Anti-communist resistance in Poland (1944–1953)

Resistance against the communist government in Poland

Further information: Cursed soldiers

Anti-communist resistance in Poland

Part of anti-communist resistance in Poland (1944–1989) and anti-communist insurgencies in Central and Eastern Europe

"Cursed soldiers" of the anti-communist Polish underground (1947). Photograph from the Solidarność Walcząca archives.
| Date| 1944–1953 (last partisan Józef Franczak was killed in 1963)

|

Location|

Polish People's Republic, Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union

Result|  Government victory
Belligerents
Cursed soldiers|

* Poland
* Soviet Union

Commanders and leaders

* Łukasz Ciepliński
* Witold Pilecki
* Zygmunt Szendzielarz
* Romuald Rajs
* Józef Kuraś †
* ...and others

* Bolesław Bierut
* Stanisław Radkiewicz
* K. Rokossovsky
* Lavrentiy Beria
* Ivan Serov

Units involved

* Freedom and Independence
* NIE
* Citizens' Home Army
* Peasants' Battalions
* National Armed Forces

...and others|

* Red Army
* NKVD
* SMERSH
* Polish People's Army
* Internal Security Corps
* ORMO
* Citizens' Militia
* Department of Security

Strength
20,000 partisans|

* 2,000,000 Red Army soldiers
* 35,000 NKVD officers
* 24,000 Polish soldiers and Ministry of Public Security officers

Casualties and losses

* 8,668 killed in fighting
* 79,000 arrested
* 5,000 executed
* 21,000 died in prison

* 12,000 officers of Polish forces
* 1,000 officers of Soviet forces

10,000 civilians killed

* v
* t
* e

Anti-communist resistance in Poland (1944–1953)

1944

* Działki Nosowskie [pl]
* Skrobaczów [pl]
* Rząbce [pl]
* Surkonty

1945

* Rembertów
* Kuryłówka
* Krasnosielc [pl]
* Miechowie [pl]
* Radom [pl]
* Kielce
* Augustów
* Stocki forest [pl]
* Mołomotki [pl]
* Kotki [pl]

1946

* Gajrowskie
* Zwoleń [pl]
* Hrubieszów
* zamość [pl]
* Kraków [pl]
* Pacification of Bielsk county

1947 - 1963

* Ostrowsk
* Majdan Kozic Górnych

The anti-communist resistance in Poland, also referred to as the Polish anti-communist insurrection fought between 1944 and 1953, was an anti communist and anti-Soviet armed struggle by the Polish Underground against the Soviet domination of Poland by the Soviet-installed People's Republic of Poland, since the end of World War II in Europe. The guerrilla warfare conducted by the resistance movement formed during the war, included an array of military attacks launched against communist prisons, state security offices, detention facilities for political prisoners, and prison camps set up across the country by the Stalinist authorities.

In January 1945, the pro-Soviet government installed in Poland by the advancing Red Army declared as "illegal" the Polish anti-Nazi resistance movement, principally the Home Army, and ordered its surviving members to come out into the open while guaranteeing them freedom and safety. Many underground fighters decided to lay down their arms and register, but after doing so, most of them were arrested and thrown in prison. Thousands of them were tortured and later deported into the Soviet Gulag camp system, or tried by kangaroo courts and murdered out of sight after extreme beatings (see, the Uroczysko Baran killing fields among similar others).[1][2][3]

As a result of repression, Armia Krajowa (AK) members quickly stopped trusting the new government, and some of them regrouped clandestinely to oppose the new Soviet occupiers. They formed various post-AK resistance organisations, such as Wolność i Niezawisłość ("Freedom and Sovereignty"), and liberated hundreds of political prisoners. They became known as the "cursed soldiers" of the Polish underground, and most were eventually captured or killed by the security services and special assassination squads.[4]

## Soviet westward offensive across occupied Poland

[edit]

On the night of 3–4 January 1944 the advancing Red Army crossed the former eastern border of the Second Polish Republic in the area of Volhynia (near the village of Rokitno). In several months, they pushed the Wehrmacht further west, reaching the line of the Vistula river on 24 July 1944.[5] The Soviet advance stopped short of Warsaw, while the Armia Krajowa attempted to liberate the Polish capital from the Nazis ahead of the Red Army's offensive. The Warsaw Uprising by forces loyal to the Polish government-in-exile in London was crushed after 63 days.

