World War 2

Introduction

November 11th 1918 a famous day in history, the end of World War one. World War one the war to end all wars, a famous quote by then US President Woodrow Wilson, so right he should have been after the suffering and heartache endured by all nations involved, the awful conditions in the trenches and the horrific loss of life on all sides. An estimated total of over 65 million troops were deployed by all nations culminating in over 8 million confirmed killed, 21 million wounded and nearly 8 million missing or prisoners of war. When finally the war did end the scars suffered by the surviving veterans mental & physical must have felt like a never ending nightmare for them and their families which sadly for some veterans a nightmare which they would not recover, and the War to end all wars, an unfortunate misquote.

Twenty one years later the world would be pushed once again to the brink of destruction with the start of World War Two, without doubt the most destructive conflict ever known to man dwarfing the figures of casualties in World War One by an unimaginable amount, It is estimated that World War Two cost the lives of between 50 to 70 million souls, military and civilian, while injuries were estimated to be in the region of 20 million people.

Not only did the war cost the lives of so many, the physical damage to the towns, cities and villages making them unrecognisable to the people who returned after the conclusion of the war, the cost of rebuilding the infrastructure of countries, bringing economies of once great nations to their knees, a high cost to pay for freedom.

Freedom a word which the majority of us in the world can take for granted, though the outcome of World War Two is now a part of written history and only alive in the memories of veterans & civilians still among us. Could you imagine what life would be like today if the outcome of the conflict was different and the Nazis had triumphed ?. With thanks to the ordinary men & women who sacrificed their freedom and many ultimately their lives so we may live in times without oppression, thankfully we will never have to know.

This book will take you on a journey through these times and tell the story of the brave men & women who fought for freedom endured hardness, suffered in concentration & POW camps, lived under occupation of an invading nation, but with courage and determination ultimately triumphed allowing us the opportunity to live in relative peace which we enjoy today. We shall read of the battles and campaigns the disasters, the victories in the air, land and sea, but to truly understand how the war begun we shall read of the events leading up to the 1st of September 1939.

The Stab in the Back

On the 28th June 1919 The Treaty of Versailles was signed after six months of negotiations at the Paris peace conference consisting of diplomats of more than thirty countries including President Woodrow Wilson of the United states, Prime Minister David Lloyd George of Great Britain and Georges Clemenceau of France, diplomats from Germany & Russia were not allowed to attend, however many representatives from various nations spanning the globe were in attendance each with their own agenda. The conference opened on January 18th 1919 and was for the next six months effectively the centre of world government, disbanding bankrupt nations creating new states, widening and narrowing borders, imposing sanctions for which Germany and its allies of the Great war came under the most scrutiny. Georges Clemenceau of France main goal was to weaken the military might and economy of Germany, as being witness to attacks on French soil by the Germans in the past, wanted guarantees that Germany could never be in a position to attack France again. Clemenceau also sought a guarantee of security from America and Britain in case of a German attack once again in France. Britain’s approach to the conference and main objectives were to ensure the security of France, remove the threat of the German high seas fleet, set territorial contentions and gain support for the Wilsonians League of Nations.

With the arrival of the Woodrow Wilson at this time the first serving United States President to visit Europe came with high hopes and expectation, with Wilson’s diplomacy and fourteen points which had essentially brought the end of hostilities of World War One, much it seemed rested on Wilson and the United States. Conflicts of interest soon became a reality as the French and British refused to accept some specific points and its core principals of the Fourteen points, while Wilson argued that Article 231 of the treaty imposed on Germany was neither fair or warranted, the British and the French tried to appease the President by consenting to the establishment of the League of Nations, however as some of the leagues charter conflicted with the United States Constitution, America never joined the League of Nations and never ratified the Treaty Of Versailles, it would not be until 1921 when the USA would sign a separate Treaty with Germany and its defeated allies. On April 29th 1919 the German delegation arrived in Versailles under the leadership of the Foreign Minister Ulrich Graf Von Brockdorff – Rantzau, on May 7th the enormity of the sanctions imposed by the victors including the so called ” War guilt clause” was dictated to the German delegates, Von Brockdorff-Rantzau replied, We know the full brunt of hate that confronts us here. You demand from us to confess we were the only guilty party of war, such a confession in my mouth would be a lie. After learning the full extent of the sanctions to be imposed the German government swiftly issued a protest for what it believed to be unfair demands and a “Violation of Honour” and quickly withdrew from the proceedings, Germany’s first democratically elected chancellor Philipp Scheidemann refused to sign the treaty and in a passionate speech before the National Assembly called the treaty a Murderous plan then exclaimed “Which hand, trying to put us in chains like these, would not wither? The treaty is unacceptable” then swiftly resigned from office.  

