Torq
22 Jun 2025
History / Why didn't Britain declare war on USSR for invading Poland in 1939? [103]
But there was such a plan, wasn't there? Operation Inconceivable, or something like that. Fair play to Churchill for even making such plans. Without American willingness to help they couldn't have been realised, we understand that.
Look... every country has its peasant (and I don't mean farmers - the salt of the earth - but mental and moral peasants). Who do you think left Poland for the UK? Our elites who did well in Poland, had great education, great jobs and brilliant future ahead of them? Think again. Those were by and large peasants, and people who think otherwise can read the YT comments section, as you very rightly point out.
As for the resentment that some Poles might have felt towards Great Britain, there's more to it than just disappointment regarding the phoney war in the West in 1939 (and it applies more to the French--they had the largest land army in Europe back then, not the Brits). In my circles people from previous generations used to talk more about the way our generals were treated in the UK after the war, it's just a long story of grievances and bitterness (justified or not).
After the war, around 120-130 Polish generals found themselves in exile, mostly in Britain. These included commanders from the September Campaign, the Anders Army, and the Polish Armed Forces in the West. They could not return to Poland, which had fallen under Soviet control (also, because they had their citizenship revoked by the communist government in Warsaw). Their wartime efforts were not officially recognized by the British government - there was little support for Polish officers in general, financial or institutional. Generals were often forced to take low-paid or manual labour jobs to survive - General Stanisław Sosabowski (commander of the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade) worked as a warehouseman, Gen. Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski - former commander of the Home Army was an upholsterer in London. Others became janitors, factory workers, or caretakers etc. You could say "hey, each to their own - you've got to crack on" and you would be right, but those officers very often came from noble families, owned real estate confiscated by the communists, and never had to do a day of work in their lives. You can imagine the resentment caused by the forced poverty coupled with the sense of political betrayal (justified or not).
But that's all only really relevant to the 20th century. I think you may be getting a wrong impression that it matters to people in modern Poland. It doesn't.
As for your remarks about the imprudence of the Warsaw Uprising, attitude of a part of civilian population to the surviving Jews, and the eternal victim complex, there is some truth to it. All these things haven't been properly processed within Polish collective memory, and I would be the last person to deny that. The problem with national collective attitudes is that it takes bloody ages for them to change. Look at Hungarians - they are still sore about the Treaty of Trianon in 1920! Not to mention Poles and partitions (of which we ourselves are largely to blame).
But hey - if you want to be a Don Quixote battling the windmills of historical burdens, ancient grievances and sore arses, I'm not going to stop you. I shall, instead, observe your efforts with reasonable benevolence and mild amusement. Good luck! :)
We were really meant to march eastward straight after WW2 and start another one, just for you?
But there was such a plan, wasn't there? Operation Inconceivable, or something like that. Fair play to Churchill for even making such plans. Without American willingness to help they couldn't have been realised, we understand that.
see any comments section of any YouTube
Look... every country has its peasant (and I don't mean farmers - the salt of the earth - but mental and moral peasants). Who do you think left Poland for the UK? Our elites who did well in Poland, had great education, great jobs and brilliant future ahead of them? Think again. Those were by and large peasants, and people who think otherwise can read the YT comments section, as you very rightly point out.
As for the resentment that some Poles might have felt towards Great Britain, there's more to it than just disappointment regarding the phoney war in the West in 1939 (and it applies more to the French--they had the largest land army in Europe back then, not the Brits). In my circles people from previous generations used to talk more about the way our generals were treated in the UK after the war, it's just a long story of grievances and bitterness (justified or not).
After the war, around 120-130 Polish generals found themselves in exile, mostly in Britain. These included commanders from the September Campaign, the Anders Army, and the Polish Armed Forces in the West. They could not return to Poland, which had fallen under Soviet control (also, because they had their citizenship revoked by the communist government in Warsaw). Their wartime efforts were not officially recognized by the British government - there was little support for Polish officers in general, financial or institutional. Generals were often forced to take low-paid or manual labour jobs to survive - General Stanisław Sosabowski (commander of the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade) worked as a warehouseman, Gen. Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski - former commander of the Home Army was an upholsterer in London. Others became janitors, factory workers, or caretakers etc. You could say "hey, each to their own - you've got to crack on" and you would be right, but those officers very often came from noble families, owned real estate confiscated by the communists, and never had to do a day of work in their lives. You can imagine the resentment caused by the forced poverty coupled with the sense of political betrayal (justified or not).
But that's all only really relevant to the 20th century. I think you may be getting a wrong impression that it matters to people in modern Poland. It doesn't.
As for your remarks about the imprudence of the Warsaw Uprising, attitude of a part of civilian population to the surviving Jews, and the eternal victim complex, there is some truth to it. All these things haven't been properly processed within Polish collective memory, and I would be the last person to deny that. The problem with national collective attitudes is that it takes bloody ages for them to change. Look at Hungarians - they are still sore about the Treaty of Trianon in 1920! Not to mention Poles and partitions (of which we ourselves are largely to blame).
But hey - if you want to be a Don Quixote battling the windmills of historical burdens, ancient grievances and sore arses, I'm not going to stop you. I shall, instead, observe your efforts with reasonable benevolence and mild amusement. Good luck! :)