On 22 July 1944, acting upon orders from Moscow, the Polish communists who arrived in the eastern town of Chełm created a pro-Soviet Committee, which became the Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland after re-locating to Lublin.[6][7]

After moving to Warsaw in January 1945, and with full political control by Stalin and Soviet sponsorship, the communists abandoned the parliamentary system of prewar Poland and ignored the wishes of the Polish people,[8] basing their new government's power solely on the Red Army's occupation of the country.[9]

Meanwhile, acting together under the command of Soviet General Ivan Serov, the forces of the NKVD, SMERSH and the Polish communist secret service (UB), which was modelled on the Soviet secret police,[9] began countrywide operations against the members of the Armia Krajowa and other Polish resistance units loyal to the government-in-exile. Approximately 25,000 underground soldiers, including 300 Home Army officers, were arrested, disarmed, and interned before October 1944.[10] On 15 October 1944, Lavrentiy Beria signed Order No. 0012266/44, which established NKVD Division 64, whose only task was to fight against the Polish resistance. Tens of thousands of Polish partisans were deported to Siberia. Many members of the Polish underground were given the choice between a lengthy prison sentence, and service in the Soviet-run Polish Armed Forces in the East.[11] Faced with an unacceptable choice, and knowing about the grave fate of their own leaders (see: Trial of the Sixteen), thousands of soldiers of the Home Army (which was officially disbanded on 19 January 1945) and other organizations decided to continue fighting for freedom after the end of World War II.

## Polish anti-communist Insurrection

[edit]

The situation in Poland in the immediate aftermath of World War II has been described as an all-out civil war,[12] or near civil war by many historians,[13] as members of the independence movement carried out numerous attacks on both Soviet and Polish communist offices and institutions. In return, the Stalinist authorities carried out brutal pacifications of partisans and civilians, mass arrests (see: Augustów chase 1945), deportations, as well as executions (see: Mokotów Prison murder, Public execution in Dębica) and many secret assassinations.[12]

The anti-communist movement responded with attacks on NKVD and UB camps, such as the Attack on the NKVD Camp in Rembertów. The underground units often engaged in regular battles with the Soviets and Polish communist forces (see: Battle of Kuryłówka). Resistance units loyal to the Polish government-in-exile did not hesitate to attack even large cities, to free their fellow soldiers kept in various prisons and detention camps across Poland.

### List of attacks on communist prisons, camps and state security offices

[edit]

In 2007, the Institute of National Remembrance Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (IPN), published the Atlas of the Independence Underground in Poland 1944-1956, listing scores of armed attacks on communist prisons after World War II, in which hundreds of political prisoners were freed. The most daring assaults were conducted before October 1946.

For a chronological list of anti-Communist operations, please use table-sort buttons.

City or town  | Month  | Year  | Resistance operation with number of prisoners liberated