After Scheidemann had left office, a new coalition government was formed under Gustav Bauer and recommended signing the treaty. The national Assembly then voted in favour to sign the treaty 237 to 138 votes, so in result of the votes a German delegation returned to Versailles consisting of the new Foreign Minister Hermann Muller and Johannes Bell whom signed the Treaty on Germany’s behalf.

As a result of the treaty Germany’s borders were to be reduced by roughly 13%, the Rhineland demilitarized and Allied troops were to occupy many of the Germans territories, Also huge reparation payments were to be paid over the next 70 years a sum of 226 billion Reichmarks which would have a devastating effect on the economy. The reaction to the treaty by the population was to be one of outrage as many Nationalists, Military leaders began to speak critically about the treaty government. Communists and Jews were viewed with extra suspicion as many felt that they had not supported the War and played a major role in selling out Germany to her enemies. This was mainly due to certain members of the World Zionist Congress many of whom were from Germany who attempted to influence the allied powers policies towards the Ottoman Empire with special attention given to the fate of Palestine. Many believed that they were “Stabbed in the back” by whom became to be known as The November Criminals or those who seemed to benefit from a weakened Germany and the newly formed Weimar Republic, were accused of criticizing nationalism instigating unrest and strikes in the critical military industries and gaining from profiteering.

The Treaty of Versailles would create bitter resentment towards the Weimar republic government and the Allied powers. The German people who were led to believe that Wilson’s Fourteen Points would be a guideline for peace, however the reality for what they faced was  poverty, weak economy, Foreign Armies occupying German soil, their morale and spirit destroyed, a nation in turmoil. In the years to follow Germany would recover especially after the Hyper-inflation of 1923, once again Germany would be one of the worlds largest economies. The economy continued to perform well until the foreign investments and loans for the reparation payments were withdrawn due to the stock market crash of 1929. Once again Germany was facing a financial crisis and descending into chaos looked for salvation, found hope or so they thought with The Third Reich and its outspoken leader Adolf Hitler. Humanity was about to enter its most bloody and destructive phase since the beginning of time.

The Seeds of Evil

Adolf Hitler was born on the 20th April 1889 in Braunau am Inn Austria, the fourth child of six. Hitler’s father Alois Hitler was a local customs official, his mother Klara Polzl the third wife of Alois and also his cousin for which a papal dispensation was required for them to marry.

Hitler’s childhood was a troubled one, his father often beating him and his mother, years later he is said to have told his secretary “ I then resolved never again to cry when my father whipped me. A few days later I had the opportunity of putting my will to the test. My Mother, frightened took refuge in front of the door. As for me, I counted silently the blows of the stick which lashed my rear end”. The Hitler family moved often during the early years of his existence, he was a good student up to his first year of high school where he had failed and had to repeat the grade, his teachers said “Hitler had no desire to work”. It is often said Hitler’s lack of enthusiasm to school was down to rebellion against his father who desired for his son to follow him as a customs official, however the young Hitler had dreams of becoming a Painter, which is supported by a later description of himself as a misunderstood artist. Even after the death of Hitler’s father in 1903 his school work failed to improve and at the age of 16 he dropped out without any qualifications.

In 1905 Hitler had moved to Vienna, living on an orphans pension and support from his mother, he had  hopes of studying at The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, for which he was rejected citing “Unfitness for Painting”, he was told his abilities were better suited for the field of Architecture, which he wrote in his memoirs of his fascination for the subject. After the school rectors recommendations Hitler himself was convinced that his future would be within this career path. However Hitler’s lack of enthusiasm at secondary school would hinder his chances as one could not attend the academies architectural school without first attending the building school at the technic which required a high school degree for which he had not gained, making his dream in his own words physically impossible.

