Warsaw Uprising
Image taken from historyplace.com
During the Second World War, Poland was invaded by German forces. All throughout the country, Polish resistance fought for liberation. When news of the Russian army closing in on Warsaw arrived, the resistance set its plans in motion. All throughout the city, the Polish fighters would launch an uprising against the Germans. Before they would run out of supplies, the Russian Army would arrive and their would be no need for any more fighting. The initial plans went well. The Polish were able to gain control of much of the city, yet no strategic points were taken.
The Russian Army chose to halt its advance outside the city because of fear that the uprising would cost Russian deaths. This decided the fate of the Poles inside. They were quickly defeated by SS soldiers. The participants were executed and the few that managed to escape execution were sent off to labor camps. Once the uprising was silenced, only then did Russian forces move in an assault Warsaw. Thousands of Polish men and women died because of the strategic stupidity on the part of the Russian military.