|
|
|

Biala Krakowska |  May 12 |  1945 |  A failed attack on a local prison.
Biała Podlaska |  November 28 |  1944 |  2 political prisoners freed during an attack.
Biała Podlaska |  March 9 |  1945 |  103 political prisoners liberated after an attack.
Biała Podlaska |  May 21 |  1945 |  5 political prisoners were freed after an attack.
Białystok |  May 9 |  1945 |  100 (or so) members of Home Army, National Armed Forces and National Military Organization escaped after the local prison was taken over by them.
Biłgoraj |  February 28 |  1945 |  40 political prisoners liberated after an DSZ unit captured the whole town.
Biłgoraj |  May 27 |  1945 |  A failed attempt by DSZ unit at destroying an SB prison.
Bludek village in southern Lublin Voivodeship |  |  1945? |  An attack on a local camp for political prisoners, by DSZ unit from Tomaszów Lubelski; the camp was captured and burned down, and the NKVD commandant of the camp executed.
Brzesko |  May |  1945 |  A failed attack on a local prison.
Brzeziny |  September 6 |  1945 |  A failed attack on a local prison.
Brzeziny |  May 15 |  1946 |  A failed attack on a local prison.
Brzozów |  December 13 |  1944 |  11 political prisoners freed after a local prison was captured by a Home Army unit.
Dąbrowa Tarnowska |  May 8–9 |  1945 |  80 (or so) political prisoners were freed after an independence unit took control of the town and the prison.
Grajewo |  May 8–9 (night of) |  1945 |  100 (or so) political prisoners were liberated after several independence resistance units seized the whole town, killing 2 NKVD agents and 2 UB agents.
Grojec |  November 21 |  1945 |  A failed attack on a prison, in which 2 UB agents were killed.
Hrubieszów |  December 19 |  1944 |  12 Home Army soldiers kept in a local prison were freed by their own unit.
Hrubieszów |  May 27–28 |  1945 |  Acting together, DSZ and Ukrainian UPA units captured the whole town, burning down local prison and killing 5 NKVD agents.
Janów Lubelski |  April 27 |  1945 |  15 political prisoners liberated after an DSZ unit seized the town.
Jaworzno |  October |  1945 |  A failed attack on the Central Labour Camp Jaworzno.
Kępno |  November 22–23 |  1945 |  A local prison was captured, 5 UB agents and a Red Army soldier killed.
Kielce |  August 4–5 |  1945 |  354 political prisoners liberated; 3 UB agents and a soldier of the Red Army killed after the unit under Antoni Heda took control of the city.
Koźmin |  September 1 |  1945 |  A local prison was destroyed.
Koźmin |  October 10–11 |  1945 |  A failed attack on a local prison.
Kozienice |  May 5–6 |  1945 |  8 political prisoners freed, and a Red Army soldier killed after an independence underground unit took control of the town.
Kraków |  August 18 |  1946 |  64 political prisoners freed after a local prison was captured.
Krasnystaw |  November 22 |  1944 |  5 Home Army soldiers kept in a local prison, liberated by their fellow companions.
Krotoszyn |  August 24 |  1945 |  A failed attack on a local prison.
Limanowa |  April 17 |  1945 |  13 political prisoners were freed after a local prison was captured.
Łomża |  May 21 |  1945 |  A local prison was destroyed, 2 UB agents were killed.
Łowicz |  March 8 |  1945 |  73 political prisoners were freed after a local prison was captured by the former Home Army unit.
Łuków |  January 24 |  1946 |  27 political prisoners liberated after a Freedom and Independence unit captured the town and the prison; 3 UB agents killed.
Maków Mazowiecki |  May 1 |  1945 |  42 political prisoners freed and 8 UB agents killed after an attack on a local prison.
Miechów |  April 25-2 |  1945 |  A local prison was destroyed.
Mława |  June 3 |  1945 |  An attack on a local prison in which unknown number of political prisoners was freed and 3 UB agents killed.
Nowy Sącz |  April |  1946 |  A failed attack on a local prison.
Nowy Targ |  April 17-18 |  1945 |  A local prison destroyed by the unit under Józef Kuraś, 4 UB agents killed.
Ostrów Wielkopolski |  September 2 |  1945 |  A failed attack on a local prison.
Pabianice |  June 10 |  1945 |  10 political prisoners were freed after a local prison was captured.
Pińczów |  June 3-4 |  1945 |  A failed attack on a local prison, 1 UB agent killed.
Piotrków Trybunalski |  June 17 |  1945 |  An attack on a detention camp for the Home Army soldiers; the camp was captured and destroyed and 5 UB agents killed.
Przemyśl |  May 14-15 |  1945 |  58 persons escaped after the arrested soldiers of the Home Army took control of the prison.
Przeworsk |  May 15 |  1945 |  A failed attack on a local prison.
Puławy |  April 24 |  1945 |  117 political prisoners were freed, and 7 UB agents killed.
Rabka |  December 11 |  1945 |  A local prison was captured, 1 UB agent killed.
Radom |  September 9 |  1945 |  300 (or so) political prisoners were liberated, 2 Red Army soldiers and one UB agent killed.
Radomsko |  April 19-20 |  1946 |  5 political prisoners were freed after the town was captured and a local prison destroyed.
Radzyń |  Dec. 31 – Jan. 1 |  1945–46 |  A failed attack on the prison, carried out by the Freedom and Independence unit.
Rembertów |  May 20-21 |  1945 |  800–1400 men were liberated after an attack on NKVD prison camp (for more information, see: Attack on the NKVD Camp in Rembertów).
Rozwadów |  February 3 |  1946 |  A failed attack on a local prison.
Rzeszów |  October 7-8 |  1944 |  A failed attack on a prison located in Rzeszów Castle made by a Home Army unit under Colonel Łukasz Ciepliński. Home Army lost 2 men, Red Army also 2, Milicja Obywatelska – 2 as well.
Sandomierz |  March 10 |  1945 |  100 (or so) political prisoners broke free from the local prison.
Sokołów Podlaski |  October |  1944 |  A failed Home Army attack on a local prison.
Szamotuły |  June 7-8 |  1945 |  2 political prisoners were freed after a local prison was captured.
Szczyrk |  July 19 |  1945 |  A failed attempt to capture a local prison.
Tarnobrzeg |  November 2 |  1944 |  15 Home Army soldiers freed from local prison by a Home Army unit.
Tarnów |  July 1 |  1945 |  35 political prisoners were liberated after a local prison was captured.
Węgrów |  May 17-18 |  1945 |  2 political prisoners freed after an attack on a local prison.
Włodawa |  October 22 |  1946 |  100 (or so) political prisoners were freed after a local prison was captured.
Włoszczowa |  April 22 |  1945 |  A failed attack on a local prison.
Wyrzysk |  May 24 |  1946 |  43 political prisoners were liberated, and 1 UB security agent killed after a local prison was captured.
Zakopane |  February 1 |  1946 |  A failed attack on a local prison.
Zakopane |  October 13 |  1946 |  A failed attack on a local prison.
Zamość |  July 22 |  1944 |  18 Home Army soldiers kept in a local prison were freed by their fellow companions.
Zamość |  October 7 |  1944 |  34 Home Army soldiers kept in a local prison were freed by their own unit.
Zamość |  May 8 |  1946 |  301 political prisoners were freed after an attack carried out by the Freedom and Independence unit.
City or town | Month | Year | Resistance operation with number of prisoners liberated

