#messy bloodlands bullshit

[historicity-was-already-taken]

last post of the night i promise

tbh i'm posting this to get my untangling of this political messiness written down clearly.

The Polish Home Army (the Armja Krajowa, or, AK) staged an Uprising in Warsaw in August 1944 as the Germans seemed to be fleeing West away from the front, and the Red Army approached the outskirts of the city. The Polish Communist underground (the Armja Ludowa, or AL) was also there, but they didn't have the contacts with the Polish Government-in-Exile that the AK did--plus the AL couldn't reveal themselves to the AK because the AK would have shot them.

So Stalin learns that the AK has staged an uprising, and instead of being like "Ok cool yes let's go help liberate Warsaw" he's like "lol no no no do nothing, put your weapons down, stop marching West, and let the Polish patriots and the Nazis murder each other because once I'm done with Nazis ima crush Polish nationalism and be in charge of Poland after the war."

And England was like "ummm we kind of joined this war after Germany violated Poland's borders; shouldn't we like, do something?" And Stalin was like "lol sit down Winston."

So the Germans call for re-enforcements while the Red Army is waiting for the Germans and Poles to destroy each other, massacre thousands of civilians, and burn Warsaw to the ground. Also some members of the AK shoot Jewish fighters who who'd managed to survive up until that point.

And then the Red Army didn't march in until January, 1945.