After the death of his mother in December 1907 he struggled financially, copying scenes form postcards and selling his paintings to merchants and tourists, he once again applied to the Academy of Fine Arts but yet again was rejected and soon run out of money. In 1909 Hitler lived in a shelter for the homeless and in 1910 he settled into a house for poor working men on Meldemannstrabe. Hitler lived in the dormitory from 1910 till 1913, little is known about Hitler’s stay at the home, it is rumoured though he spent his days reading newspapers in the reading room, painting  pictures discussing politics and giving speeches to fellow residents.

Hitler had said he had first become anti-Semite in Vienna which had a large population of Jews including orthodox Jews who had fled Russia however others have claimed that Hitler’s hatred of the Jews was confirmed in his days in Linz. Hitler claimed in his memoirs Mein Kampf that his conversion from opposing anti-Semitism on religious grounds to racial hatred was realised after seeing an Orthodox Jew: “There were very few Jews in Linz, in the course of the centuries the Jews who lived there had become Europeanised in external appearance and were so much like other human beings that I even looked upon them as Germans. The reason I did not perceive the absurdity of such an illusion was that the only external mark, Which I recognised as distinguishing them from us was the practice of their strange religion. As I thought they were persecuted on account of their faith my aversion to hearing remarks against them grew almost into a feeling of abhorrence. I did not in the least suspect that there could be such a thing as a systematic anti-Semitism. Once, when passing through an inner city, I suddenly encountered a phenomenon in a long caftan and wearing black side locks. My first thought was this a Jew ? They certainly did not have this appearance in Linz I carefully watched the man stealthily and cautiously but the longer I gazed at the strange countenance and examined it feature by feature the more the question shaped itself in my brain, Is this a German ?. Hitler may have also been influenced by Martin Luther’s “On The Jews and their Lies”. In Mein Kampf Hitler referred to Luther as a great warrior a true statesman and a great reformer. Hitler claimed that the Jews were the enemy of the Aryan race he blamed them for the crisis in Austria, he also branded certain forms of Socialism and Marxism as Jewish movements thus merging his hate of anti-Semitism with anti-Marxism.

In May 1913 Hitler received  the final part of his late fathers estate and with this left his home of the last three years and moved to Munich, achieving one of his ambitions to live in a real German city as he states in Mein Kampf. When living in Munich he continued to drift living off the sales of his sketches and paintings and rekindled his passion for architecture, he also for a time managed to evade National service in Austria, but was eventually arrested by the German police in cooperation with their Austrian counterparts and was returned to Austria where after a Physical examination was deemed unfit for military service and was allowed to return to Munich.

However military service was not to evade Hitler for much longer as in August 1914 Germany entered World War 1. Hitler petitioned King Ludwig III of Bavaria for permission to serve in a Bavarian regiment which was swiftly granted and in so doing enlisted in the Bavarian Army.

Hitler was posted to the 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment where he would serve as a Runner one of the most dangerous tasks, often exposed to intense enemy fire. Hitler was to take part in many major Battles on the Western Front including the first Battle of Ypres, The Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Arras and Passchendale. The Battle of Ypres 1914 which became known as the massacre of the innocents saw 40 000 men killed in twenty days and reduced Hitler’s company from 250 men to 42 from October to December 1914, these experiences left Hitler withdrawn for the remaining years of the war fuelling his hatred for the dark times to come. During the war Hitler was twice decorated for valour, he received the Iron Cross second class in 1914 and was awarded the Iron Cross first class in 1918 an award rarely given to a lance Corporal which was as far as he would rise in rank as his superiors felt he lacked leadership skills, other sources believe he was passed over for promotion as he was not a German citizen. In 1916 during the Battle of the Somme Hitler was wounded in the groin or left thigh area but recovered and returned to the front in March 1917 and for his wound he would receive the Wound badge later that year. In October 1918 Hitler would return to a field hospital suffering from temporary blindness after a Mustard gas attack, during this experience he had stated he was convinced the purpose of his life was to “save Germany”.

