Misplaced Pages

#440559

45-573: In September 1939, he served at Westerplatte military transit depot, which took part in the Battle of Westerplatte . The Polish garrison fought against overwhelming odds and repulsed all German attacks from 1 to 7 September. After the surrender, he was imprisoned in several German POW camps. He wrote two books about his experiences during the Battle of Westerplatte: Dziennik Bojowy załogi Westerplatte (1945) and Wspomnienia z obrony Westerplatte (1957). Dąbrowski

90-515: A Basic National Security Policy paper which stated unequivocally that “the United States and its allies must reject the concept of preventive war, or acts intended to provoke war.” Winston Churchill was more resolved on the preventive war. He argued repeatedly in the late 1940s that matters needed to be brought to a head with the Soviets before it was too late, while the United States still enjoyed

135-526: A backdrop of tactical intelligence or warning indicating imminent military action by an adversary." The majority view is that a preventive war undertaken without the approval of the United Nations is illegal under the modern framework of international law . The consensus is that preventive war "goes beyond what is acceptable in international law" and lacks legal basis. The UN High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change stopped short of rejecting

180-466: A beach, a forested park, a seaside bath complex and health spa facilities. Following the reestablishment of Polish independence in the aftermath of World War I , much of the surrounding region became a part of the Second Polish Republic . The city of Danzig (present day Gdańsk ), a historically important port city, at that time predominantly ethnically German, became an independent city state,

225-490: A crossfire. Another two assaults that day were repelled as well, with the Germans suffering unexpectedly high losses. Over the coming days, the Germans repeatedly bombarded Westerplatte with naval artillery and heavy field artillery along with dive-bombing raids by Stukas. Repeated attacks by 570 German soldiers were repelled by the 180 Polish soldiers for seven days. Major Henryk Sucharski had been informed that no help from

270-616: A desire to destroy the US Pacific Fleet to allow Japan to advance with reduced opposition from the US when it secured Japanese oil supplies by fighting against the British Empire and the Dutch Empire for control over the rich East Indian ( Dutch East Indies , Malay Peninsula ) oil-fields. In 1940, American policies and tension toward Japanese military actions and Japanese expansionism in

315-528: A local level this was also done to put pressure on the Danzig government which was trying to renounce prior agreement on shared Danzig-Polish control over harbor police and take sole control of that unit. Polish troops were withdrawn by 16 March, after protests from the League, Danzig and Germany, in exchange for Danzig withdrawing its objections to the harbor police agreement. According to another source, on 14 March 1933

360-425: A question of whether but of when… If you say why not bomb them tomorrow, I say why not today?" Other renowned scientists and thinkers, such as Leo Szilard , William L. Laurence , James Burnham, and Bertrand Russell . joined the preventive effort. The preventive war in the late 1940s was argued by “some very dedicated Americans.” “Realists” repeatedly proposed the preventive war. "The argument—prevent before it

405-682: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Westerplatte Westerplatte ( Polish pronunciation: [vɛstɛrˈplatɛ] , [ˈvɛstɛrplatɛ] , German pronunciation: [ˈvɛstɐplatə] ) is a peninsula in Gdańsk , Poland , located on the Baltic Sea coast mouth of the Dead Vistula (one of the Vistula delta estuaries ), in the Gdańsk harbour channel. From 1926 to 1939, it

450-418: Is an armed conflict "initiated in the belief that military conflict, while not imminent, is inevitable, and that to delay would involve greater risk." The party which is being attacked has a latent threat capability or it has shown that it intends to attack in the future, based on its past actions and posturing. A preventive war aims to forestall a shift in the balance of power by strategically attacking before

495-570: Is inevitable, and it was senseless to permit the Russians to develop a nuclear parity with the United States. Hence the sooner the preventive war come the better, because the first strike is almost surely decisive and less devastating. Dean Acheson and James Burnham adhered to the version that the war is not inevitable but is already going on, although the American people still do not realize it. The US military sector widely and wholeheartedly shared

