Why Did Britain And France Respond To Germany's Invasion Of Poland?

Germany ended up defeating and taking over Poland on October 6, 1939. Both Great Britain and France knew after Poland was taken over, there was only more trouble to come from Germany. For France, it was only a matter of time before it was taken over, while Britain remained resilient against Germany and it’s forces. This early hesitation from Western Europe, specifically France and Great Britain, was a major reason to account for the Germans’ early success during World War II. However, France and Britain were not the only countries whose lack of initial involvement in the war was significant to Germany’s early success.

Hitler, used to the fact that the Allies supported his decisions due to their appeasement policy, demanded the port of Danzig from Poland. However, to his disbelief, Britain refused, followed by France. Poland, Greece, Romania and Turkey were extended protection on 31 March 1939 by the Allies. Hitler realized that if he attacked Poland it would result in war with the Anglo-French. To get more support on his side, Hitler signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact on 23 August 1939 with the Soviet Union, a powerful state at that point of time. Hitler felt that the Anglo-French may change their minds about Poland by seeing the Pact. This never happened. Thus, on September 1st, 1939, Hitler sent 1.5 million German troops to invade Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3rd September. The Second World War had begun.

Russia also made an alliance with France against Germany and Austria-Hungary. There was another alliance between Russia, France and Britain to counter the threats from

Invasion of Poland, Blitzkrieg - September, 1939 - Germany used series of "lightning campaigns" to conquer Poland. The invasion caused Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany.

Hitler realized that the French and British Leaders were scared of his power and also of war. Hitler needed more living space for the German people and he thought of taking over Poland. Hitler began planning the invasion of Poland. After World War I, Poland's army was relatively weak and ill-equipped compared to Germany. To aid in its defense, Poland had formed military alliances with Great Britain and France. Massing their armies along the Polish border, the Germans staged a fake Polish attack on August 31, 1939. Using this as a pretext for war, German forces flooded across the border the next day. On September 3, Great Britain and France issued a warning to Germany to end the fighting. When no reply was received, both nations declared war. Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia and Poland before World War 2 but then from 1939 and June 1941 the German army invaded and occupied many countries like Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg,France, Denmark,Yugoslavia, Greece, Norway and Western Poland. In Source C (The cartoon from October 1938 by Low) shows a picture of Hitler as Santa popping every European country into his sack which means Germany over all and also Hitler realized that nobody could stop

Allowing the union of Austria and Germany would only make Germany stronger, something France especially did not want. Self-determination was also used against Germany in other ways. By allowing Poland to become a country with access to the sea, Germany would be split in half, and former German territory would now be known as the Polish Corridor. Territory was also taken away from Germany to create the nation of Lithuania.

The German invasion of Poland on September 1st 1939, was an experimental display of the most advanced and intense form of warfare the world had ever seen. With such a drastic use of power and with aspirations expanding so wide, the German “Wehrmacht”1, along with the Soviet Union and a small Slovak contingent, soon escalated a central European battle into a global conflict. The target of Poland, for such an experiment had been strategically chosen as a geographical and logistical advantage, a self-proclaimed repossession of pre-World War one land ownership, and an eastern front barrier with Germany’s newly established pact/ally (via the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact), the USSR.

When Germany invaded Poland, Britain and France finally had to do something as they had signed an alliance with Poland on 25 August 1939. This time they couldn't back down in the face of Nazi aggression. Had they done so, this would have signalled to the rest of the world that they could no longer be regarded as world powers. The invasion of Poland became inevitable as soon as the Germans and Russians signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact as they had agreed to carve up Poland between themselves.

PEARL HARBOUR INTRODUCTION: As World War 1 came to an end and the war was nearly over, Germany suffered greatly and lost major industries and land. This humiliation gave rise to a great rising power led by it's dictators. The invasion of European lands by Hitler who was opposing the treaty invaded Poland in 1939. The Allies issued an ultimatum that Hitler remove his troops under the threat of war.

This pact prevented Hitler, “From seeking the goal of German foreign policy in the one and only place possible: space in the east.” Gaining Lebensraum for Germany’s surplus population was one motive for Hitler’s attack into the Soviet Union in 1941, but there were also other reasons behind the attack.

Hitler was openly accepting that his actions could have caused war with Britain and France, but they remained proactive in their dealings with Hitler, instead trying to reason with the German leader and make compromises in return for peace. France and Germany avoided any military action at this point in time as The Great Depression had hindered their military rearming production and war would be costly and in particular France, public opinion opposed any conflict with Hitler’s German forces.[7]

In 1934, Germany and Poland signed a non-aggression pact, which was meant to exclude Poland from the French System of alliances.

By the end of Napoléon’s reign nationalism transformed, encompassing not only the ideas of loyalty and culture devotion but liberalism and ethnic pride. The violence that spurred as a result of the French Revolution and Napoléon’s reign instilled fear in the minds of the allied monarchies. The allies became fully aware of the devastating powers radical and progressive nationalism possessed, thus they formed the Holy Alliance. The Holy Alliance consisted of Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The alliance was a call upon Christian leaders to call off war and acted mostly as a gentlemen’s agreement. For most of the 19th century Britain aspired to not be restricted by any outside alliances or agreements; therefore, Britain did not partake in the alliance. The Holy Alliance formed in direct response to nationalism, for nationalism threatened their countries’ unities; they did not want control of their country to slip out of their hands. Another fear of those members involved in the Holy Alliance, was the nationalist uprising of the Poles. The Polish partition in the end of the 18th century between Prussia, Austria, and Russia, caused many of the Poles to form distaste against their conquerors. Since nationalism was linked with

treaty with Poland, promising military support should it be attacked.” (“Germans Invade Poland.”) World War II had gotten more than 50 countries to be a part of the Allies who were against the Axis. These countries were led by Great Britain, The Soviet Union, France, China and The

Britain and France warned Germany that if they took Poland war was going to brake. Britain and France followed a policy of appeasement, which let Hitler achieve his plans without problems. As Hitler saw the perfect opportunity of taking Austria because in this country were many Germans, he said it was his right take over Austria, after this Britain and France remained quiet following the appeasement policy.