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==Invasion of Poland==

==Invasion of Poland==

[[File:58692.gif|thumb|300px|left|By terms of a secret protocol to the [[Nazi-Soviet pact]], [[Poland]] was partitioned with Germany and the USSR each occupying 200,000 square kilometers.]]

[[Image:Brest-litowsk.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Joint victory parade of Nazi and Soviet armies, Brest-Litovsk, Poland, September 22, 1939. ''Courtesy Pauli Kruhse (Finland)'']]

{{See also|Molotov-Ribbentrop pact|World War II: 1939}}

{{See also|Molotov-Ribbentrop pact|World War II: 1939}}

The major tactical innovation of the war was the use of combined arms warfare, typified by the German doctrine of [[blitzkrieg]]. In this style of warfare armor, infantry, artillery and air power (see [[Luftwaffe]]) all coordinate to achieve overwhelming superiority at a point on the enemy lines. Armor and fast-moving infantry units then exploit the gap and penetrate deep behind enemy lines. The objective is to cause a widespread collapse of the enemy's ability to fight. It was particularly effective during the early stages of the war, before the Allies developed effective countermeasures.

The major tactical innovation of the war was the use of combined arms warfare, typified by the German doctrine of [[blitzkrieg]]. In this style of warfare armor, infantry, artillery and air power (see [[Luftwaffe]]) all coordinate to achieve overwhelming superiority at a point on the enemy lines. Armor and fast-moving infantry units then exploit the gap and penetrate deep behind enemy lines. The objective is to cause a widespread collapse of the enemy's ability to fight. It was particularly effective during the early stages of the war, before the Allies developed effective countermeasures.

On September 17, 1939, Poland was invaded from the east by Hitler's ally, [[Josef Stalin|Stalin]].

On September 17, 1939, Poland was invaded from the east by Hitler's ally, [[Josef Stalin|Stalin]]. Before the month was out, the [[Nazi]] and [[Soviet]] armies staged a [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/winter99-00/art6.html joint victory parade] through the streets of occupied Brest-Litovsk, [[Poland]],<ref>Olaf Groehler, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/isbn/3928787012 Selbstmorderische Allianz: Deutsch-russische Militarbeziehungen, 1920-1941]'' (Berlin: Vision Verlag 1993), pp. 21-22, 123-124; [[#refNekrich97|Nekrich 1997]]: 131. Cf. Anthony Read and David Fisher, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=kMtmAAAAMAAJ The deadly embrace: Hitler, Stalin, and the Nazi-Soviet Pact, 1939-1941]'' (M. Joseph, 1988), ISBN 0718129768, p. 336; Nigel Thomas, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=JBwBUSg1PoUC World War II Soviet Armed Forces (1): 1939-41]'' (Osprey Publishing, 2010), ISBN 1849084009, p. 15; Norman Davies, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Jzxt9FFBDPwC Rising '44: the battle for Warsaw]'' (Viking, 2004), ISBN 0670032840, p. 30</ref> where the Soviets handed over to the Gestapo some 600 prisoners, "most of them Jews."<ref>Louis Rapoport, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=5rZtAAAAMAAJ Stalin's war against the Jews: the doctors' plot and the Soviet solution]'' (Free Press, 1990), ISBN 0029258219, p. 57. Cf. Guy Stern, "[http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/site/pp.asp?c=gvKVLcMVIuG&b=395031 Writers in Extremis]," ''Simon Wiesenthal Center annual, Vol. 3'' (Rossel Books, 1986), p. 91; Robert Conquest, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ubXQSk2qfXMC The Great Terror: A Reassessment]'' (Oxford University Press US, 2007), ISBN 0195317009, p. 402; Richard J. Evans, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=iG4ud0PxeDMC The Third Reich in Power]'' (Penguin, 2006) ISBN 0143037900, p. 694</ref>

In 1939-1940, eastern Poland, [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]] and [[Bessarabia]] were invaded and annexed by the Soviet Union.

In 1939-1940, eastern Poland, [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]] and [[Bessarabia]] were invaded and annexed by the Soviet Union.