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Fall Weiss ("Case White", "Plan White"; German spelling ''Fall Weiß'') was the German strategic plan for the
Fall Weiss ("Case White", "Plan White"; German spelling ''Fall Weiß'') was the German strategic plan for the invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...
. The German military High Command finalized its operational orders on 15 June 1939 and the invasion commenced on 1 September, precipitating World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
Background
The origins of the plan went back to 1928, whenWerner von Fritsch
Thomas Ludwig Werner Freiherr von Fritsch (4 August 1880 – 22 September 1939) was a member of the German High Command. He was Commander-in-Chief of the German Army from February 1934 until February 1938, when he was forced to resign after h ...
started working on it. ''Fall Weiss'' was developed primarily by Günther Blumentritt and Erich von Manstein
Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Manstein (born Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Lewinski; 24 November 1887 – 9 June 1973) was a German Field Marshal of the ''Wehrmacht'' during the Second World War, who was subsequently convicted of war crimes and ...
while the two were serving as staff officers under General Gerd von Rundstedt with Army Group South in Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is spli ...
.
Details
The plan called for a start of hostilities before the declaration of war. German units were to invade Poland from three directions: * A primary attack from the German mainland across the western border of Poland. * A secondary attack from the north, from the exclave ofEast Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1 ...
.
* A tertiary attack by German and allied Slovak units across the border of Slovakia.
All three assaults were to converge on Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...
while the main Polish army was to be encircled and destroyed west of the Vistula River.
The plan was initiated on 1 September 1939 and was the first European military operation of World War II.
See also
*Plan Zachód
Plan West ( pl, Plan Zachód) was a military plan of the Polish Army of the Second Polish Republic, for defence against invasion from Nazi Germany. It was designed in the late 1930s.
Background
While Józef Piłsudski was the dictator of Poland, ...
for the Polish defence plan
* German order of battle for Operation Fall Weiss
* List of Axis operational codenames in the European Theatre
Other German plans named for colors:
* Fall Rot ("Case Red") (1935) – planned defense against an incursion by France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
following a German invasion of Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
.
* Fall Grün (Czechoslovakia) ("Case Green") (1938) – planned invasion of Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
.
* Fall Gelb ("Case Yellow") (1940) – also known as the "Manstein Plan", the offensive against Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
.
* Fall Grün (Ireland) ("Case Green") (1940) – planned invasion of Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
* Fall Blau ("Case Blue") (1942) – summer offensive on the Eastern Front in southern Russia.
* Fall Weiss ("Case White") (1943) – joint Axis operation against Partisans throughout occupied Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fall Weiss Military campaigns involving Germany Invasion of Poland