Why did Britain go to War over Poland in 1939?

[CrusaderFrank]

History has shown that Britain made a huge mistake by going to war with Germany for a second time in the 20th Century, losing its empire and reducing it to a third rate economic power. With WW1, it had to dust off a 100 year old international treaty recognizing Belgium's independence as an excuse to declare war and ruin its economy.

With WW2, Britain hastily put together a mutual defense treaty with Poland only a week before Poland was invaded by Germany (and the USSR), It then used this treaty as an excuse to declare war, even though Germany posed absolutely no threat to it. Once again, Britain claimed a pyrrhic victory over Germany while losing the rest of its empire and condemning Eastern Europe to Soviet domination for decades. Why did this happen? What was Britain's national interest in Poland?

German pre-war territory in Western Europe had already been restored, and Austria had willingly joined with Germany. The only German territory remaining in dispute was in the newly created states of Czechoslovakia and Poland. Czechoslovakia had never been a recognized entity prior to WW1, and it was already starting to break apart by the time Germany reclaimed the German areas of that country. As with the other territorial reacquisitions, Britain lodged some formal protests but did nothing to prevent them. British PM Neville Chamberlain claimed to have negotiated a big "peace" deal in Munich with Hitler, but it ended up being a feeble attempt at appeasement..

Then came Poland, which had been recreated after WW1 as an obstacle to German and Russian hegemony in Eastern Europe. Not only did it invalidate the borders agreed to by both countries the war, it also cut off Germany's largest and most important province (East Prussia) from the rest of the country. Germany wanted to restore a secure road and rail connection between them, as well as the formerly German city of Danzig which was along this route. Still smarting from public disparagement of his peace deal, Chamberlain urged Poland to reject any German proposals and then pledged that Britain would prevent any German incursions into its territory. When this happened in September 1939, his hollow assurances were exposed and he had to declare war on Germany to save face. Notably, he did not feel there was any reason to declare war on the Soviet Union, which invaded Poland from the east two weeks later! The Soviets also invaded Finland, and Chamberlain still felt there was no reason to declare war on them.

Other than some skirmishes involving British and German naval units, nothing much happened for the next six months. By then, Chamberlain was under increasing pressure to resign for getting Britain into another war with Germany. Yet in March 1940 he started bombing German naval facilities and laying plans to occupy Norway. The Germans got wind of these plans and acted first to protect their iron ore shipments from that country, also gaining permission to protect its shipping lanes around Denmark.

After futile attempts to arrange a peace agreement with Britain and France, who had deployed a huge standing army on its border, Germany invaded the latter in May 1940. Faced with this unfolding debacle, Chamberlain finally resigned and was replaced as Prime Minister by Winston Churchill. Churchill had maintained a hatred of Germany ever since he was removed as First Lord of the Admiralty because of his poor performance during WW1. Upon his appointment as PM, he began a campaign of bombing German cities and killing their inhabitants.

By the end of WW2 Britain was no longer "Great" and was already losing its influence in world affairs. As the ensuing 80 years have shown, it is no longer dominant even in European affairs. It seems that the decline of the British Empire weighs heavily on the shoulders of its two wartime Prime Ministers: The first motivated by spite, and the second motivated by malice against Germany.*

*It should be noted that subsequent German atrocities during WW2 were not known and played no part in Britain's declaration and prosecution of war against Germany.

Thankfully most of the generation that defeated Fascism isn’t around to see how their once great nation has now fully embraced it in defense of Islamic Jihadists

 

[Deadstick]

Thankfully most of the generation that defeated Fascism isn’t around to see how their once great nation has now fully embraced it in defense of Islamic Jihadists

Frank don't go over the top with the Jihadi topic, most Muslims in the UK are not what we call jihadis they are just citizens who get on with their lives, i have known quite a few and worked with them, they are not head chopping Salafist maniacs, what you should ask is why our Country has supported the real Islamist terrorists to attack other Countries like Syria where we helped install Al Qaeda, that criminal Lammy just gave them £50million, the Manchester Arena bombing our intelligence services are as much to blame for that because they were playing silly buggers with the Libyan terror group the Islamic fighting group the bomber and his family were involved with that group and we gave them asylum because they were anti Gaddafi, and ignored the bomber making several trips to Libya to take part in the Nato war against Libya and have been covering their connection with that group ever since.

