Hi Everyone

Why did Hitler's invasion of Poland start world war 2? What was the circumstances beind it? I look forward to some replies.






kind regards John Stefan

It didn't. Ask the Chinese.

Yeah But then how did World war 2 Start Exactly? This was never really clear to me and I look forward to some replies.


kind regards John Stefan

Well one could argue that WW2 in the west against Germany became almost inevitable immediately the Treaty of Versailles was concluded in 1919 and so like the series of Napoleonic Wars was really just an on-going conflict which had started in 1914 (or even earlier, perhaps even encompassing the Franco-Prussian war of 1870). The harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles made it almost certain that Germany would try to get out of paying reparations and would aim to regain lost territory (eg Alsace and the Saarland), and moreover would probably attempt to do so militarily. The German army command and nationalist politicians never really accepted that they had been defeated on the battlefield but instead strongly believed they had been betrayed by the civilians on the home front, especially by the Jews and revolutionary socialists who had fomented strikes and labour unrest (the so-called Dolchstoßlegende or stab-in-the-back myth). Accordingly rearmament and planning for a new war started almost immediately, clandestinely at first in the Weimar Republic (1918-33) but more openly under National Socialism. War started piecemeal with the reclamation of German territories - without any actual fighting at first with reclamation of the Saarland, the Sudentenland and Anchluss with Austria - but then more violently with the conquest of Czechoslovakia. But declared war of course only finally started in September 1939 with the invasion of Poland, who Britain and France had vowed to defend although in the event were powerless to do very much about.

As George Green has suggested, the war against Japan ran to a rather different timescale.

France and Poland had formed, or rather re-formed (there was an earlier one dating back to 1921) a military alliance on 19 May 1939. 
The British Parliament had already pledged the following on the 31st March 1939.:


wiki:

Quote :

...in the event of any action which clearly threatened Polish independence, and which the Polish Government accordingly considered it vital to resist with their national forces, His Majesty's Government would feel themselves bound at once to lend the Polish Government all support in their power. They have given the Polish Government an assurance to this effect. I may add that the French Government have authorised me to make it plain that they stand in the same position in this matter as do His Majesty's Government.

The British Chiefs of Staff at the time however noted that "we could give no direct help by land, sea or air."

As Meles has said, this was in response to the German takeover of the remainder of Czechoslovakia and in forcing Lithuania to give up the city of Memel, both of which took place in March 1939.

Effectively, Britain and France said "enough is enough", if Hitler wants any more territory, he's going to have to fight for it.

To be exact the war, at least for Britain, started at 11:00 British Summer Time, on 3 September 1939:



Shortly after Chamberlain had finished his broadcast to the country air-raid sirens sounded over London. People calmly made their way into the shelters, Chamberlain, his wife and the Cabinet among them (it was a Sunday so the city, and the country as a whole, was not especially busy). In the event there was no immediate bombing, nor indeed would there be any 'real' war for quite some time. Over the next eight months more Britons, both civilians and servicemen combined, were killed through road traffic accidents during the blackout than were killed through direct enemy action.

My mother, who was fourteen years old in September 1939, recalled (when in her eighties after I finally got round to formally recording her memories) that she'd hurried back home from Sunday school to hear the expected 11 o'clock radio broadcast (it actually went out at about 11:20, ie after the deadline had well and truly passed), and that after it her mother said something along the lines of how upsetting this must be for Mr. Chamberlain after all his efforts to secure peace, while her father, who'd been a merchant seaman during WW1, just commented something like "Oh no, here we go again".

Quite simply World War Two started on the 3 September 1939, the big question is had Britain and France not declared war on Germany on that date, would WW2 have happened, no doubt Hitler would have gone on to invade the Soviet Union, but would he have attacked and occupied Western Europe, it should also be remembered that Lebensraum only applied to Eastern Europe. We will never know the answer, but if the war in the East was won, Germany would have become the dominant force in Europe, and Hitler may have stopped at that.

I agree with GG and might add 'look to Korea as well.'

Johnny Stefan, your questions are formed too broadly, not only this but other threads as well.

But welcome if you intend to contribute to the spirit of this forum.

Tomorrow is the 67th anniversary of another possible "start date" - and one on which the whole obscenity might have been halted at little or no cost in lives.