Hitler while always being an admirer of Germany was to become a passionate patriot during the war which he found to be the greatest of all experiences and at the end of the war was praised by many of his commanding officers for his bravery, yet was to feel betrayed by the capitulation of those on the home front signing the Armistice whilst the Army remained undefeated in enemy territory.

After the end of the Great War Hitler returned to Munich and remained in the army or the Reichswehr as it would be known. In his role as an Intelligence Commando, he would infiltrate a small political party known originally as the German Workers Party which would later be changed to the National Socialists German Workers Party (NSDAP). On inspection Hitler was impressed by the parties founder member Anton Drexler’s nationalists anti-Semitic, anti-Capitalist and anti-Marxist ideologies which favoured a strong government and a Non Jewish version of socialism. Drexler being impressed by Hitler’s oratory skills invited him to join the party, which he accepted and became the 55th member and the seventh associate of the executive committee.

In 1921 Hitler was discharged from the army and began to participate in the parties activities full time, becoming a master speaker in front of large crowds his words starting to have influence on his audiences, criticising rival politicians, The Treaty of Versailles, nationalists Marxists and the Jews. During 1921 Hitler travelled to Berlin to visit other Nationalist groups and gain support for the cause, in his absence a revolt took place within the leadership of NSDAP, sensing an opportunity to seize power Hitler quickly returned to Munich and tendered his resignation, when the party realised that the loss of Hitler would effectively result in the collapse of the party, Hitler the ultimate opportunist declared he would return under the condition that he would replace Drexler as the Party Chairman with unlimited powers, which infuriated many members but eventually they succumbed and put to the vote of the party members. Hitler received 543 votes for and only one against. At the next meeting of NSDAP on the 29th July 1921 Adolf Hitler was to be introduced as the New Fuhrer of the National Socialist German Workers Party.

With his new title Hitler continued his speeches criticising the Jews and Communists amoung others, as his popularity continued to grow, some influential faces were starting to attend his Beer hall speeches including Rudolf Hess, World War 1 Fighter ace Hermann Goring and Army Captain Ernst Rohm who would later become the head of the Nazi’s paramilitary group the SA (Storm Division) whom would be tasked with protecting the party’s meetings & attacking political opponents and enemies of the Nazi’s. Hitler was also starting to attract the attention of local business interests, being accepted into influential circles of Munich society, Where he would meet wartime army General Erich Lundendorff

On the evening of November 8th 1923 Hitler and Lundendorff implemented a plan known as the Beer Hall Putsch its purpose to start a revolution which would overthrow the government of the Weimar Republic.

The attempted Putsch inspired by Mussolini’s march on Rome, started when Hitler and a detachment of 600 SA marched on the Burgerbraukeller beer hall, the SA surrounded the building and a machine gun was set up facing the doors to the hall. At 8 30pm Hitler and some of his entourage burst through the doors where Gustav Ritter Von Kahr was delivering a speech to 3000 people and proclaimed “ The National Revolution has broken out “. During the night and much of the next day the city was in chaos, however by midmorning of the 9th it became evident that the Putsch was to fail and many were about to give up when Lundendorff cried “We will march” !, together with Hitler and Rohm’s forces a total of 2000 men marched towards the Bavarian Defence Ministry, however in front of the Feldherrenhalle the Nazi’s were met by a force of 100 soldiers, the two sides exchanged fire killing four soldiers and 16 Nazi supporters, in the barrage of Gunfire Hitler was injured, with the coup doomed to failure he quickly fled the scene, only to be arrested two days later and charged with High Treason.
On the 1st April 1924, for his part in the failed Beer Hall Putsch Hitler was sentenced to serve Five years in Landsberg Prison, a sentence for which he served little less than a year. During his trial Hitler popularity soared as he was given unrivalled amount of time to speak turning him from a local personality, to a National figure. When serving time in Landsberg Hitler would receive favoured treatment from the prison guards and much mail from admirers, however the majority of his short stay was spent dictating the first volume of his memoirs Mein Kampf to his associate Rudolf Hess. On the 20th December 1924 Hitler was pardoned and released from prison by order of the Bavarian Supreme Court which issued its final rejection of the state prosecutors objection to Hitler’s release, thus making him a free man.

