DISINFO: September 17, 1939, did not change the course of the war for Poland in a significant way
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: pl.sputniknews.com (archived)*
  • Date of publication: September 17, 2020
  • Outlet language(s): Polish
  • Reported in: Issue 212
  • Countries / regions discussed: Poland, Russia
Tags:
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact Historical revisionism Red Army USSR WWII Nazi/Fascist

DISINFO: September 17, 1939, did not change the course of the war for Poland in a significant way

SUMMARY

Regardless of how disappointed we felt, September 17, 1939 [beginning of the Soviet attack at Poland], was not a date that changed the course of the war in some significant way for Poland. The Polish army defended itself in a heroic way, but it had outdated military equipment, a terrible command model and the Polish allies were situated too far away.

RESPONSE

This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism and an attempt to erode the disastrous historical consequences of the Soviet attack on Poland in September 1939. The claim that the Soviet attack on Poland did not have any significant effects on the course of the war for Poland is a cynical attempt to downplay the historical importance of the Soviet participation in the partition of Poland realised together with Nazi Germany. On August 23, 1939, Nazi Germany and the USSR signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with a Secret Supplementary Protocol, which divided Poland and other Eastern European countries between these two totalitarian powers. On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany attacked Poland while the Soviet Union's attack at Poland started on September 17 – in this way, Nazi Germany and the USSR started the implementation of the Secret Supplementary Protocol to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Read similar examples of the Russian historical revisionism concerning this issue - Signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact thwarted the UK’s expansionist plans in Europe, The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact did not violate the rights of the Polish state, The shift of all blame for WWII outbreak at the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact the best example of manipulation of history.

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Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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