 

[John Edgar Slow Horses]

Frank don't go over the top with the Jihadi topic, most Muslims in the UK are not what we call jihadis they are just citizens who get on with their lives, i have known quite a few and worked with them, they are not head chopping Salafist maniacs, what you should ask is why our Country has supported the real Islamist terrorists to attack other Countries like Syria where we helped install Al Qaeda, that criminal Lammy just gave them £50million, the Manchester Arena bombing our intelligence services are as much to blame for that because they were playing silly buggers with the Libyan terror group the Islamic fighting group the bomber and his family were involved with that group and we gave them asylum because they were anti Gaddafi, and ignored the bomber making several trips to Libya to take part in the Nato war against Libya and have been covering their connection with that group ever since.

No, excuse for Hamas.

 

[Captain Caveman]

History has shown that Britain made a huge mistake by going to war with Germany for a second time in the 20th Century, losing its empire and reducing it to a third rate economic power. With WW1, it had to dust off a 100 year old international treaty recognizing Belgium's independence as an excuse to declare war and ruin its economy.

With WW2, Britain hastily put together a mutual defense treaty with Poland only a week before Poland was invaded by Germany (and the USSR), It then used this treaty as an excuse to declare war, even though Germany posed absolutely no threat to it. Once again, Britain claimed a pyrrhic victory over Germany while losing the rest of its empire and condemning Eastern Europe to Soviet domination for decades. Why did this happen? What was Britain's national interest in Poland?

German pre-war territory in Western Europe had already been restored, and Austria had willingly joined with Germany. The only German territory remaining in dispute was in the newly created states of Czechoslovakia and Poland. Czechoslovakia had never been a recognized entity prior to WW1, and it was already starting to break apart by the time Germany reclaimed the German areas of that country. As with the other territorial reacquisitions, Britain lodged some formal protests but did nothing to prevent them. British PM Neville Chamberlain claimed to have negotiated a big "peace" deal in Munich with Hitler, but it ended up being a feeble attempt at appeasement..

Then came Poland, which had been recreated after WW1 as an obstacle to German and Russian hegemony in Eastern Europe. Not only did it invalidate the borders agreed to by both countries the war, it also cut off Germany's largest and most important province (East Prussia) from the rest of the country. Germany wanted to restore a secure road and rail connection between them, as well as the formerly German city of Danzig which was along this route. Still smarting from public disparagement of his peace deal, Chamberlain urged Poland to reject any German proposals and then pledged that Britain would prevent any German incursions into its territory. When this happened in September 1939, his hollow assurances were exposed and he had to declare war on Germany to save face. Notably, he did not feel there was any reason to declare war on the Soviet Union, which invaded Poland from the east two weeks later! The Soviets also invaded Finland, and Chamberlain still felt there was no reason to declare war on them.

Other than some skirmishes involving British and German naval units, nothing much happened for the next six months. By then, Chamberlain was under increasing pressure to resign for getting Britain into another war with Germany. Yet in March 1940 he started bombing German naval facilities and laying plans to occupy Norway. The Germans got wind of these plans and acted first to protect their iron ore shipments from that country, also gaining permission to protect its shipping lanes around Denmark.

After futile attempts to arrange a peace agreement with Britain and France, who had deployed a huge standing army on its border, Germany invaded the latter in May 1940. Faced with this unfolding debacle, Chamberlain finally resigned and was replaced as Prime Minister by Winston Churchill. Churchill had maintained a hatred of Germany ever since he was removed as First Lord of the Admiralty because of his poor performance during WW1. Upon his appointment as PM, he began a campaign of bombing German cities and killing their inhabitants.

By the end of WW2 Britain was no longer "Great" and was already losing its influence in world affairs. As the ensuing 80 years have shown, it is no longer dominant even in European affairs. It seems that the decline of the British Empire weighs heavily on the shoulders of its two wartime Prime Ministers: The first motivated by spite, and the second motivated by malice against Germany.*

*It should be noted that subsequent German atrocities during WW2 were not known and played no part in Britain's declaration and prosecution of war against Germany.

Because at that point in time, it was obviously the correct decision. Just like anything and everyone, you/we/all will fail when compared and judged to the future.

 

[Rigby5]

Boy, not sure what you have been ingesting but this thread OP is a doozie.

"History has shown that Britain made a huge mistake by going to war with Germany for a second time in the 20th Century, losing its empire and reducing it to a third rate economic power?"

Great Britain's "Empire was on it's way out as geopolitics and more were changing the landscape, norms, etc.

Third rate economic power?

You should be asking why Germany chose to go to war again. It was devastated. There was no pre idea or guarantee that the USA would come to it's rescue.

Germany was in the right.
WWI was started by the Allies illegally assassinating Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, and then invading southern Germany.
The Allies made Germany surrender by illegally killing millions of civilians with a starvation blockade that violates the Geneva Conventions.
The Treaty of Versailles was illegal because it stole about half of Germany illegally.