At the time of  his release the German economy had greatly improved and the political turmoil of previous times had settled which initially  would hinder Hitler’s plans, also the NSDAP party had been outlawed in Bavaria which left him no platform to campaign. After some persuasion Hitler managed to convince the Bavarian Prime Minister, Heinrich Held to abolish the ban based on the assurance that the party would only seek political power through legal means. During the next few years the Nazi’s popularity would rise and fall in elections varying from 32 to 12 seats in the Reichstag. The Political turning point for the Nazi’s would come when the Great Depression hit Germany 1930, which would see the votes for the party continue to rise culminating in Hitler being elected Chancellor in 1933.

Although the Nazi’s were the largest party in the government  they failed to win an overwhelming majority so a coalition government was formed with the DNVP party, Hitler the new Chancellor would foil all attempts of his opponents to gain any majority in government. After a fire in the Reichstag was blamed on a communist plot, The Government would react with the Reichstag fire decree giving Hitler the ability to suspend all civil liberties of the German people, allowing him to terminate his enemies with ease.

In March 1933 Hitler confronted the Reichstag with The Enabling Act, which would allow the cabinet to enact laws without the participation of the Reichstag for a period of four years, however as the bill required a two third’s majority in order to pass the Nazi’s required the cooperation of parties in the Reichstag, which they found in Germany’s third largest party The Centre Party, who agreed to the Act under an oral agreement to protect the Churches liberty. With his new powers Hitler banned the Nazi’s remaining political opposition, and on the 14th of July the Nazi’s were the only legal Party in Germany. Hitler also used the SA to intimidate any remaining non Nazi’s ministers in the cabinet forcing them to resign. It would not be long before the SA would fall to the Nazi’s sword as their leader Ernst Rohm’s lust for political & Military power threatened the Nazi’s goals. Hitler used allegations of a plot by the SA leadership, to carry out political assassinations of the SA hierarchy commonly known as the Night of the Long Knives, it is thought that 85 enemies of Hitler were murdered that night, showing no mercy to one time allies including Gregor Strasser and many others who Hitler thought could be a threat to his domination of Germany.

On the 2nd August 1934 President Paul Von Hindenburg died, rather than electing a new President the Nazi’s passed a law proclaiming the presidency dormant and transferring all head of state affairs to Hitler as Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor, thus making him Commander of the Armed Forces and total ruler and dictator of Germany, Hitler had achieved his primary goal, his next objective World domination.

Once secured as the supreme ruler of Germany Hitler gained support of the German people by convincing them he was their saviour from the economic depression, the Treaty of Versailles, Communism, Jews and other undesired minorities. Over the coming years Hitler was to oversee the expansion of Germany’s industrial production and civil improvements to a scale which the German people had never before witnessed. Hitler encouraged women to stay at home to bring up their children and keep house. In a speech in 1934 Hitler stated the German woman’s world was “her husband, her family, her children and her home”.

Germany’s unemployment was reduced to a point where the country was nearing full employment, mainly due to arms production and sending women home so men could take their role in the workplace, Hitler’s reconstruction and re-armament came from currency manipulations by the Finance Minister Hjalmar Schacht  which included the Mefo bills which were credit notes issued by the Nazi Government mainly to armament manufacturers which could be converted to Reich mark’s on demand. The Mefo bills were fundamental in not only strengthening the economy but also concealing military spending which was forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler would also oversee a huge improvement to Germany’s infrastructure with the construction of Dams, Autobahn’s, Railroads and many other civil works, however all the reconstruction would come at an expense as the overall cost  of living would increase by 25%, although the traditional NSDAP voters would see an increase in their standard of living. With the majority of citizens content with life, Hitler’s campaign to purge Germany of undesirables would reach fever pitch.

