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12. Reading – Poland and War
Mark Callagher
Focus Questions
1. Why did Germany now focus its attention on Poland?
2. Why did Italy & Germany sign a “Pact of Steel”?
3. Why did Britain and France seek Russia’s support for their Polish Guarantee?
4. What were the factors which prevented Russia and the Western Democracies coming to
an agreement?
5. Why did Soviet Russia choose to turn its back on Britain and France and instead sign a
Pact with Germany?
The Polish Question
Treaty of Versailles resentments
Hitler now focused his attention on Polish territory
lost to Poland at Versailles:
 The German Port City of Danzig had been
designated a free city governed by the League
of Nations
 The Polish Corridor was a strip of land given to
Poland at Versailles which gave access to the
Baltic Sea. The Corridor included one million
Germans and had been taken from German
East Prussia which meant separation from the
rest of Germany. However, it became
conveniently forgotten that all of Prussia had
once been Polish
Hitler starts crisis
In November 1938 Hitler demands that Danzig and
other territories be returned to Germany
<caption>Poland and Corridor </caption>
British Attitudes Harden
Appeasement had ended
Hitler had broken the Munich agreement over
Czechoslovakia with his invasion in March 1939.
The policy of appeasement had never meant peace
at any price, but the acceptance of limited German
advances.
Britain and France now realised that Germany
wanted domination over Europe. The only way to
stop Hitler was through war.
<caption>Map of Danzig at entrance to the Polish
Corridor</caption>
The Polish Guarantee
.
On 29 March the British government therefore gave
Poland a guarantee to protect it against any threat to its
independence. The French government joined in this
“Polish guarantee”.
They would act to preserve Polish borders and
independence in the event of attack or invasion.
The Polish guarantee did not scare Hitler. Only four days
later he gave secret orders to his armed forces to be ready
to invade Poland by September 1st. It is possible that Hitler
didn’t believe that Britain and France would go to war for
Poland.
Lloyd George’s Warning
Lloyd George, the old leader from another war, said of the
Polish guarantee: “If we are going in without the help of
Russia we are walking into a trap”
<caption>David Lloyd George – British Prime
Minister during the First World War</caption>
Italy gets involved
Albania Invaded
The situation in Europe grew even more tense when Italy
invaded Albania on 7th April 1939. Because it happened
only weeks after German troops invaded Czechoslovakia, it
looked as if Italy and Germany were acting together.
Britain and France Respond
Britain and France feared that Italy would go on to attack
other countries in south-east Europe. They therefore gave
guarantees to Greece and Romania, promising to protect
their independence.
<caption>Cartoon from Punch 5 April
1939</caption>
Pact of Steel
Hitler and Mussolini strengthened the
ties between their countries by making
what they called a Pact of Steel on 22
May 1939. This agreement required
each country to help the other in time of
war.
Europe Divided into two camps
So by mid-1939 Europe had divided into
two camps:
 Britain and France were in one
camp, guaranteeing the safety of
countries in Eastern Europe.
 Germany and Italy were in the
other, each preparing to expand
<caption>Mussolini and Hitler</caption>
into Eastern Europe.
War seemed certain.
Courting the Russians
The British and French would find it difficult to defend Poland because it was so far from them. As
war came closer they looked for a way round this difficulty.
They approached the USSR, hoping that the Soviet government would add its guarantee to theirs.
Then, if Hitler attacked Poland, they could attack western Germany while the Soviets attacked in the
east. This would divide and weaken the German forces as was the case in World War I.
Talks stall
Soviet Mistrust
Stalin, the Soviet leader, did not trust this proposal. He had
been left out of the Munich Conference, and now he
suspected that the British and French were trying to use him
for their own advantage.
Stalin’s Counter-proposal
He therefore proposed that Britain, France and the USSR
should form a full military alliance, promising to fight together
in time of war.
It was now the turn of the British and French to be mistrustful.
Talks between the three countries therefore went slowly.
They stalled completely when the Polish government said it
would not allow Soviet troops into Poland if war broke out.
<caption>Josef Stalin, Soviet
leader</caption>
Molotov
The Soviet Foreign Minister was Vyacheslav Molotov. He did all the
negotiating on behalf of Stalin.
Molotov Coctail
The Molotov Cocktail (Petrol Bomb) refers to Molotov. It was apparently
coined by the Finnish army, which used the weapon against Russian tanks
during the Winter War of 1940. The petrol bomb itself was apparently
invented during the Spanish Civil War. It’s slightly surprising that it took about
thirty years of the wide availability of petrol before somebody thought of
putting it in a bottle, stuffing a rag in the top, lighting it and throwing it.
<caption>Molotov, Soviet
Foreign Minister</caption>
Secret negotiations with Germany
The negotiations Between
Britain and France and Russia
were open and known to the
public.
However, with talks stalling,
Stalin had authorised his foreign
minister, Molotov, to engage in
