"Although they have declared war on us … that does not mean that they will actually fight."
A. Hitler
80 years ago, on September 1-3, 1939, the Second World War began. On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany attacked Poland. On September 3, England and France declared war on Germany.
German tanks enter Poland. September 1939
The cause of the world war is the crisis of capitalism
On the same day, the British dominions Australia and New Zealand declared war on the Third Reich, on September 6 and 10 - the Union of South Africa and Canada, as well as India, which was then an English colony. The Third Reich found itself at war with the bloc of the countries of the British Empire, France and Poland. The United States and Japan have declared their neutrality in the European war.
This is how the Second World War began. It arose as a result of the crisis of the capitalist system, the Western world. Almost the whole world, except for the USSR-Russia, was divided among the capitalist predators, and they needed a new living space. The Anglo-American bloc claimed world domination. The new imperialist predators, the Third Reich, Italy and Japan, wanted their pieces of the world pie.
The crisis of capitalism could be resolved only with the help of war, the defeat and plundering of competitors, the seizure of new territories, resources and sales markets. The main aggressor in Europe was the German Empire, and in Asia - Japan. However, in fact, London and Washington consistently incited a new world war in their own interests. Some supported Japan's aggression in China and against the USSR. Sponsored Hitler and the Nazis, helped them come to power, arm Germany and allowed her to make the first conquests - Austria and Czechoslovakia (How England gave Austria to Hitler; How the West surrendered Czechoslovakia to Hitler). The main goal of England and the United States was to pit the Germans and Japanese against the Russians, and then finish off the victors and establish their world domination.
This explains all the contradictions and issues of world politics on the eve of the world war. The architects of the Munich policy of "appeasement" of the aggressor planned to once again confront Germany with Russia in order to complete the defeat of the two great powers that were preventing Britain and the United States from building their own world order. To do this, they brought Hitler to power, financed the revival of German military-economic power, threw more and more sacrifices at the feet of the Fuhrer so that he renewed the "onslaught to the East" against the Russian (Soviet) civilization. The West tried to get out of the crisis by destroying and plundering Russia's wealth. The seizure of a new "living space" made it possible to prolong the existence of the predatory capitalist system.
King George VI of England announces the beginning of the war on the radio. September 3, 1939
Polish predator victim
It is interesting that Warsaw was going, together with the Germans, to take part in the campaign to the East, the defeat of Soviet Russia. The Polish elite dreamed of new conquests at the expense of Russia (the Poles seized Western Russian lands during the war of 1919-1921), the restoration of "Greater Poland" within the borders of 1772. In the pre-war period, Poland behaved like a brazen predator, an instigator of a great war in Europe.
Suffice it to recall that in the 1930s Warsaw was actively friends with Berlin, considering the Germans the main enemies of the "Bolsheviks" and hoping that it would be possible to agree with Hitler on a joint campaign against Moscow. In 1934, Warsaw and Berlin signed a non-aggression pact (against the background of Germany's withdrawal from the League of Nations). At the same time, Poland became the main European advocate for the aggressors in the League of Nations. Warsaw justified the attack of fascist Italy on Abyssinia (Ethiopia), the Japanese aggression in China and supported the actions of the Nazis in Europe - and the restoration of control over the Rhineland (with its militarization), and the capture of Austria, and the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia. During the Anschluss of Austria, Poland tried to annex Lithuania. Only the tough position of the USSR, and the lack of support from Britain and France in the Lithuanian question, forced the Polish government to retreat. Then two European predators - Germany and Poland, jointly attacked Czechoslovakia. Poland facilitated the Munich Agreement by refusing military assistance to its French ally in defending another French ally, Czechoslovakia. Also, the Poles refused to let the USSR troops pass through their territory to help Prague. Then the Poles openly acted as aggressors, taking part in the section of the "Czechoslovak pie".
