DISINFO: WWII: Western allies abandoned Poland, the Soviet Union saved it
SUMMARY
In 1939, Poland was abandoned by the Western allies to be "devoured" by the German military machine and actually lost its independence and statehood, which was restored to a large extent thanks to the Soviet Union.
Poland received significant lands in the West thanks to Stalin, but if Warsaw forgot about it, then Russia will remind them about it.
RESPONSE
This message from Putin is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism and the ongoing Russian disinformation campaign against Poland. The claim advances a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative distorting the events leading up to the Second World War, denying the USSR responsibility for starting WWII after signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1939.
Poland lost its sovereignty and statehood not only because of Nazi Germany but also of the aggressive policy of their then ally - the USSR. In accordance with the secret terms of the Nazi-Soviet pact, the Red Army crossed the Polish border from the east on 17 September 1939. Poland was divided between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
The signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was a mutual decision of two totalitarian regimes (Nazi Germany and the Stalinist USSR) aimed at the division of Eastern and Central Europe between these two powers. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact contained the Secret Supplementary Protocol, which assumed the division of Poland and other Eastern European countries between the USSR and Germany. The signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact enabled the German and Soviet military aggression against Poland in September 1939, which resulted in the occupation of this country by Germany and the USSR, triggering the beginning of WWII.
The decision to pass Silesia, part of East Prussia, and other former German territories to the Polish state was made by the USA, the UK, and the USSR at the Yalta Conference and the Potsdam Conference.
See similar disinformation cases: West rewriting history by claiming USSR colluded with Nazi Germany; Poland re-writes history claiming the USSR attacked it in September 1939; Europe is to blame for the outbreak of WWII.