After Hitler became Chancellor in 1933 he appointed long time Allie Hermann Goring the Minister of the Interior for the State of Prussia which consisted of two thirds of Germany  including the capital Berlin. Goring’s new title gave him complete control over the Police force, which he used to the advantage of the Nazi’s to prevent the Police from interfering with the Nazi SA brownshirt  troops on the street, which they revelled in by looting shops intimidating and attacking Jews or anyone else who defied or stood in their way. Next Goring would purge and remove from the Berlin Police force anyone which he felt to be unreliable to the cause and had sworn in 50 000 SA Stormtroopers as Police Auxiliary officers with the power to arrest which they used to their gain. Soon prisons were overcrowded with people in custody which resulted in the dawn of outside prisons known as Concentration Camps.

On the 26th April 1933 a decree was passed allowing the formation of the Secret Police force also known as the ‘Gestapo’. Goring began to use the Gestapo to silence Hitler’s opponents in Berlin and other areas at the same time enhancing his power, However very soon Goring would face stiff competition for the leadership of the Gestapo in the shape of another ambitious Nazi Heinrich Himmler and a fierce battle would develop between the two power hungry men, which eventually Himmler would triumph, and on the 22nd April 1934 Himmler was appointed head of the Gestapo with Reinhard Heydrich as his second in command.

Reinhard Heydrich would set up a national intelligence system which would keep tabs on everyone within the Third Reich no matter how high in the hierarchy they were, big brother was indeed watching. In 1936 the Reichstag passed the ‘Gestapo Law’ which would mean the Gestapo was above the law and no legal appeal could hold them responsible for any acts they performed, having the authority to arrest and charge imprison or execute any prisoner without any legal procedure to prevent them, a tactic they would use without mercy for years to come.     

During 1937 the Nazi’s started to accelerate their persecution of German Jews, as many were excluded from employment in the private and public sector, in many towns Jews could not find anywhere to live as well as not being able to buy food and medicine for themselves and their families, in many towns in Germany shops even displayed signs banning Jews from entering their stores.

Nearing the end of 1937 the Austrian government became aware of a plot involving Austrian Nazi’s and Germany aiming to take power in Austria, using a justification that Germany was aiming to prevent another Hapsburg Restoration which in 1938 he used by demanding that the Austrian Nazi’s be left unrestricted and included in the Austrian government. Under impending threat of invasion if Hitler’s demands were not met Austria’s Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg expecting no assistance from Britain and France, with Italy a year earlier signing a pact with, Germany no help was expected from the Italians, so reluctantly agreed. However after a sudden u-turn Schuschnigg decided he would stand up to Hitler proclaiming “Austria would never voluntarily surrender its independence”. In a speech to the Austrian people Schuschnigg stated that a vote of the people would take place to ascertain whether the Austrian people wanted unity with Germany or her own independence.

Feeling outraged by Schuschnigg’s act of defiance and worried that a vote would not go in the Third Reich’s favour, Germany placed her troops on Austria’s border ready for invasion, feeling the added pressure of the impending invasion Schuschnigg resigned to be replaced by a pro Nazi lawyer in Germany’s pocket named Seyess-Inquart and on March 11th German troops crossed the border into Austria without any military engagements. The reason stated for the movement of troops was an invitation from the new chancellor to help quash a Communist uprising.

On March 13th Austria was declared a province of Germany returning Hitler to the country of his birth where many Austrians welcomed him as their saviour. Now under Nazi control the persecution of the Austrian Jews would begin as well as others who were known to be unreceptive to the cause including the former chancellor Schuschnigg who was arrested imprisoned and tortured for almost two years, then thrown into the suffering of a concentration camp.

With Austria secure under Nazi rule, Hitler would next turn his attention towards Czechoslovakia a nation created by the Treaty of Versailles which consisted of many different ethnic origins including Czechs, Poles, Magyars, Slovaks, Ruthenians and Germans. About one quarter of the population were German mainly situated in the Sudetenland which bordered Germany, The Sudetenland was an industrial part of the country and the many Germans living there resented living under the Czech government and on hearing of Austria’s annexation with Germany became hopeful of a similar outcome in the Sudetenland for which they demanded political equality and independence, which would be rejected by the Czech government in Prague. Hitler publicly showing his desire to rescue the Sudeten Germans, complained to the Czech government of the treatment of the Sudeten’s. Hitler in his own mind felt ready for war with a desire to crush the Czech’s in the very near future, which eventually persuaded by many of his Generals and high ranking officials within the Third Reich including Hermann Goering that Germany was not yet ready for war so a diplomatic solution would need to be reached.  