 

[Rigby5]

No, excuse for Hamas.

Hamas not only was legally elected, but anything they can do is justified because of Israel's illegal starvation blockade and the illegal occupation of 85% of Palestine.

 

[Soupnazi630]

Germany was in the right.
WWI was started by the Allies illegally assassinating Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, and then invading southern Germany.
The Allies made Germany surrender by illegally killing millions of civilians with a starvation blockade that violates the Geneva Conventions.
The Treaty of Versailles was illegal because it stole about half of Germany illegally.

All absolute lies you made up

 

[JoeB131]

Germany was in the right.
WWI was started by the Allies illegally assassinating Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, and then invading southern Germany.
The Allies made Germany surrender by illegally killing millions of civilians with a starvation blockade that violates the Geneva Conventions.
The Treaty of Versailles was illegal because it stole about half of Germany illegally.

Are you fucking retarded? The "Allies" didn't whack Ferdinand, a small band of fanatics did.

The war started because Kaiser Wilhelm wrote the Habsburgs a blank check in dealing with Serbia. Serbia was willing to comply with most of the demands, but the Habsburgs (inbred idiots that they were) wanted a war.

Everyone needed to step back and take a breath, but they didn't.

 

[whitehall]

The people were probably against another war but the convoluted political system in the U.K. at the time didn't really represent the people.

 

[jwoodie]

The fact remains that Britain and France turned two Eastern European conflicts into world wars.

 

[JoeB131]

The fact remains that Britain and France turned two Eastern European conflicts into world wars.

Did they, though?

World War I was probably inevitable due to the rise of alliances. If it hadn't broken out in the Balkans, it would have broken out somewhere else where Germany was facing off against the UK and France.

As for WW2, Hitler long stated his desire to get even with France for WW1.

 

[mikegriffith1]

World War I was probably inevitable due to the rise of alliances. If it hadn't broken out in the Balkans, it would have broken out somewhere else where Germany was facing off against the UK and France.

More of this guy's uninformed, uneducated gibberish. What little reading he's done has mostly been stuff he's found on the Internet. If any war was not inevitable and was entirely avoidable, it was WWI. I recommend Dr. Sean McMeekin's book July 1917: Countdown to War.

As for WW2, Hitler long stated his desire to get even with France for WW1.

According to this guy, "Hitler wasn't the problem." The problem, he argues, was "the Jews." He says the Jews wrecked Germany after WWI, and that the Jews "definitely" caused Hitler's animosity toward them.

 

[JoeB131]

More of this guy's uninformed, uneducated gibberish. What little reading he's done has mostly been stuff he's found on the Internet. If any war was not inevitable and was entirely avoidable, it was WWI. I recommend Dr. Sean McMeekin's book July 1917: Countdown to War.

Actually, it was completely unavoidable. The systems of alliances, the fact that exploitable colonies were running thin, there were a bunch of flashpoints before the assassination of Franz Ferdinand where war almost broke out.

The Morocco Crisis, the Annexation of Bosnia, the Balkan Wars, the naval arms race between Germany and Britain.

There was an inch of gasoline on the floor, all it took was for some idiot to bring a match.

According to this guy, "Hitler wasn't the problem." The problem, he argues, was "the Jews." He says the Jews wrecked Germany after WWI, and that the Jews "definitely" caused Hitler's animosity toward them.

Nope. YOu keep taking this out of context, so you are either being dishonest or stupid. It's always a tossup with you.

Hitler didn't have to tell the Germans to hate the Jews.

They already did, long before Hitler got there. Hated them for centuries.

Or do you think Hitler ran around killing all those people personally?

 

[Zebra]

the Second World War started with Versailles

 

[JoeB131]

the Second World War started with Versailles

Agreed.

 

[Dante]

Well, this is complicated...

Only if you plan on engaging in revisionist bullcrap

 

[gipper]

History has shown that Britain made a huge mistake by going to war with Germany for a second time in the 20th Century, losing its empire and reducing it to a third rate economic power. With WW1, it had to dust off a 100 year old international treaty recognizing Belgium's independence as an excuse to declare war and ruin its economy.

With WW2, Britain hastily put together a mutual defense treaty with Poland only a week before Poland was invaded by Germany (and the USSR), It then used this treaty as an excuse to declare war, even though Germany posed absolutely no threat to it. Once again, Britain claimed a pyrrhic victory over Germany while losing the rest of its empire and condemning Eastern Europe to Soviet domination for decades. Why did this happen? What was Britain's national interest in Poland?