SECTION 10

#1733085295441

540-475: Is often thought that the communist authorities preferred to maintain the myth of Sucharski, a heroic son of a peasant and shoemaker, than to support his deputy, Dąbrowski, who was born into a szlachta family. It was not until the 1990s that the truth about Sucharski and Westerplatte started to become more widely known. This biographical article related to the military of Poland is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This World War II article

585-628: Is the final chance for the Soviet Government to decide whether it desires to survive or not. In 1953, Eisenhower wrote in a summary memorandum to his Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles : In present circumstances, "we would be forced to consider whether or not out duty to future generations did not require us to initiate war at the most propitious moment we could designate.” In May 1954, the JCS’s Advance Study Group proposed to Eisenhower to consider “deliberately precipitating war with

630-605: Is to enforce the obligation of member states under Article 4, Paragraph 2 to "refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state . . . The Charter's drafters assumed that the Council might need to employ preventive force to forestall aggression such as initiated by Nazi Germany in the 1930s. The Axis powers in World War II routinely invaded neutral countries on grounds of prevention and began

675-521: Is too late—was quite common in the early atomic age and by no way limited to “the lunatic fringe.” A famous atomic scientist expressed a concern: In 1946, public discussion of international problems, in the United States at least, "has moved dangerously towards a consideration of so-called preventive war. One sees this tendency perhaps most markedly in the trend of news in Americans newspapers." Bernard Brodie noted that at least prior to 1950, preventive war

720-590: The Free City of Danzig . The Free City was nominally run by the League of Nations , but over time became increasingly allied with Germany. In 1921, the League of Nations granted Poland the right to install an ammunition depot near Gdańsk, and station a garrison there. Despite some objections from the Free City, this right was confirmed in 1925, where the location was agreed on with the choice of Westerplatte. Westerplatte

765-665: The Manhattan Project ) and CIA Director Walter Bedell Smith . NSC -100 and several studies by SAC and JCS during the Korean War advocated preventive war too. In Congress, preventive warriors counted Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Nitze , expert on the Soviet Union Charles E. Bohlen of the State Department, Senators John L. McClellan , Paul H. Douglas , Eugene D. Millikin , Brien McMahon (Chairman of

810-539: The invasion of Poland in 1939 by claiming the Poles had attacked a border outpost first. In 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway and argued that Britain might have used them as launching points for an attack or prevented supply of strategic materials to Germany. In the summer of 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union , inaugurating the bloody and brutal land war by claiming that a Judeo-Bolshevik conspiracy threatened

855-584: The Atomic Energy Committee), William Knowland and Congressman Henry M. Jackson . The diplomatic circle included distinguished diplomats like George Kennan , William C. Bullitt (US Ambassador to Moscow), and John Paton Davies (from the same embassy). John von Neumann of the Manhattan Project and later a consultant for the RAND Corporation expressed: "With the Russians it is not

900-509: The China coast … and that we intend to destroy every military base in Manchuria … by means now at our control and if there is any further interference we shall eliminate any ports or cities necessary to accomplish our peaceful purposes. This means all-out war. It means Moscow, St. Petersburg, Mukden, Vladivostok, Beijing… and every manufacturing plant in China and the Soviet Union will be eliminated. This

945-639: The East-West confrontations that marked the first decade of the Cold War, well-placed officials in both the Truman and Eisenhower administrations urged their Presidents to launch preventive strikes on the Soviet Union. Entry in Truman’s secret personal journal on January 27, 1952 tells: It seems to me that the proper approach now would be an ultimatum with a ten-days expiration limit informing Moscow that we intend to blockade

SECTION 20

#1733085295441

990-762: The Far East increased. For example, in May 1940, the base of the US Pacific Fleet that was stationed on the West Coast was forwarded to an "advanced" position at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu , Hawaii . The move was opposed by some US Navy officials, including their commander, Admiral James Otto Richardson , who was relieved by Roosevelt. Even so, the Far East Fleet was not significantly reinforced. Another ineffective plan to reinforce

1035-616: The Free City of Danzig, without warning opened fire on the Polish garrison. This was followed by an attack by Oblt. Wilhelm Henningsen ’s storm unit from the Schleswig-Holstein and the Marinestosstruppkompanie . Soon after crossing the artillery-breached brick wall, the attackers were ambushed by the Polish defenders, with small arms, mortar and machine-gun fire from concealed and well-positioned firing points that caught them in

