1939
Germany Prepares for Invasion of Poland
Germany Prepares for Invasion of Poland
At noon, despite threats of British and French intervention,
Nazi leader Adolf Hitler signs an order to attack Poland, and German forces
move to the frontier. That evening, Nazi S.S. troops wearing Polish uniforms
staged a phony invasion of Germany, damaging several minor installations on the
German side of the border. They also left behind a handful of dead German
prisoners in Polish uniforms to serve as further evidence of the alleged Polish
attack, which Nazi propagandists publicized as an unforgivable act of
aggression.
At dawn the next morning, 58 German army divisions invaded
Poland all across the 1,750-mile frontier. Hitler expected appeasement from
Britain and France–the same nations that had given Czechoslovakia away to
German conquest in 1938 with their signing of the Munich Pact. However, neither
country would allow Hitler’s new violation of Europe’s borders, and Germany was
presented with an ultimatum: Withdraw by September 3 or face war with the
Western democracies.
At 11:15 a.m. on September 3, a few minutes after the expiration
of the British ultimatum, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain appeared on
national radio to announce solemnly that Britain was at war with Germany.
Australia, New Zealand, and India immediately followed suit. Later that
afternoon, the French ultimatum expired, and at 5:00 p.m. France declared war
on Germany. The European phase of World War II began.