On the 29th September a meeting took place in Munich between Hitler, Mussolini the British prime minister Neville Chamberlain and France’s leader Daladier, Chamberlain wished to avoid another Great War and wanted Germany to have which he felt they deserved, also  believing a peace agreement would please the British people allowing his popularity to rise.

At the conference itself Hitler bragged about the strength of the German military stating once in motion the military machine could not be halted, in reality this was far from the truth as the German forces were too weak to go to war against Czechs and the French not to mention the British and the Russians as well. However this was a gamble which would pay off for Hitler as the British were poorly advised on the strength of the German forces believing them to be far stronger than they actually were, Britain France and Italy gave Germany their consent to annexe the Sudetenland and informed the Czechs that it had to accept Germany’s occupation or stand up to the might of Hitler’s forces without support from Britain & France.

Chamberlain and Daladier returned home to cheers and praise believing that they had averted another war. With the agreement with Italy France & Great Britain secure Hitler sent his troops into the Sudetenland without firing a shot, as the Czechs also overestimating the might of the German forces chose not to fight as they were only supported by the Soviet Union.

In October 1938 Germany’s purge against the Jews was reaching fever pitch, as they were attempting to return 50 000 Polish Jews to Poland only for the Pole’s to refuse entry, until the Nazi’s forced the issue by literally dragging 3 000 Jews form their homes, placing them on trains destined for the border between Germany and Poland. After a few days with the evicted Jews left on open ground in poor winter conditions, the Pole’s succumbed and allowed the expelled to enter Poland. The Jews remaining in Germany were not fare any better in one night commonly known as ‘Kristallnacht’  (Night of the Broken Glass), Josef Goebbels turned Nazi thugs loose on the population of helpless Jews burning down synagogues breaking windows of Jewish run stores cemeteries were vandalised, many Jews were also beaten and murdered some were humiliated by being dragged to the streets and forced to scrub the roads and pavements with toothbrushes, many Jewish men were sent to concentration camps which for many would become their last place of residence before their lives were brutally ended.

Word of the  atrocities of Kristallnacht began to reach the government offices of other European nations such as Britain,  who when complained to Hitler of their horror of the behaviour towards the Jews, were told by a defiant Hitler that Germany  would not be allowed to suffer under British Governesses, and was no longer concerned with maintaining any sort of political friendship with the United Kingdom.

By January 1939 tensions were rising, Hitler turned his attentions to the city of Danzig a former German city surrendered to the Polish via the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler informed the Poles that Danzig would once again become part of Germany, the Pole’s brushed aside Hitler’s comments with contempt, stating they would not surrender any of their land. By March 1939 what remained of Czechoslovakia was in turmoil as Slovakia demanded independence, the government forced by the Germans into creating two province’s Bohemia and Moravia. Hitler recognizing Slovakia’s independence mobilised Germany’s troops and invaded the capital Prague establishing a protectorate over Bohemia and Moravia, the Czech’s did nothing to resist as being more than aware that the Munich agreement of September the
previous year handed to the Germans on a platter. With only six days passed since the occupation of Prague the Germans steamroller continued as Lithuania’s port city of Memel another German populated town awarded to Lithuania via the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler threatened to take Memel by military force, the Lithuanians capitulated and the German army marched into Memel to the cheers of the buoyant German residents.

Poland surprised by Germany’s success in Lithuania informed Hitler that under no circumstance would they agree to any of Hitler’s proposals to settle the differences between their two nations, with this in mind Hitler’s propaganda machine started rolling once more stating his concern for the German nationals living within Poland’s borders, and swiftly ceased any diplomatic relations with the Polish.

With tensions rising between Germany and Poland, Britain and France fearing outbreak of war started to prepare, Britain offered France support if she was attacked, both the French and the British offered Poland their support in case of an Invasion.