1080-566: The Iraqi "regime is a grave and gathering danger." However, despite extensive searches during the several years of occupation, the suspected weapons of mass destruction or weapons program infrastructure alleged by the Bush administration were not found to be functional or even known to most Iraqi leaders. Coalition forces instead found dispersed and sometimes-buried and partially dismantled stockpiles of abandoned and functionally expired chemical weapons. Some of

1125-435: The League did authorize Poland to strengthen the garrison. Over the years, the Poles also constructed clandestine fortifications . These were not very impressive: there were no real bunkers or tunnels, but only five small concrete outposts (guardhouses) hidden in the peninsula's forest and a large barracks prepared for defence, supported by a network of field fortifications such as trenches and barricades . Several of

1170-622: The Pacific was a rather late relocation of fighter planes to bases located on the Pacific islands like Wake Island , Guam , and the Philippines . For a long time, Japanese leaders, especially leaders of the Imperial Japanese Navy , had known that the large US military strength and production capacity posed a long-term threat to Japan's imperialist desires , especially if hostilities broke out in

1215-492: The Pacific. War games on both sides had long reflected those expectations. The 2003 invasion of Iraq was framed primarily as a preemptive war by the George W. Bush administration , although President Bush also argued it was supported by Security Council Resolutions: "Under Resolutions 678 and 687--both still in effect--the United States and our allies are authorized to use force in ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction." At

1260-640: The Polish Army would come. Cut off, with no reinforcements or chance of resupply, he continued his defence, keeping the main German force stalled at Westerplatte and so preventing further attacks along the Polish coast. On 7 September, the Major decided to surrender, due to lack of ammunition and supplies. As a sign of honour for the soldiers of Westerplatte, the German commander, Gen. Eberhardt , allowed Major Sucharski to keep his sword while being taken prisoner. The ruins of

1305-633: The Reich. In late 1941, the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran was carried out to secure a supply corridor of petrol to the Soviet Union. Iranian Shah Rezā Shāh appealed to US President Franklin Roosevelt for help but was rebuffed on the grounds that "movements of conquest by Germany will continue and will extend beyond Europe to Asia, Africa, and even to the Americas, unless they are stopped by military force." Perhaps

1350-764: The Russians by 1953. “1950 may have marked the high tide of ‘preventive war’ agitation…” According to Gallup poll of July 1950, right after the outbreak of the War, 14% of the polled opined for the immediate declaration of war on the USSR, the percentage which only slightly declined by the end of the War. “So preventive war thinking was surprisingly widespread in the early nuclear age, the period from mid-1945 through late 1954.” The preventive warriors remained minority in America’s postwar political arena, and Washington’s elder statesmen soundly rejected their arguments. However, during several of

1395-429: The USSR in the near future,” before Soviet thermonuclear capability became a real menace. The same year, Eisenhower asked in a meeting of National Security Council: “Should the United States now get ready to fight the Soviet Union?” and pointed out that “he had brought up this question more than once at prior Council meetings and he had never done so facetiously.” By the fall 1954, Eisenhower made his mind up and approved

Franciszek Dąbrowski - Misplaced Pages Continue

1440-404: The balance of power has had a chance to shift in the favor of the targeted party. Preventive war is distinct from preemptive strike , which is the first strike when an attack is imminent. Preventive uses of force "seek to stop another state . . . from developing a military capability before it becomes threatening or to hobble or destroy it thereafter, whereas [p]reemptive uses of force come against

1485-467: The buildings were reinforced with concrete. With tensions rising, in early 1939, the garrison was placed on alert. On 1 September 1939, only minutes after the German Luftwaffe (air force) had begun the invasion of Poland by dropping bombs in a series of raids on the city of Wieluń by Junkers Ju 87 Stukas , at 04:48 local time, the battleship Schleswig-Holstein , then on a courtesy visit to

1530-504: The caches had been dangerously stored and were leaking, and many were then disposed of hastily and in secret, leading to secondary exposure from improper handling. Allegations of mismanagement and information suppression followed. Since 1945, World War III between the US and the USSR was perceived by many as inevitable and imminent. Many high officials in the US military sector and some renowned luminaries in non-military fields advocated preventive war. According to their rationale, total war

