 Poles fought under Soviet command, and 200,000 went into combat on Western fronts in units loyal to the Polish government in exile.  

The Poles formed an underground resistance movement and a government in exile, first in [[Paris]] and later in [[London]], which was recognized by the Western powers. During World War II, 400,000 Poles fought in the Polish Home Army under Soviet command, whereas 200,000 went into combat on Western fronts in units loyal to the Free Polish government in exile.  

In April 1943, the Soviet Union broke relations with the Polish government in exile after the German military announced that they had discovered mass graves of murdered Polish army officers at [[Katyn]], in the U.S.S.R. (The Soviets claimed that the Poles had insulted them by requesting that the [[Red Cross]] investigate these reports.) In July 1944, the Soviet Red Army entered Poland and established a communist-controlled "Polish Committee of National Liberation" (PKWN) at Lublin.  

After the German military announced that they had discovered mass graves of murdered Polish army officers at [[Katyn]] in April 1943, the Soviet Union broke relations with the Polish government in exile. The Soviets claimed that the Poles had insulted them by requesting that the [[Red Cross]] investigate these reports. In July 1944, the Soviet Red Army entered Poland and established a communist-controlled "Polish Committee of National Liberation" (PKWN) at Lublin.  

Resistance against the Nazis in [[Warsaw]], including uprisings by Jews in the Warsaw ghetto and by the Polish underground, was brutally suppressed. As the Germans retreated in January 1945, they leveled the city.  

Resistance against the Nazis in [[Warsaw]], including uprisings by Jews in the Warsaw ghetto and by the Polish underground, was brutally suppressed. As the Germans retreated in January 1945, they leveled the city while Red Army units waited just outside.<ref>Solzhenitsyn writes: "''in October, 1944, the Germans threw in Kaminsky's brigade—with its Moslem units—to suppress the Warsaw uprising. While one group of Russians sat traitorously dozing beyond the Vistula, watching the death of Warsaw through binoculars, other Russians crushed the uprising!"'' The Gulag Archipelago Three (1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation I-II, p. 257. [http://ia700304.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/29/items/Gulag_Archipelago_I/Gulag_Archipelago_jp2.zip&file=Gulag_Archipelago_jp2/Gulag_Archipelago_0267.jp2&scale=6&rotate=0]</ref>

During the war, about 6 million Poles were killed, and 2.5 million were deported to Germany for forced labor. More than 3 million Jews (all but about 100,000 of the Jewish population) were killed in death camps like those at Oswiecim ([[Auschwitz]]), Treblinka, and Majdanek.  

During the war, about 6 million Poles were killed, and 2.5 million were deported to Germany for forced labor. More than 3 million Jews (all but about 100,000 of the Jewish population) were killed in death camps like those at Oswiecim ([[Auschwitz]]), Treblinka, and Majdanek.