With war an ever increasing certainty the British and the French turned their attentions to what their tactics would be in the case of a German attack on Poland, British and French military hierarchy advised the Pole’s their role was to delay the advance of the invaders while their allies would counter-attack from the west. However the reality of this plan was ill conceived as neither the French or the British were prepared for this sort of offensive. Britain had indeed focused a lot of effort on a rearmament project but had concentrated on the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy rather than the Army, which the latter would have been crucial to the success of any planned counter-attack. Knowing the flaws and weaknesses of their forces the allies knew their best chance of protecting Poland would lay with an alliance with the Soviet Union, with this in mind an Anglo-French delegation headed to Moscow to gain the support of Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Russia.

Soviet dictator Stalin communist Russia would seem like the perfect ally as Hitler’s hatred for communism and the fact that Russia was already in conflict with Germany’s ally Japan on the borders between Siberia and Manchuria, certainly not making Hitler and Stalin the best of allies. However Stalin also distrusted the British and the French as he felt they were trying to divert Hitler’s plans further east towards the Soviet Union, also the Russians were no ally of Poland as the population of eastern Poland was predominately Belorussian an Ukrainian, and wishing to include the area as part of the Soviet Union, which was well known to the Polish who refused to agree that Soviet troops should enter Polish borders in case of a German invasion which would prove to be a major stumbling block with the agreement.

A week later, sensing an opportunity the Nazi’s flew Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop to Moscow, clinching an unlikely Non aggression pact with his Soviet opposite number Vyacheslav Molotov. The Ribbentrop-Molotov pact not only pledged a non-aggression agreement but privately offered much more such as  the partition of Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union, also the pact would allow the Russia to occupy Latvia, Finland and Estonia if they so choose. The World  stunned once confirmation of the pact between Russia and Germany was public, not even the most optimistic could deny that war was inevitable and imminent.

However the Nazi’s did attempt to keep the conflict to a minimum as they employed a businessman Birger Dahlerus as a secret negotiator, to try and persuade the British to withdraw support for the Pole’s. In a last ditch attempt to avoid a second world war the British and French governments tried to convince the Polish government to allow some concessions to the Germans, but Poland stood their ground. Britain’s PM Chamberlain privately considered the Nazi’s demands to be reasonable, but the public opinion of the British people would not allow the government to back down on its agreement to assist Poland in case of German aggression, and on the 25th August 1939 Britain signed a formal alliance with Poland.

On August 31st 1939 the Nazi’s staged a fake attack on a German radio station in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, more commonly known as the Gleiwitz incident. The plan involved a small group of German saboteur’s dressed as Polish soldiers whose task was to seize the radio station and broadcast fake anti-German messages in Polish, their objective to make the attack look like the work of Polish saboteur’s. In effort to make the attack more convincing the Nazi’s used a German Silesian,  Francizek Honiok  well known for his sympathy to Poland’s cause, who after being arrested the previous day by the Gestapo was dressed like a Polish saboteur and murdered by lethal injection, then riddled with gunfire and left at the scene creating the illusion he was killed while attacking the radio station.

The attack on the radio station was part of a larger conspiracy orchestrated by the Nazi’s named Operation Himmler which comprised of a total of 21 attacks including a German customs station at Hoch linden and the Forest service station at Pitschen, however many attacks simply consisted of German troops dressed in Polish uniforms rushing the border storming various buildings firing their weapons inconsistently scaring the residents, then leaving behind dead bodies in Polish uniforms prepared in the same manner as Honiok from the attack on the radio station, many of the victims, known as ‘Canned Goods’ are believed to have been chosen from undesirables from the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau.

The following day in a speech to the  Reichstag Hitler cited the border incidents as justification for Germany’s defensive action against Poland,

“ I can no longer find any willingness on the part of the Polish Government to conduct serious negotiations with us. These proposals for mediation have failed because in the meanwhile there, first of all, came as an answer the sudden Polish general mobilization, followed by more Polish atrocities. These were again repeated last night. Recently in one night there were as many as twenty-one frontier incidents: last night there were fourteen, of which three were quite serious. I have, therefore, resolved to speak to Poland in the same language that Poland for months past has used toward us”

Coming soon: The Invasion of Poland

World War 2 Books