As per Atlas of the Independence Underground in Poland 1944–1956 by the Institute of National Remembrance, 2007

## Polish National Day of Remembrance of the "cursed soldiers"

[edit]

National Day of Remembrance of the "cursed soldiers" commemorations in 2011

In 2001 the Polish Parliament (Sejm) passed a resolution recognizing the merits of underground organizations and groups fighting for Poland's sovereignty after World War II. The resolution acknowledged their unequal struggle against the Soviet takeover of Poland and paid tribute to the fallen and murdered soldiers and the imprisoned members of all organizations that were persecuted by the postwar communist authorities. This was the first official recognition of such magnitude intended to honour the fighters of the armed anti-communist underground.[14] The bill was signed into law by President Bronisław Komorowski on 9 February 2011 and published in the Poland's Dziennik Ustaw Nr 32 / 160 on 15 February 2011.[15] The National Day of Remembrance of the "cursed soldiers" is now commemorated every year in Poland on 1 March.

The original request to establish the Day of Remembrance was submitted in 2009 by Polish war veterans' organizations, including the World Union of Home Army Soldiers (Światowy Związek Żołnierzy Armii Krajowej) and the Association of Soldiers of the National Armed Forces (Związek Żołnierzy Narodowych Sił Zbrojnych). The initiative was backed by local authorities and parliamentary groupings including Poland's two main political parties, Civic Platform and Law and Justice. The legislative initiative for the enactment of the new national holiday was taken in 2010 by the late President Lech Kaczyński.[16]

## In popular culture

[edit]

The novel Ashes and Diamonds by Jerzy Andrzejewski and Andrzej Wajda's dramatization of the book, are devoted to the bloody events in Poland in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, depicting an operation by anti-communist resistance fighters to assassinate a commissar.[17]

## See also

[edit]

* Anti-communist resistance in Poland (1944–1989)
* Eastern European anti-Communist insurgencies

## Notes and references

[edit]

1. ^ Staff writer (June 18, 2014), "The Secrets of Uroczysko Baran" [Tajemnica Uroczyska Baran], Oddano hołd żołnierzom AK, NSZ, BCh oraz WiN, Międzyrzec.info, archived from the original on August 14, 2017
2. ^ Lublin112.pl (January 10, 2015), "Uroczysko Baran in Kąkolewnica: the Second Katyn" [Uroczysko "Baran" w Kąkolewnicy: Drugi Katyń], Materiał Dziennikarza Obywatelskiego, Lublin.NaszeMiasto.pl, archived from the original on August 14, 2017`{{citation}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
3. ^ Karolina Bogudał (2017-07-20), "At Uroczysko Baran known as Little Katyn, new exhumations to begin" [Uroczysko Baran: trwa poszukiwanie szczątków ludzkich], W Uroczysku Baran w Kąkolewnicy, zwanym Małym Katyniem, rozpoczęły się prace poszukiwawczo - ekshumacyjne, archived from the original on 2017-08-14
4. ^ Tennent H. Bagley (2007). Spy wars: moles, mysteries, and deadly games. Yale University Press. p. 120\. ISBN 978-0-300-12198-8. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
5. ^ World War II in Europe timeline. WorldWar-2.net  (in English)
6. ^ The great globe itself: a preface to world affairs By William Bullitt, Francis P. Sempa (in English)
7. ^ The Economy and Economic History of Poland by Thayer Watkins, San José State University Archived 2019-10-19 at the Wayback Machine (in English)
8. ^ Poland - The Historical Setting Archived 2009-06-15 at the Wayback Machine, Polish Academic Information Center, University at Buffalo (in English)
9. ^ a b The establishment of communist regimes in Eastern Europe, 1944-1949 By Norman Naimark (in English)
10. ^ Soviet NKVD, at www.warsawuprising.com Archived 2021-01-21 at the Wayback Machine (in English)
11. ^ God's Playground: 1795 to the present By Norman Davies (in English)
12. ^ a b Civil war in Poland. Europe since 1945: an encyclopedia, Volume 2, Bernard A. Cook (in English)
13. ^ "Stalinism in Poland: 1945-1956" by Dr John Bates, 2000, at www.arts.gla.ac.uk Archived 2005-12-19 at the Wayback Machine (in English)
14. ^ "Uchwała Senatu RzP dnia 4 lutego 2011 roku w sprawie ustawy o ustanowieniu Narodowego Dnia Pamięci "Żołnierzy Wyklętych"" (PDF). Senat RP. 4 February 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 16, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
15. ^ "Prezydent podpisał ustawę o Dniu Pamięci "Żołnierzy Wyklętych"". Polska Agencja Prasowa. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
16. ^ Dziennik Gazeta Prawna (3 February 2011). "Będziemy mieli nowe święto: Narodowy Dzień Pamięci "Żołnierzy Wyklętych"". PAP. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
17. ^ Falkowska, Janina; Hames, Peter (2004). The Cinema of Central Europe. Wallflower Press. pp. 65–74\. ISBN 1904764207.65-74&rft.pub=Wallflower+Press&rft.date=2004&rft.isbn=1904764207&rft.aulast=Falkowska&rft.aufirst=Janina&rft.au=Hames,+Peter&rft_id=https://books.google.com/books?id=0KhyA30EJiUC&q;=Diament+Ashes+and+Diamonds+Andrzej+Wajda&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Anti-communist+resistance+in+Poland+(1944–1953)" class="Z3988">