1575-563: The concept outright but suggested that there is no right to preventive war. If there are good grounds for initiating preventive war, the matter should be put to the UN Security Council , which can authorize such action, given that one of the Council's main functions under Chapter VII of the UN Charter ("Action with Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression")

1620-633: The defenders' barracks and guardhouses are still there. After the war, one of the guardhouses (#1) was converted into a museum. Two 280mm shells from the Schleswig-Holstein prop up its entrance. A Monument of the Coast Defenders ( Pomnik Obrońców Wybrzeża ) was unveiled in 1966. Westerplatte Museum dedicated to the 1939 battle was created in 2015. 54°24′27″N 18°40′17″E  /  54.40750°N 18.67139°E  / 54.40750; 18.67139 Preventive war A preventive war

1665-419: The idea of preventive war. Most prominent proponents included Defense Secretary Louis A. Johnson , JCS Chairman Admiral Arthur W. Radford , Navy Secretary Francis P. Matthews , Admiral Ralph A. Ofstie , Air Force Secretary W. Stuart Symington, Air Force Chiefs Curtis LeMay and Nathan F. Twining , Air Force Generals George Kenney and Orvil A. Anderson , General Leslie Groves (the wartime commander of

1710-520: The most famous example of preventive war is the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on December 7, 1941. Many in the US and Japan believed war to be inevitable. Coupled to the crippling US economic embargo that was rapidly degrading the Japanese military capability, that led the Japanese leadership to believe it was better to have the war as soon as possible. The sneak attack was partly motivated by

1755-463: The time, the US public and its allies were led to believe that Ba'athist Iraq might have restarted its nuclear weapons program or been "cheating" on its obligations to dispose of its large stockpile of chemical weapons dating from the Iran–Iraq War . Supporters of the war have argued it to be justified, as Iraq both harbored Islamic terrorist groups sharing a common hatred of the United States and

1800-454: Was a “live issue … among a very small but earnest minority of American citizens.” The dating of Brodie is too short, as the preventive war doctrine has had increasing support since the Korean War started. The late summer 1950 saw “a flurry of articles” in the public press dealing with preventive war. One of them in Time magazine (September 18, 1950) called for a buildup, followed by a “showdown” with

1845-665: Was awarded the Order of Virtuti Militari V class, the Gold Cross of Merit , the Medal for Odra, Nysa and the Baltic and the Grunwaldzka Badge. During the postwar years, Melchior Wańkowicz 's mythologised account of Henryk Sucharski as a brave commander enduring under hopeless odds became the main source of information on Westerplatte action. The myth was propagated in numerous books and films. It

Franciszek Dąbrowski - Misplaced Pages Continue

1890-488: Was not allowed to construct fortifications. On 6 March 1933, in what became known as the westernmost incident (or crisis), the Polish government landed a marine battalion, briefly strengthening the outpost to about 200 men. This was done to demonstrate the Polish resolve to defend the outpost in response to recent comments by German politicians and media figures about the need of border adjustment and Poland and France were secretly discussing preventive war against Germany; on

1935-660: Was primarily separated from the New Port of the Free City of Danzig by the harbour channel, with only a small pier connecting them to the mainland; the Polish-held part of the Westerplatte was separated from the territory of Danzig by a brick wall. The depot was completed in November 1925 and became operational in January 1926. The Polish garrison's size was set at 88 soldiers, and Poland

1980-480: Was suspected to be developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Iraq's history of noncompliance of international security matters and its history of both developing and using such weapons were factors in the public perception of Iraq's having weapons of mass destruction . In support of an attack on Iraq, US President George W. Bush stated in an address to the UN General Assembly on September 12, 2002 that

2025-415: Was the location of a Polish Military Transit Depot (WST), sanctioned within the territory of the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk). It is famous for the Battle of Westerplatte , which was the first clash between Polish and German forces during the invasion of Poland and thus the beginning and the first battle of World War II. The resort was established on the Westerplatte peninsula around 1830 which had

#440559