An Inevitable War

In the mid 1930's, British and French leaders started to purse a policy
of appeasement toward Germany. The Britan and France not only feared another
war, but they had convinced themselves that Adolf Hitler *( 1889–1945, Nazi
dicta-
tor of Germany, born in Austria: Chancellor 1933–45; dictator 1934–45.) Was a
rational man of peace who was simply trying to rectify the wrong done by
Germany
after WWII. *(World War Two. a war between the Allies (Australia, Belgium,
Bolivia,
Brazil, Ca-nada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia,
Dominican
Republic, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras,
India
, Iran, Iraq, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua,
Norway,
Panama, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States,
USSR,
Yugoslavia) and the Axis (Albania, Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy,
Japan,
Rumania, Slovakia, Thailand) from 1939 to 1945). The policy reached it's highest
point in the fall of 1938, when the allies awared Germany the sudetenland
*(a mountainous region in the N Czech Republic, including the Sudeten and
the Erzgebirge: annexed by Germany 1938; returned to Czechoslovakia 1945. )
The day after Adolf Hitler signed the Munich Accord, Hitler and Britan's prime
minster
*(Neville Chambelain 1869-1940 ) promised to do everything possible to ensure
peace in Europe.
Five and a half months later *(in september of 1938 )German troops
marched into what remained of Czech lands. European leaders realized that a
war
was inevitable. Most *( mainly Britian and France) suspected Romania to be
Hitler's next target *(beacuse of it's oil Reserves) surprised at the end of march
1939 to find that it would actually be Poland.Knowing that the Wehrmacth *( the
German soldiers) were not quiet ready for war Adolf Hitler understood how big of
a gamble it was to try and invade Poland at such a time as this. This decision
alarmed
Hitler's generals and raised opposition to his command which lead to the leaks of
his war
plans to Britian and France. In the spring and early summer of 1939, the
Wehrmacth
went ahead with their plans for the invasion of Poland while Britian france and
the
Soviet Union sought out ways to ward the war off.
Hitler's only real concern was that a sudden German invasion of Poland
might
alarm Stalin and trigger a war with the Soviet Union. Stalin feared a German
invasion
and had been seeking an anti-Nazi 'collective security' alliance with the western
powers for many years, but by July 1939 Britain and France had still not agreed
terms.
Poland had also rejected an alliance with the Soviet Union, and refused
permission for
the Red Army to cross its territory to engage the Wehrmacht in a future war.
Hitler
saw his opportunity, and authorised his Foreign Minister, Joachim von
Ribbentrop
to enter into secret negotiations with the Soviet Union. British, French, and the
Soveit
Union's talked falteringly because the Soveits insisted on the rights to move into
countries on Stalin's western frontier that he suspected of being the German
camp,
Moscow *( Russian, Moskva. a city in and the capital of the Russian Federation,
in the W part: capital of the former Soviet Union. 8,967,000. Also called Grand
Duchy of Moscow.) and Berlin began low level discussions that led on August
23,1939,
to a nonaggression treaty that had a secret protocol.
An ecstatic Hitler brought the date of the invasion forward to
26th of August to take advantage of the surprise the pact had provoked in the
west.
However, only hours before the attack Hitler cancelled the invasion when his ally
Mussolini declared that Italy was not ready to go to war, and Britain declared a
formal military alliance with Poland. Once reassured of Mussolini's political
support, Hitler reset the invasion for 1 September 1939. The invasion was not
dependent on Italian military support and Hitler dismissed the Anglo-Polish
treaty as an empty gesture.