secret negotiations with
Germany.
Whereas the British and French
were asking Stalin to consider
fighting in defence of Poland,
the Germans were asking him
the opposite – to agree not to
fight with anyone over Poland.
<caption>“If the British don’t, maybe we will” by Low, 29 June 1939</caption>
Natural enemies?
It was surprising that Germany and the USSR were talking to each other. Hitler had never hidden his
hatred of communism, and his ideas for taking ‘lebensraum’ (living space) from the USSR were well
known. The two countries were natural enemies.
Stalin, however, was prepared to do a deal with this enemy, for the USSR was going through a
political upheaval at the time (the Great Purge, in which millions of Stalin’s political opponents were
imprisoned or killed) as well as having severe economic difficulties. The USSR was in no position to
fight a major war.
German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
On 23 August 1939, to the astonishment
of the world, the Nazi-Soviet NonAggression Pact was signed by
Ribbentrop (German Foreign Minister)
and Molotov (Soviet Foreign Minister).
The negotiations which had led to the
signing had remained a secret and had
come as a huge surprise to the British.
<caption>Molotov and Ribbentrop sign the Non-Aggression Pact with
Stalin in the background</caption>
Provisions of the Pact
The Nazi-Soviet Pact had two main provisions:
1. If Germany attacked Poland, the USSR would
remain neutral.
2. In a secret part of the Pact the two countries
agreed to divide Poland between them after if
had been conquered.
<caption>Polish cartoonist Arthur Szyk’s bitter
comment on the Russo-German Pact. Hitler and
Stalin are shown holding palms of peace; behind
them a soldier hangs on a cross inscribed
‘Poland’</caption>
Reading and Discussion
Download this extract from “The Coming of the Second World War” by H. G. Gelber
Read the extract and answer these questions which will be a focus of discussion for the next
lesson:
1. Name three reasons why the British were wary of an alliance with Russia.
2. Name three reasons why the Russians were wary of the Western democracies.
3. What other threat did Russia face, which made Stalin even more reluctant to enter into an
alliance with Britain & France?
4. For what reasons did Russia finally opt for an agreement with Germany (Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact) rather than with Britain & France?
5. By signing the pact with Germany can Russia be blamed for making it easier for Germany to
invade Poland?
6. How difficult do you think it would be for Britain & France to help defend Poland? (you will
need to see a map of Europe)
World War II Begins
Preparation for invasion
German troops had been amassing on the Polish border since
early August
The Nazi-Soviet Pact was signed on 23rd August.
A day later Britain and France reaffirmed their guarantee to
Poland that it would come to Poland’s assistance if she were
attacked
Poland invaded
German armed forces invaded Poland on 1st September 1939.
They used a new, fast-moving kind of warfare known as
Blitzkrieg, or ‘lightning war’.
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Air-raid siren
Britain and France declare war
<caption>German troops crossing the Polish
border</caption>
Britain and France had sworn to defend Poland. Honouring these
obligations, the two countries sent ultimatums to Hitler demanding his
withdrawal from Poland. Hitler declined to respond.
On 3rd September, Prime Minister Chamberlain went to the airwaves
to announce to the British people that a state of war existed between
their country and Germany.
World War II had begun.
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<caption>Chamberlain after
declaring war on
Germany</caption>
Chamberlain’s declaration of war
False
Russia joins in
Unfortunately Chamberlain’s action was little help
to the Poles. German troops advanced steadily.
The final blow came on September 17 when
Soviet forces under terms of a secret agreement
with Germany marched into Poland from the
East.
<caption>Map of German & Soviet advances into
Poland</caption>
Rendezvous
Cartoonist David Low described this as “the bitterest cartoon of my life”.
“Rendezvous” – Low, 20 September 1939 (after the defeat of Poland)
Poland defeated
Warsaw
surrendered
on September
27 and by
October 6, it
was all over.
Poland had
ceased to
exist as a
country.
Baltic
States
Invaded
The USSR
had joined the
war on 17
September
1939 when
Soviet forces
invaded
eastern
Poland, as
agreed in the
Nazi-Soviet
Pact. By
November
they had
occupied
20,000 km2 of
land.
Further north
the USSR
extended its
influence by
forcing the
small Baltic
states of
Estonia,
Latvia and
Lithuania to
allow Soviet
troops onto
their soil.
They claimed
it was
necessary to
help secure
its borders for
a possible
future war
with
Germany.
Summary

Hitler now turned his attention to Poland demanding the return of territory lost under the unjust
Versailles Treaty

Appeasement had now ended and Britain and France declared their support for Polish
independence

Britain and France sought the support of Russia to help defend Poland

Russia instead signed a Non-Aggression Pact with Germany which opened the way for the
invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939

Britain and France declared war on Germany 3 September 1939

Poland was defeated six weeks later and divided up between Germany and Russia as part of
a secret agreement under the Non-Aggression Pact.