German pre-war territory in Western Europe had already been restored, and Austria had willingly joined with Germany. The only German territory remaining in dispute was in the newly created states of Czechoslovakia and Poland. Czechoslovakia had never been a recognized entity prior to WW1, and it was already starting to break apart by the time Germany reclaimed the German areas of that country. As with the other territorial reacquisitions, Britain lodged some formal protests but did nothing to prevent them. British PM Neville Chamberlain claimed to have negotiated a big "peace" deal in Munich with Hitler, but it ended up being a feeble attempt at appeasement..

Then came Poland, which had been recreated after WW1 as an obstacle to German and Russian hegemony in Eastern Europe. Not only did it invalidate the borders agreed to by both countries the war, it also cut off Germany's largest and most important province (East Prussia) from the rest of the country. Germany wanted to restore a secure road and rail connection between them, as well as the formerly German city of Danzig which was along this route. Still smarting from public disparagement of his peace deal, Chamberlain urged Poland to reject any German proposals and then pledged that Britain would prevent any German incursions into its territory. When this happened in September 1939, his hollow assurances were exposed and he had to declare war on Germany to save face. Notably, he did not feel there was any reason to declare war on the Soviet Union, which invaded Poland from the east two weeks later! The Soviets also invaded Finland, and Chamberlain still felt there was no reason to declare war on them.

Other than some skirmishes involving British and German naval units, nothing much happened for the next six months. By then, Chamberlain was under increasing pressure to resign for getting Britain into another war with Germany. Yet in March 1940 he started bombing German naval facilities and laying plans to occupy Norway. The Germans got wind of these plans and acted first to protect their iron ore shipments from that country, also gaining permission to protect its shipping lanes around Denmark.

After futile attempts to arrange a peace agreement with Britain and France, who had deployed a huge standing army on its border, Germany invaded the latter in May 1940. Faced with this unfolding debacle, Chamberlain finally resigned and was replaced as Prime Minister by Winston Churchill. Churchill had maintained a hatred of Germany ever since he was removed as First Lord of the Admiralty because of his poor performance during WW1. Upon his appointment as PM, he began a campaign of bombing German cities and killing their inhabitants.

By the end of WW2 Britain was no longer "Great" and was already losing its influence in world affairs. As the ensuing 80 years have shown, it is no longer dominant even in European affairs. It seems that the decline of the British Empire weighs heavily on the shoulders of its two wartime Prime Ministers: The first motivated by spite, and the second motivated by malice against Germany.*

*It should be noted that subsequent German atrocities during WW2 were not known and played no part in Britain's declaration and prosecution of war against Germany.

Because the extremely wealthy globalist bankers demanded it and they owned Churchill, who came to power bankrupt and easily manipulated.

Plus FDR was actively working to incite war with his demands GB and Poland not give Germany any concessions (tiny Danzig), in an effort to save his political career by using war to relieve the economic hardships of the Great Depression.

 

[JoeB131]

Because the extremely wealthy globalist bankers demanded it and they owned Churchill, who came to power bankrupt and easily manipulated.

Plus FDR was actively working to incite war with his demands GB and Poland not give Germany any concessions (tiny Danzig), in an effort to save his political career by using war to relieve the economic hardships of the Great Depression.

Okay, now you are being retarded.

First, FDR did very little to involve us in the crisis leading up to the war.

Chamberlain wrote the Polish Colonels a blank check because he was humiliated by Hitler proceeding to carve up Czechoslovakia after he pinky-swore he wouldn't.

 

[gipper]

Okay, now you are being retarded.

First, FDR did very little to involve us in the crisis leading up to the war.

Chamberlain wrote the Polish Colonels a blank check because he was humiliated by Hitler proceeding to carve up Czechoslovakia after he pinky-swore he wouldn't.

Yeah you bring a statist always believe the state, yet you know it always lies.

Every major event in our history has been misrepresented by the state. You just have to do the research and be able to think logically.

I bet you believe 19 Arabs with no flying experience really flew jumbo jets into the WTC and pentagon. Lol.

 

[JoeB131]

Yeah you bring a statist always believe the state, yet you know it always lies.

Every major event in our history has been misrepresented by the state. You just have to do the research and be able to think logically.

I bet you believe 19 Arabs with no flying experience really flew jumbo jets into the WTC and pentagon. Lol.

I admit. It's all a conspiracy. In fact, you aren't even a real person, you are a brain in a jar being fed impulses so a mad scientist can study you. Shhh... don't tell them I broke the study protocol.