In the accord, Germany and

the Soviet Union divided Eastern Europe into seperate german and soveit
spheres of influence, with eastern Poland becoming a part of soveit sphere. The
Soviet Union became an active *(though belated) partnerwith Germany in the
Invasion of Poland a week later.
Just days after the finishing of the treaty *( Revision of Versailles )
the Oberkommando der Wehrmacth *( The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht was
the office of the High Command of the German Armed Forces under the Third
Reich
from 1935 - 1945. {better descripted}) issuesed the order for the invasion of
Poland.
Hitler was confident that the invasion of Poland would result in a short, victoriuos
war.
This why Hitler would not listen when his Generals urged cautioned and pleaded
fo mo-
re time to complete the defenses of the West Wall *(wall being built for
protection)
so they could be protected from any British and French counter-offensive in the
west
while the bulk of the Wehrmacht was engaged in the east. Their leader dismissed
their concerns, however, and demanded instead their total loyalty. Hitler was
confi-
dent that the invasion of Poland would result in a short, victorious war for two
important reasons. First, he was convinced that the deployment of the world's
first
armoured corps would swiftly defeat the Polish armed forces in a blitzkrieg
offensive.
Secondly, he judged the British and French prime-ministers *(Neville
Chamberlain
and Edouard Daladier) to be weak, indecisive leaders who would rather a peace
settlement than a war.
On August 31, special SS,SD, abwher *(the German high-command
service
for espionage, counterintelligence, and sabotage during World War II. )
dressed in Polish uniforms, launched phony assults along the Polish-German
border,
all the while giving Hitler his "Justifaction" for war. The following day *(September
1)
Hitler told the Reichstag *(the lower house of the parliament during the period
of the Second Reich and the Weimar Republic.) that Germany had to respond to
fourteen "border incidents" of the previous night, even though he had signed the
final
directive for the attack on Poland on August 1, 1939 *(the night before). Seven-
teen hours later, five different german armies moved into Poland. During the next
few days, Hitler rejected British and French demands to withdraw from Poland
as a prelude to negotiations. On September 3.1939, London and Paris Declared
war on the third Reich. By the time that thesoveit forces began to occupy their
portions
of eastern Poland on Sept,17 the wehrmacth had almost completed it's conquest
of
Poland and the destruction of Poland's once proud military forces. Though some
Polish units escaped into neutral territory, the germans defeated all those
that remained by October 6.
Western military commanders were rooted in the strategies of World War
One and entirely unprepared for the rapid invasion of Poland. They expected the
Germans to probe and bombard the Polish line with heavy artillery for several
weeks before launching a full invasion. Consequently while the Panzers
advanced,
French troops confined themselves to scouting and mapping the German 'West
Wall',
while awaiting the deployment of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and full
mobilisation. There was no offensive strategy, because France expected to fight
a
war of defence, and had invested heavily in the static defences of the Maginot
line.
The RAF also dropped not bombs but leaflets, urging a peace settlement. Twelve
of Poland's divisions were cavalry, armed with lance and sabre, and they were no
match for tanks. Each pocket was relentlessly bombarded and bombed, and
once
food and ammunition had run out had little choice but to surrender. By 8 Sept the
leading Panzers were on the outskirts of Warsaw, having covered 140 miles in
only
eight days. Two days later all Polish forces were ordered to fall back and regroup
in
Eastern Poland for a last stand. All hope was pinned upon a major French and
British offensive in the west to relieve the pressure.
However, despite assurances from Marshal Maurice Gamelin that the
French Army was fully engaged in combat, all military action on the western front
was ended on 13 September, when French troops were ordered to fall back be-
hind the security of the Maginot line. Warsaw was surrounded on 15 Sept and
suffered punishing bombing raids without hope of relief. On 17 September the
Red Army crossed the Polish border in the east, in fulfilment of the secret
agreement within the Nazi-Soviet Pact, and ended any prospect of Poland's
survival. Those Poles who could, fled across the border into Romania, and
many subsequently reached the west and continued the war as the Free
Polish Forces. Among them were many pilots, who were welcomed into
the RAF and took part in the Battle of Britain. Warsaw bravely held out until
27 September, but after enduring 18 days of continuous bombing finally surrend-
ered at 2.00pm that afternoon. Germany had gained a swift victory, but not the
end of the war. Britain and France refused to accept Hitler's peace offer.
His gamble had failed, and Poland had become the first battleground of
World War Two.
at the time Poland had a population of 35,340,000 but after
Germanyand the Soviet Union formally agreeded to the final bounderies of
Poland on sept 22, Germany got a little less than 22,250,000 poles *(people who
live in Poland).