Invasion of Poland, 1939
After World War I, Poland received the former German provinces of West Prussia, Poznan and Upper Silesia according to Treaty of Versailles signed after the war. Once in power, Adolf Hitler’s goal was to reacquire these provinces. In order to do so he made his first foreign policy initiative with the signing of a nonaggression pact with Poland in January of 1934. By signing this pact, Hitler ensured that there would be no French-Polish military alliance formed and Germany would have a chance to rearm. During the 1930’s both Britain and France were following the foreign policy of appeasement. They made every effort they could in order to avoid further conflict with Germany. This included allowing Germany’s rearmament (1935-1937), the reclaiming of the Rhineland (1936) and the annexation of Austria (1938). The Czech border, commonly known as the Sudetenland, was also signed away to German control. To further avoid any conflict with Germany, British and French leaders promised Hitler the integrity of Poland. In response to this promise of the integrity of Poland, in 1939, Hitler negotiated a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. It was decided that Poland would be equally partitioned between Germany and the Soviet Union. Germany was now free to attack Poland without having to worry about the Soviet Union intervening. On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland. German units with more than 2,000 tanks and 1,000 planes attacked Poland from the East Prussia, Northern Germany and Silesia and Slovakia in the South. The Polish army was quickly being defeated. Two days later, on September 3, 1939, Great Britain and France both declared war on Germany. The Polish capital, Warsaw, surrendered to the German attack on September 17, 1939 after a massive encirclement with heavy shelling and bombardment. The Soviet Union and Germany adhered to their non-aggression pact and partitioned Poland along the Bug River. |
|