The point was that the Polish lords claimed Soviet Ukraine and saw Hitler as an ally in a future war with Moscow. However, Hitler had his own plans, the Fuhrer himself wanted to make Little Russia-Ukraine a part of the "Eternal Reich". He planned to crush Poland, to return to Germany the lands lost after the First World War, to make it a colony and a strategic springboard for an attack on Moscow. For the time being, Hitler concealed these plans, encouraging the Poles. He allowed Warsaw to participate in the destruction and dismemberment of Czechoslovakia. Then the Poles occupied the Teshin region. Therefore, the Polish elite, blindly and stupidly persisting in their Russophobia and anti-Sovietism, refused to support the Soviet system of collective security in Europe, which could have saved Poland from the September 1939 catastrophe.
Until the last moment, the Polish elite was preparing for a war with the USSR. All major military activities were associated with the future war with the Russians. Warsaw was not preparing for a possible war with Germany, as it saw Hitler as an ally against Russia. That greatly helped the Germans in the future defeat of the Polish army. The Polish General Staff was preparing plans for a joint war with Germany against the USSR. In addition, pride ruined Warsaw. The Pans considered Poland to be a great military power. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, Poland was militarily stronger than the Third Reich. Warsaw did not pay attention to the fact that in just a few years the Third Reich restored its military potential and rapidly developed it, having strengthened at the expense of the economic, military and human resources of Austria and Czechoslovakia. The Poles were confident that their divisions, together with the French on the Western Front, would easily beat the Germans. Warsaw did not see any threat from Germany.
Unsurprisingly, Warsaw did not want Moscow's help even in August 1939, when the threat of an attack by the Third Reich on Poland became apparent. The Polish leadership refused to let the Red Army into Poland. Although at this time the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact had not yet been signed, Germany and the USSR were considered opponents. And Moscow tried in good faith to achieve the creation of a collective security system together with France and England. However, the Polish "elite" turned out to be so short-sighted in their historical hatred of Russia and the Russians that they refused to accept Moscow's outstretched hand.
Thus, Poland itself was a predator who wanted to take part in the division of Russian lands, but became a victim of even more powerful predators. Hitler decided to defeat Poland in order to secure his rear before throwing himself on Paris and to free the central strategic direction (Warsaw - Minsk - Moscow) for a future war with the USSR. And France and England, American capital needed that Hitler, having absorbed Austria and Czechoslovakia, went to the East, to Moscow. Therefore, Poland was so easily sacrificed to strengthen the Third Reich.
Now Warsaw depicts an innocent victim who allegedly fell the first victim of the Second World War. Although the Japanese had tormented China for several years, Germany invaded Austria and Czechoslovakia (with the help of the Poles), and Italy drowned Ethiopia in blood. At the same time, Warsaw does not remember that Poland was betrayed by Western "partners", having made Poles slaves to the Nazis, and the Soviet Union, led by Stalin, revived the Polish state from the ashes.
King George VI of England (in a light cloak in the front row) inspects the 85th squadron in France. Hawker Hurricane Mk I fighters are on the airfield. In the upper left corner you can see, from left to right: a Bristol Blenheim bomber and two Gloucester Gladiator fighters
Strange War
Germany's attack on Poland obliged Britain and France, in accordance with the previous guarantees, allied obligations, including the Anglo-Polish treaty of mutual assistance of August 25, 1939, to immediately provide the "Polish ally" with all possible assistance. On the morning of September 1, 1939, Warsaw informed the Western powers of the German invasion and requested immediate assistance. Paris and London assured Warsaw of immediate support. However, in the following days, when the German divisions crushed Poland, the Polish ambassadors in Paris and London unsuccessfully sought meetings with the head of the French government Daladier and the British Prime Minister Chamberlain in order to find out from them when and exactly what kind of military assistance would be provided to the Polish state. The foreign ministers of France and England only expressed sympathy for the Polish ambassadors.
