Battle of HelThe Battle of Hel (Obrona Helu, literally "the Defense of Hel") was a World War II engagement fought from 1 September to 2 October 1939 on the Hel Peninsula, of the Baltic Sea coast, between invading German forces and defending Polish units during the German invasion of Poland (also known in Polish historiography as the September Campaign). The defense of the Hel Peninsula took place around the Hel Fortified Area, a system of Polish fortifications that had been constructed in the 1930s near the interwar border with the German Third Reich.
KościerzynaKościerzyna kośće1'żyna (Kashubian and Pomeranian: Kòscérzëna; formerly Berent, ˈbɛʁɛnt) is a town in Kashubia in Gdańsk Pomerania region, northern Poland, with some 24,000 inhabitants. It has been the capital of Kościerzyna County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999; previously it was in Gdańsk Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998. Kościerzyna is in Gdańsk Pomerania, approximately south-west of Gdańsk and Tricity and south-west of Kaliningrad, at a height of above sea level. The history of the town dates back to the end of the 13th century.
Locarno TreatiesThe Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated in Locarno, Switzerland, during 5 to 16 October 1925 and formally signed in London on 1 December, in which the First World War Western European Allied powers and the new states of Central and Eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war territorial settlement, in return for normalising relations with the defeated German Reich (the Weimar Republic). It also stated that Germany would never go to war with the other countries.
WejherowoWejherowo weIhe'rowo (Wejrowò; formerly Neustadt in Westpreußen) is a city in Gdańsk Pomerania, northern Poland, with 48,735 inhabitants (2021). It has been the capital of Wejherowo County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999; previously, it was a city in Gdańsk Voivodeship (1975–1998). Wejherowo is located in Pomeralia, in the ethnocultural region of Kashubia, approximately west of the town of Rumia, east of the town of Lębork and north-west of the regional metropole of Gdańsk, in the broad glacial valley of the river Rheda at an altitude of above sea level.
ReichsautobahnThe Reichsautobahn system was the beginning of the German autobahns under Nazi Germany. There had been previous plans for controlled-access highways in Germany under the Weimar Republic, and two had been constructed, but work had yet to start on long-distance highways. After previously opposing plans for a highway network, the Nazis embraced them after coming to power and presented the project as Hitler's own idea. They were termed "Adolf Hitler's roads" ("Straßen Adolf Hitlers") and presented as a major contribution to the reduction of unemployment.
Crown of the Kingdom of PolandThe Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (Korona Królestwa Polskiego; Corona Regni Poloniae) was a political and legal idea formed in the 14th century, assuming unity, indivisibility and continuity of the state. According to this concept, the state ceased to be the patrimonial property of the monarch or dynasty, but became a common good of the political community of the kingdom. Such an idea allowed the state to function even in periods of interregnum and led to the formation of a system characteristic of Poland based on the parliamentarism of the nobility and the free election of the ruler.
Klaipėda RevoltThe Klaipėda Revolt took place in January 1923 in the Klaipėda Region (also known as the Memel Territory or Memelland). The region, located north of the Neman River, was detached from East Prussia, German Empire by the Treaty of Versailles and became a mandate of the League of Nations. It was placed under provisional French administration until a more permanent solution could be worked out. Lithuania wanted to unite with the region (part of Lithuania Minor) due to its large Lithuanian-speaking population of Prussian Lithuanians and major port of Klaipėda (Memel) – the only viable access to the Baltic Sea for Lithuania.
Battle of the BzuraThe Battle of the Bzura (or the Battle of Kutno) was the largest Polish counter-attack of the German invasion of Poland and was fought from 9 to 19 September. The battle took place west of Warsaw, near the Bzura River. It began as a Polish counter-offensive, which gained initial success, but the Germans outflanked the Polish forces with a concentrated counter-attack. That weakened Polish forces and the Poznań and Pomorze Armies were destroyed. Western Poland was now under German occupation.
