page_title: Battle of Lwów (1939)
section_title: New enemy
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Lwów (1939) / New enemy
caption_attribution_description: English: Soviet cavalry on parade in Lviv, after the city's surrender to the Red Army during 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland. The city, then known as Lwów, was annexed by the Soviet Union and today is part of Ukraine.Polski: Defilada kawalerii sowieckiej po kapitulacji Lwowa, Wały Hetmańskie obok Grand Hotelu.
context_page_description: The Battle of Lwów was a World War II battle for the control over the Polish city of Lwów between the Polish Army and the invading Wehrmacht and the Red Army. The city was seen as the key to the so-called Romanian Bridgehead and was defended at all cost.
context_section_description: On September 17, 1939, the Soviet Union declared all pacts with Poland null and void as the Polish state had ceased to exist, and the Soviets joined Nazi Germany in the occupation of Poland. The forces of the 6th Red Army of the Ukrainian Front, under Filipp Golikov, crossed the border just east of Lwów and started a quick march towards the city. The Soviet invasion made all plans to defend the Romanian Bridgehead obsolete, and the Polish commander decided to withdraw all of his units to the close perimeter and to defend only the city itself, instead of the whole area, which strengthened the Polish defences. On September 18, the Luftwaffe dropped thousands of leaflets over the city to urge the Poles to surrender but was ignored. Ageneral assault was started on the city, which was once again repulsed.
  The intervention of the Red Army on 17 September also made necessary some changes in the Germans' plan of operations.
  In the early morning of September 19, the first Soviet armoured units reached the eastern outskirts of the city and the suburb of Łyczaków. After a short fight, the Soviet units were pushed back. However, the Soviet forces completed the encirclement of the city overnight and linked with the German army besieging Lwów from the west.
  The Polish defences were composed mainly of field fortifications and barricades constructed by the local residents under supervision of military engineers. Sikorski ordered organised defence of the outer city rim, with in-depth defences prepared. In the morning of September 19, the first Soviet envoys arrived and began negotiations with the Polish officers. Colonel Ivanov, the commander of a tank brigade, told Colonel Bronisław Rakowski that the Red Army entered Poland to help it fight the germans and that the top priority for his units was to enter the city.
  The same day, Schörner sent his envoy and demanded the city be surrendered to his troops. When the Polish envoy replied that he had no intention of signing such a document, he was informed that a general assault was ordered for September 21 and that the city would most surely be taken. Hitler's evacuation order from September 20 instructed Gerd von Rundstedt to leave the capture of Lwow to the Soviets. The attack planned by XVIII Corps for 21 September was cancelled, and the German corps prepared to move to the west of the Vistula-San River line. The following day, Sikorski decided that the situation of his forces was hopeless. The reserves, human resources and materiel were plentiful, but further defence of the city would be fruitless and result only in more civilian casualties. He decided to start surrender talks with the Red Army.
caption: Soviet cavalry parade after the capitulation of Lwów
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