* The Atlas of the Independence Underground in Poland 1944-1956, Instytut Pamieci Narodowej, Warszawa-Lublin, 2007. ISBN 978-83-60464-45-8
* WiN | Freedom and Independence - A Historical Brief by Dr. Janusz Marek Kurtyka, Ph.D., Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, IPN, Poland.
* (in English) Doomed Soldiers 1944-1963: The Untold Story
* (in Polish) ŻOŁNIERZE WYKLĘCI, Zapomniani Bohaterowie Archived 2019-04-24 at the Wayback Machine

* v
* t
* e

Polish Underground State

Authorities|

* Government
* Administration
* Parliament
* Courts

Political
organizations|

| Major|

* Polish Socialist Party
* People's Party
* National Party
* Labour Party

|

Minor|

* Camp of National Unity
* Democratic Party
* Jewish Labor Bund
* Hashomer Hatzair
* Betar (Zionist youth)

Opposition|

* Polish Workers' Party

Military
organizations|

* Home Army (AK)
* Service for Poland's Victory (SZP)
* Armed Resistance (ZWZ)
* Gray Ranks
* National Security Corps (PKB)

Mostly integrated
with Armed Resistance and Home Army|

* Gwardia Ludowa WRN
* Peasant Battalions

Partly integrated
with Armed Resistance and Home Army|

* National Military Organization
* National Armed Forces
* Camp of Fighting Poland
* Konfederacja Narodu

Non-integrated|

* Jewish Combat Organization
* Jewish Military Union

Opposition|

* Gwardia Ludowa
* Armia Ludowa

Related topics|

* Cultural activities
* Education
* History of Poland during 1939–1945

* v
* t
* e

World War II

* Outline
* Battles
* Operations
* Leaders
* Allied
* Axis
* Commanders
* Casualties
* Conferences

General|

| Topics|

* Air warfare of World War II
* In Europe
* Blitzkrieg
* Comparative military ranks
* Cryptography
* Declarations of war
* Diplomacy
* Governments in exile
* Home front
* Australian
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Lend-Lease
* Manhattan Project
* British contribution
* Military awards
* Military equipment
* Military production
* Naval history
* Nazi plunder
* Opposition
* Technology
* Allied cooperation
* Mulberry harbour
* Total war
* Strategic bombing
* Puppet states
* Women
* Art and World War II
* Music in World War II
* Weather events during World War II

|

Theaters|

* Asia and Pacific
* China
* South-East Asia
* Pacific
* North and Central Pacific
* South-West Pacific
* Indian Ocean
* Europe
* Western Front
* Eastern Front
* Mediterranean and Middle East
* North Africa
* East Africa
* Italy
* West Africa
* Atlantic
* timeline
* Americas

Aftermath|

* Chinese Civil War
* Cold War
* Decolonization
* Division of Korea
* First Indochina War
* Expulsion of Germans
* Greek Civil War
* Indonesian National Revolution
* Keelhaul
* Marshall Plan
* Occupation of Germany
* Occupation of Japan
* Osoaviakhim
* Paperclip
* Soviet occupations
* Baltic
* Hungary
* Poland
* Romania
* Territorial changes of Germany
* Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany
* United Nations

