On Sept. 3, 1939, Great Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand all declared war on Nazi Germany.  Germany began its invasion of Poland two days earlier, on September 1. Also on September 3, only hours after the British declaration of war on Germany, a German U-boat (submarine) torpedoed and sank the British ocean liner SS Athenia approximately 250 miles off the Irish coast, killing more than 100 people, including 28 Americans, out of the 1,400 or so on board. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke to the American people in a radio address and cautioned that the U.S. was going to make a proclamation declaring neutrality in this latest European war.  Many Americans did not want a repeat of America’s involvement in the First World War, and were content to let the Europeans kill each other without American interference.

Warsaw Burning During the German Invasion of 1939

 

The German Invasion of Poland (September 1, 1939-October 6, 1939)–Germany invaded Poland on September 1, and Britain, France, and Canada, declared war on Germany on September 3. The Soviet Union joined the war on Germany’s side on September 17, with the Soviet Invasion of Poland from the east. The German Invasion of Poland (called Operation Case White/Unternehmen Fall Weiss by the Germans), marks the beginning of World War Two in Europe.

For more information, links, images, and videos, see:

http://www.historyguy.com/worldwartwo/german_invasion_of_poland_1939.htm

http://www.historyguy.com/worldwartwo/world_war_two_video_german_invasion_of_poland.htm and http://www.historyguy.com/worldwartwo/world_war_two_images_invasion_of_poland.htm

Two new pages with pictures and video related  to the German Invasion of Poland in 1939 are now online.  See them at: http://www.historyguy.com/worldwartwo/world_war_two_video_german_invasion_of_poland.htm and http://www.historyguy.com/worldwartwo/world_war_two_images_invasion_of_poland.htm

September 1, 2009, will mark the 70th anniversary of the Nazi German invasion of Poland, which sparked World War Two in Europe.  Within days of the invasion, Britain, France, and others declared war on Germany in response.  On September 17, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the East, sealing the eastern European nation’s fate.  Poland was to be occupied (in part or in whole), for the rest of the war, and would lose a larger percentage of its population due to the war than any other participant in World War Two.

Read more at http://www.historyguy.com/worldwartwo/german_invasion_of_poland_1939.htm

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (also known as the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Treaty)

Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a Non-Aggression treaty on August 23, 1939. This treaty between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union set the stage for the German invasion of Poland a week later, which was the opening round of World War Two in Europe. The second part of this treaty remained secret, and called for the division of Eastern Europe between Hitler and Stalin.

By getting Stalin to agree to not oppose an invasion of Poland, Hitler was assured of a fairly easy war, or so he thought.  The agreement to divide Eastern Europe between them ensured that Moscow would not join the British and French in a defense of Poland.  The Soviet victory four days earlier in the short border war with Japan (See Battle of Khalhkin Gol) allowed Stalin to free up forces for his own aggression against Poland, the Baltic States, and Finland.

Had these two bloody-minded tyrants not signed this treaty, Hitler may not have invaded Poland, thereby triggering the European phase of World War Two.

The Flag of Poland

New page now online which looks at the wars of Poland from about 1600 to the Present.

At: http://www.historyguy.com/wars_of_poland.htm

Uploaded a new page called The Wars and Conflicts of1939: The Eve of World War Two.

at: http://www.historyguy.com/worldwartwo/wars_of_1939.htm

key words for this page include: war, wars, 1939, world war one, spanish civil war, spain, france, britain, germany, italy, albania, ethiopia, poland, sino-japanese war, arab revolt, palestine revolt, german occupation, occupation of czechoslovakia, occupation of memel, occupation of klaipeda, lithuania, slovak-hungarian war, little war, italian invasion of albania, chile coup 1939, ariostazo coup, soviet-japanese border war, battle of khalkhin gol, nomonhan, german invasion of poland, case white, fall weiss, soviet invasion of poland, world war two starts, poland invasion, winter war, finland, russia, soviet union, russian invasion.

Several new pages are now online in the History Guy’s World War Two Section with text and images related to several important documents involving the Axis Powers of Germany, Japan, and Italy, and the origins of the Second World War.

The Anti-Comintern Pact (Signed November 25, 1936)

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (Signed August 24, 1939)

Text of Adolf Hitler’s Proclamation to the German Army announcing war with Poland (September 1, 1939)

The Tripartite Pact (Signed September 27, 1940)