The Uprising ended in capitulation, the deaths of over 250,000 civilians, and only 15% of Warsaw intact; with the benefit of hindsight, many people have argued that it should never have been started.
Although Stalin was later to describe it as a "criminal enterprise", just two days prior to its initiation, Radio Moscow had called for the Polish people to rise in arms.
[citation needed] Research in the circumstances that led up to the initiation of the Uprising is difficult because the facts are not always fully available: there are still some sources of information, such as the British and Soviet archives, which remain closed as of 2004[update].
Initial plans created by the Polish government-in-exile in 1942 assumed that the allied invasion of Europe would lead to the withdrawal of considerable German forces from the Eastern Front for the defence of the Third Reich.
On November 26, 1943, the Polish government in exile issued an instruction to the effect that if diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union were not resumed before their entry to Poland, the Home Army forces were to remain underground until further decisions were made.
However, in most cases after the struggle ended the Polish officers and members of local administration were caught by the NKVD and either shot or sent to Gulags and prisons in Russia.
However, the July 20 Plot and the failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler made many German units withdraw westward through Warsaw.
On July 27, governor of the General Government Hans Frank called for 100,000 Polish men between the ages of 17–65 to arrive at several assembly points in Warsaw the following day.
Fearing German reprisal actions, general Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski ordered full mobilisation of Home Army forces in Warsaw area.