War crimes|

* Allied war crimes
* Soviet war crimes
* British war crimes
* United States war crimes
* German war crimes
* forced labour
* Wehrmacht war crimes
* The Holocaust
* Aftermath
* Response
* Nuremberg trials
* Italian war crimes
* Japanese war crimes
* Nanjing Massacre
* Unit 731
* Prosecution
* Croatian war crimes
* Genocide of Serbs
* Persecution of Jews
* Romanian war crimes
* Sexual violence
* German military brothels
* Camp brothels
* Rape during the occupation of Germany / Japan / Poland
* Rape during the liberation of France / Serbia
* Sook Ching
* Comfort women
* Rape of Manila
* Marocchinate

Participants|

| Allies|

* Algeria
* Australia
* Belgium
* Brazil
* Bulgaria (from September 1944)
* Canada
* China
* Cuba
* Czechoslovakia
* Denmark
* Ethiopia
* Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
* Finland (from September 1944)
* France
* Free France
* Greece
* India
* Italy (from September 1943)
* Luxembourg
* Mexico
* Netherlands
* Newfoundland
* New Zealand
* Norway
* Philippines
* Poland
* Romania (from August 1944)
* Sierra Leone
* South Africa
* Southern Rhodesia
* Soviet Union
* Tuva
* United Kingdom
* British Empire
* United States
* Puerto Rico
* Yugoslavia

|

Axis|

* Albania protectorate
* Bulgaria (until September 1944)
* Wang Jingwei regime
* Independent State of Croatia
* Finland (until September 1944)
* German Reich
* Hungary
* Azad Hind
* French Indochina
* Iraq
* Italy (until September 1943)
* Italian Social Republic
* Empire of Japan
* Manchukuo
* Philippines
* Romania (until August 1944)
* Slovak Republic
* Thailand
* Vichy France
* Collaboration

Neutral|

* Afghanistan
* Andorra
* Bhutan
* Ireland
* Liechtenstein
* Portugal
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Tibet
* Vatican City

Resistance|

* Albania
* Austria
* Belgium
* Bulgaria
* Czech lands
* Denmark
* Dutch East Indies
* Estonia
* Ethiopia
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Hong Kong
* Italy
* Japan
* Jews
* Korea
* Korean Liberation Army
* Korean Volunteer Army
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malaya
* Netherlands
* Northeast China
* Norway
* Philippines
* Poland
* Romania
* Thailand
* Soviet Union
* Slovakia
* Western Ukraine
* Vietnam
* Quốc dân Đảng
* Viet Minh
* Yugoslavia

POWs|

* Finnish prisoners in the Soviet Union
* German prisoners
* Soviet Union
* Azerbaijan
* United States
* United Kingdom
* Italian prisoners in the Soviet Union
* Japanese prisoners
* Soviet Union
* German atrocities against Polish POWs
* Soviet prisoners
* Finland
* atrocities by Germans
* Polish prisoners in the Soviet Union
* Romanian prisoners in the Soviet Union

Timeline|

| Prelude|

* Africa
* Second Italo-Ethiopian War
* Asia
* Second Sino-Japanese War
* Battles of Khalkhin Gol
* Europe
* Remilitarisation of the Rhineland
* Anschluss
* Munich Agreement
* Occupation of Czechoslovakia
* Operation Himmler
* Italian invasion of Albania

|

1939|

* Invasion of Poland
* Battle of the Atlantic
* Phoney War
* First Battle of Changsha
* Battle of South Guangxi
* Winter War
* 1939–1940 Winter Offensive

1940|

* Norwegian campaign
* German invasion of Denmark
* Battle of Zaoyang–Yichang
* German invasion of Luxembourg
* German invasion of the Netherlands
* German invasion of Belgium
* Battle of France
* Dunkirk evacuation
* Battle of Britain
* Battle of the Mediterranean
* North Africa
* West Africa
* British Somaliland
* Hundred Regiments Offensive
* Baltic states
* Eastern Romania
* Japanese invasion of French Indochina
* Italian invasion of Greece
* Compass

1941|

* Battle of South Henan
* Battle of Shanggao
* Invasion of Yugoslavia
* German invasion of Greece
* Battle of Crete
* Anglo-Iraqi War
* Battle of South Shanxi
* Syria–Lebanon campaign
* East African campaign
* Invasion of the Soviet Union
* Summer War
* Finland (Silver Fox)
* Lithuania
* Battle of Kiev
* Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
* Second Battle of Changsha
* Siege of Leningrad
* Battle of Moscow
* Bombing of Gorky
* Siege of Sevastopol
* Attack on Pearl Harbor
* Japanese invasion of Thailand
* Fall of Hong Kong
* Fall of the Philippines
* Battle of Guam
* Battle of Wake Island
* Malayan campaign
* Battle of Borneo
* Japanese invasion of Burma
* Third Battle of Changsha
* Greek famine of 1941–1944

1942|

* Fall of Singapore
* Battle of the Java Sea
* St Nazaire Raid
* Battle of Christmas Island
* Battle of the Coral Sea
* Battle of Madagascar
* Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign
* Battle of Gazala
* Battle of Dutch Harbor
* Battle of Midway
* Aleutian Islands campaign
* Kiska
* Attu
* Blue
* First Battle of El Alamein
* Battle of Stalingrad
* Kokoda Track campaign
* Rzhev
* Jubilee
* Second Battle of El Alamein
* Guadalcanal campaign
* Torch
* Chinese famine of 1942–1943

1943|

* Black May
* Tunisian campaign
* Battle of West Hubei
* Battle of Attu
* Bombing of Gorky
* Battle of Kursk
* Allied invasion of Sicily
* Smolensk
* Solomon Islands campaign
* Cottage
* Battle of the Dnieper
* Allied invasion of Italy
* Armistice of Cassibile
* Burma
* Northern Burma and Western Yunnan
* Changde
* Second Battle of Kiev
* Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
* Tarawa
* Makin
* Bengal famine of 1943

1944|

* Tempest
* Monte Cassino / Anzio
* Korsun–Cherkassy
* Narva
* Ichi-Go
* Overlord
* Neptune
* Mariana and Palau
* Bagration
* Western Ukraine
* Second Battle of Guam
* Tannenberg Line
* Warsaw Uprising
* Eastern Romania
* Liberation of Paris
* Dragoon
* Gothic Line
* Belgrade offensive
* Lapland
* Market Garden
* Estonia
* Crossbow
* Pointblank
* Vietnamese famine of 1944–1945
* Philippines (1944–1945)
* Leyte
* Syrmian Front
* Hungary
* Budapest
* Burma (1944–1945)
* Ardennes
* Bodenplatte
* Dutch famine of 1944–1945

1945|

* Vistula–Oder
* Battle of Manila
* Battle of Iwo Jima
* Indochina
* Vienna offensive
* Project Hula
* Western invasion of Germany
* Bratislava–Brno offensive
* Battle of Okinawa
* Second Guangxi campaign
* West Hunan
* Italy (Spring 1945)
* Battle of Berlin
* Prague offensive
* Surrender of Germany
* document
* Borneo
* Taipei
* Naval bombardment of Japan
* Manchuria
* Atomic bombings
* Debate
* South Sakhalin
* Kuril Islands
* Shumshu
* Surrender of Japan
* Potsdam Declaration
* document
* End of World War II in Asia

* World portal
* Bibliography
* Category

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* e

Resistance during World War II by country

Anti-communist resistance|

* Baltic States
* Latvian partisans
* Lithuanian partisans
* June Uprising in Lithuania
* Estonian partisans
* Bulgaria
* Poland
* Cursed soldiers
* Romania
* Ukraine

Anti-fascist resistance|

* Albania
* Austria
* Belgium
* Bulgaria
* Channel Islands
* Czechoslovakia
* Bohemia and Moravia
* Slovakia
* Denmark
* Estonia
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Italy
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Poland
* Romania
* Soviet Union
* Belarus
* Moldova
* Russia
* Crimea
* Taganrog
* Yugoslavia
* Croatia
* Macedonia
* Slovenia

* * *

* See also:
* Jewish

* v
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* e

Armed conflicts involving Russia (including Tsarist, Imperial and Soviet times)

Related|

* Early modern warfare
* Military history of Russia
* Military history of the Russian Empire
* Military history of the Soviet Union
* Military history of the Russian Federation
* Post-Soviet conflicts
* Russian Armed Forces

Lists by opponent|

* Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars
* Russo-Crimean Wars
* Soviet-Finnish wars
* Russo-Kazan Wars
* Russo-Persian Wars
* Russo-Polish Wars
* Russo-Swedish wars
* Russo-Turkish wars
* Russo-Ukrainian Wars
* Sino-Russian border conflicts
* List of wars involving Russia
* List of wars involving the Soviet Union
* List of battles involving the Russian Federation

Internal|

* Uprising of Bolotnikov
* Razin's Rebellion
* Bulavin Rebellion
* Pugachev's Rebellion
* Decembrist revolt
* Russian Civil War
* August Uprising
* Coup attempt (1991)
* 1993 Russian constitutional crisis
* First Chechen War
* War of Dagestan
* Second Chechen War
* Insurgency in the North Caucasus
* Wagner Group rebellion

Tsardom of
Russia|

* Russo-Crimean Wars
* Russo-Kazan Wars
* Russo-Swedish War (1554–1557)
* Livonian War
* Russian Conquest of Siberia (1580–1747)
* Russo-Turkish War (1568–1570)
* Russo-Swedish War (1590–1595)
* Polish–Muscovite War (1605–1618) and the Time of Troubles
* Ingrian War
* Smolensk War
* Russo-Persian War (1651–1653)
* Sino-Russian border conflicts (1652–1689)
* Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)
* Deluge
* Second Northern War
* Russo-Turkish War (1676–1681)
* Russo-Turkish War (1686–1700)

18th–19th
century|

* Great Northern War
* Russo-Turkish War (1710–1711)
* Russo-Persian War (1722–1723)
* War of the Polish Succession (1733–1738)
* Austro-Russian–Turkish War (1735–1739)
* War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748)
* Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743)
* Seven Years' War
* Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)
* Bar Confederation
* Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)
* Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790)
* Russo-Polish War (1792)
* Russian colonization of North America
* Kościuszko Uprising
* Russo-Persian War (1796)
* War of the Second Coalition
* War of the Third Coalition
* Russo-Persian War (1804–1813)
* War of the Fourth Coalition
* Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812)
* Anglo-Russian War
* Finnish War
* War of the Fifth Coalition
* French invasion of Russia
* War of the Sixth Coalition
* War of the Seventh Coalition
* Russian conquest of the Caucasus
* Caucasian War
* Russo-Circassian War
* Murid War
* Russo-Persian War (1826–1828)
* Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829)
* November Uprising
* Hungarian Revolution of 1848
* Crimean War
* Åland War
* Amur Annexation
* January Uprising
* Russian conquest of Central Asia
* Russian conquest of Bukhara
* Khivan campaign of 1873
* Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)
* Boxer Rebellion
* Russian invasion of Manchuria

20th
century|

* Russo-Japanese War
* Russian occupation of Tabriz
* World War I
* Battle of Robat Karim
* Russian Civil War
* Ukrainian–Soviet War
* 1919 Soviet invasion of Ukraine
* Kazakhstan Campaign
* Finnish Civil War
* Sochi conflict
* Heimosodat
* Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919
* Estonian War of Independence
* Latvian War of Independence
* Lithuanian–Soviet War
* Georgian–Ossetian conflict (1918–1920)
* Polish–Soviet War
* Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan
* Red Army invasion of Armenia
* Red Army invasion of Georgia
* Red Army intervention in Mongolia
* East Karelian uprising
* Central Asian Revolt
* August Uprising
* Urtatagai conflict (1925–1926)
* Sino-Soviet conflict (1929)
* Red Army intervention in Afghanistan (1929)
* Red Army intervention in Afghanistan (1930)
* Chechen uprising of 1932 [ru]
* Soviet–Japanese border conflicts
* Soviet invasion of Xinjiang
* Xinjiang War (1937)
* World War II
* Soviet invasion of Poland
* Winter War
* Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940)
* Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940
* Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina
* Continuation War
* Eastern Front (World War II)
* Soviet re-occupation of the Baltic states (1944)
* Soviet re-occupation of Latvia in 1944
* Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
* Soviet–Japanese War
* Guerrilla war in the Baltic states
* Guerrilla war in Ukraine
* Anti-communist resistance in Poland (1944–1953)
* Ili Rebellion
* First Indochina War
* Korean War
* East German uprising of 1953
* Hungarian Revolution of 1956
* Vietnam War
* Vlora incident
* Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
* Sino-Soviet border conflict
* War of Attrition
* Eritrean War of Independence
* Angolan Civil War
* Ogaden War
* South African Border War
* Soviet–Afghan War
* Gulf War
* Soviet OMON assaults on Lithuanian border posts
* First Nagorno-Karabakh War
* War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)
* South Ossetia war (1991–1992)
* Transnistria War
* Georgian Civil War
* Tajikistani Civil War
* First Chechen War
* War of Dagestan
* Second Chechen War

21st
century|

* Russo-Georgian War
* Russo-Ukrainian War
* Outline
* Annexation of Crimea
* War in Donbas
* 2022 invasion
* Intervention in Syria
* Western Libya campaign
* Deployment in Nagorno-Karabakh (2020)
* Deployment in Kazakhstan (2022)

* Russian Winter
* Russian Revolution
* Cold War
* Sphere of influence

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