Warsaw Uprising

Warsaw Uprising
Part of Operation Tempest, World War II
Polish Home Army positions, outlined in red, on day 4 (4 August 1944)
Date 1 August – 2 October 1944 (2 months and 1 day) Location Warsaw, Poland 52°13′48″N 21°00′39″E / 52.23000°N 21.01083°E / 52.23000; 21.01083Coordinates: 52°13′48″N 21°00′39″E / 52.23000°N 21.01083°E / 52.23000; 21.01083 Result German victory Destruction of the city
Belligerents
Polish Underground State Royal Air Force including Polish squadrons (4 August – 21 September) South African Air Force US Army Air Force (only on 18 September) Polish First Army (from 14 September) Soviet Air Force (from 13 September)	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (POW) Tadeusz Pełczyński  (POW) Antoni Chruściel (POW) Karol Ziemski  (POW) Edward Pfeiffer  (POW) Leopold Okulicki Jan Mazurkiewicz Zygmunt Berling Konstantin Rokossovsky	Walter Model Nikolaus von Vormann Rainer Stahel Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski Heinz Reinefarth Bronislav Kaminski Oskar Dirlewanger Petro Dyachenko
Strength
Range 20,000 to 49,000 (initially)	Range 13,000 to 25,000 (initially)
Casualties and losses
Polish resistance: 10,000 KIA 5,200–6,000 MIA 5,000 WIA 15,000 POW Berling 1st Army: 5,660 casualties	German forces: 7,000–9,000 KIA 7,000 MIA 9,000 WIA 2,000 POW 310 tanks and armoured vehicles, 340 trucks and cars, 22 artillery pieces, one aircraft
150,000–200,000 civilians killed, 700,000 expelled from the city.

Polish resistance:
10,000 KIA
5,200–6,000 MIA
5,000 WIA
15,000 POW

The Warsaw Uprising (Polish: Powstanie Warszawskie; German: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army (Polish: Armia Krajowa) to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. The uprising was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces. However, the Soviet advance stopped short, enabling the Germans to regroup and demolish the city while defeating the Polish resistance, which fought for 63 days with little outside support. The Uprising was the largest single military effort taken by any European resistance movement during World War II.

The Uprising began on 1 August 1944, as part of a nationwide plan, Operation Tempest, when the Soviet Army approached Warsaw. The main Polish objectives were to drive the German occupiers from the city and help with the larger fight against Germany and the Axis powers. Secondary political objectives were to liberate Warsaw before the Soviets, to underscore Polish sovereignty by empowering the Polish Underground State before the Soviet-backed Polish Committee of National Liberation could assume control. Also, short-term causes included the threat of a German round-up of able-bodied Poles, and Moscow radio calling for the Uprising to begin.

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