Thus, practically neither Britain nor France provided any assistance to Poland. The matter did not go further than the formal declaration of war on Germany on September 3, 1939. To appease the French public, only limited reconnaissance raids were undertaken, with vanguard troops and small units infiltrating German territory and extending several kilometers. But already on September 12, the French command, by decision of the Supreme Privy Council, issued a secret order to stop the offensive, and in October all the troops returned to their original positions. Therefore, the press called this war "strange" or "sit-down". The French and British troops on the Western Front were bored, drinking, playing, etc., but not fighting. The soldiers were even forbidden to fire at enemy positions. The powerful British fleet, which could support the Polish troops on the coast, was inactive. And the allied aviation, which could calmly smash the German industrial centers and transport infrastructure, “bombed” Germany with leaflets! The British government has banned the bombing of German military installations! France and England did not even organize a full-fledged economic blockade of Germany. The Third Reich calmly received all the resources and materials necessary for the economy through Italy, Spain, Turkey and other countries.
At the same time, the French army was then stronger than the German one, and all the combat-ready divisions of the Reich were connected by the Polish campaign. On the western frontier, Berlin had only 23 divisions against about 110 French and British divisions. The allies had a complete numerical and qualitative superiority here. The British and French had almost four times as many soldiers here, five times as many guns. The German troops on the western border had no tanks or air support at all! All tanks and aircraft were in the East. German divisions in the West were second-rate, from reserve soldiers, without supplies and equipment for long battles, and did not have strong fortifications.
The German generals themselves admitted that England and France would have easily ended the big war back in 1939 if they had launched a strategic offensive deep into Germany. Westerners could easily cross the Rhine and threaten the Ruhr, the main industrial center of Germany, and bring Berlin to its knees. The world war would have ended there. It is obvious that London and Paris could also support the conspiracy of the German generals, dissatisfied with Hitler's "adventurism". From a military point of view, the German generals were right. Germany was not ready for war with France, Britain and Poland. It would be a disaster.
The Western military also showed a picture of the inaction of England and France while the Nazis destroyed Poland. British Field Marshal Montgomery noted that France and England did not budge when Germany swallowed Poland.
“We continued to be inactive even when the German armies were deployed to the West with the obvious purpose of attacking us! We endured waiting to be attacked, and throughout this period from time to time bombed Germany with leaflets. I didn't understand if it was a war."
The point was that Hitler had complete confidence (obviously, and an unspoken guarantee) that Paris and London would not wage a real war. Since the 1920s, British and American financial circles have provided support to the German Nazis and personally to Hitler. A big war was being prepared. Germany was to become a "battering ram" for the destruction of the Old World first, then the USSR. Therefore, while the Germans were quietly crushing Poland, the Anglo-French forces did not undertake any real military operations on land, in the air and at sea. And Hitler was able to throw all the combat-ready forces on Poland without worrying about the Western Front.
History shows that Hitler was right. England and France gave him Poland to be devoured. Everything was limited to a formal declaration of war. This was a continuation of the Munich policy of "appeasement" of the aggressor at the expense of territories in Eastern Europe. Paris and London tried to direct Berlin's aggression against the USSR. At the same time, ordinary French and British were fooled, they say, Germany will soon oppose the Soviet Union. The idea of a European "crusade" against Bolshevism was even voiced. In fact, the financial oligarchy of the West knew the true plans of the Fuhrer, which he voiced in the nearest circle - first to crush the West, and then turn to the East. Hitler did not want to repeat the mistakes of the Second Reich and fight on two fronts. After the defeat of Poland, he wanted to do away with France, to take a historical revenge for the Versailles shame, to bring most of Western Europe under his control. Then turn the "Hitlerite European Union" against the Russians. And the defeat of the USSR and Russian resources allowed Hitler to play his game and claim world domination.
German soldiers address to the music of the button accordion to the soldiers of the French army on the other side of the Rhine. The photo was taken during the so-called "strange" or "sit-down" war (FR: Drôle de guerre, German: Sitzkrieg) on the Western Front. Photo source:
