82 Years Ago, The Decision Was Made To Launch The Warsaw Uprising
- 31.07.2026, 15:09
The next day, 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers of the Home Army began fighting the occupiers.
Exactly 82 years ago, the decision was made to launch the Warsaw Uprising, and General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski declared, “I am extending Operation ‘Storm’ to Warsaw,” according to Polskie Radio.
Many factors influenced the decision of the Home Army commanders, but ultimately, the decisive factor was unconfirmed information that later, unfortunately, turned out to be false.
The main goal of the Warsaw Uprising was to liberate the city before the arrival of Soviet troops and to have representatives of the Polish government and the Polish Army greet them in the capital. The Home Army commanders understood that they had no chance of capturing and holding the city on their own. Therefore, the start of the uprising had to depend not only on the weakening of the Germans but also on the advance of the Red Army.
As Dr. Szymon Niedziela, a historian at the Warsaw Uprising Museum, recounts, fierce debates took place on July 31, 1944, during meetings of the Home Army command. Ultimately, the decisive factor was information about the possible start of a Soviet offensive. The historian notes, however, that today one cannot accuse the Home Army commanders of recklessness. At the time, the people of Warsaw saw retreating German troops who appeared to be defeated and heard the cannon fire of the approaching front. Furthermore, the Home Army commanders understood that delaying the decision too long could make it impossible to achieve the political goals of the uprising.
On August 1, 1944, 30,000–40,000 Home Army soldiers began fighting the occupiers. However, the Polish forces were, for the most part, poorly armed and lacked ammunition and equipment. Without sufficient support from the Western Allies and in the face of inaction by the Red Army, which had halted its offensive, Warsaw surrendered after 63 days of fighting.
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