Why did Germany invade Poland in Spetember 1939? Flashcards
What did Poland acquire after signing the ToV
- Land including 800,000 German
Identify the problems Poland encountered after the signing of the ToV
- The Polish Corridor & the ‘free’ port of Danzig on the coast to give Poland access to the sea which was bitterly resented by Germans
- problems with the number of minority groups within its borders and communication lines and railway systems did not interact across the country
- Polish govt was threatened by the New Germany and USSR wanting its territory, so it couldn’t trust its neighbours
What evidence is there of Poland’s strengrh and independence in the interwar years
- Fiercely independent just as keen to take land as other European countries
- It went to war with the USSR over land in the Ukraine in 1920 and took Teschen from Czechoslovakia in 1938
- It had a large army in proportion to its population
Describe Poland’s army in the interwar years
- However, its army was not very mechanised - most of its heavy artillery was still horse drawn and it still had cavalry regiments
- In 1939, it had just begun to build, and train crews for, light tank
Why did Hitler negotiate the non-aggression pact with Poland in 1934
- Hitler had not been in power long and wanted to make himself secure and build up his army before he did anything aggressive
- he has the USSR as the biggest threat to Germany, and Poland lies between them both
Why was the non-aggression pact evidence of Hitler acting opportunistically
- The pact meant Poland could not join the USSR in an attack on Germany
- This was so valuable that Hitler faced outspoken opposition within the Nazi Party and the Reichstag, even before he was secure in power, to make the pact
- He wanted Danzig and the Polish Corridor back, but it was not the most important issue in 1934 - securely rearming was
What was important about the port of Danzig
- Danzig had long been an important German trading port with a largely German population (96 percent in 1914)
- The fact that it split East Prussia from the rest of Germany was inconvenient for Germany on almost every level: political, religious and social
What is the wider importance of the Port of Danzig concerning how it was affected by the ToV
- Even the Allies had stopped short of giving it to Poland, creating instead a free city, run by the League of Nations, to which all nations had access
- The Polish Corridor connected Danzig to Poland because one aim of Versailles was to give Poland access to the sea
Describe Nazi relations with Poland between 1935-37
What action took place between the 2 nations
- He needed to be able to rely on Poland not to attack Germany
- From 1935 on, the Nazis presented themselves to the Poles as wanting to sort out the problems of the Polish Corridor and Danzig by diplomacy, and wanting Poland as an ally
- Between 1935 and 1937, there were various high-level meetings in which the Nazis pressed Poland to develop the non-aggression pact into an alliance that included military support in times of war
What did it seem like the Germans wanted with the Poles between 1935-7
- They floated the idea of a mutual war against the USSR, offering Poland a chunk of Ukraine if they won
- They suggested that all they wanted, as far as the Polish Corridor was concerned, was the right to build road and rail connections to East Prussia
Why was Poland hesitant to enter an aliiance with Germany in 1939
- The Poles resisted, knowing the Nazis wanted Poland as a satellite state at the very least, and that a more developed alliance with Germany would damage relations with the USSR
- Poland was still trying to maintain a balance where it was seen as a possible, valuable ally to both sides and therefore would be attacked by neither
- an anti-communist and anti-USSR stance doesn’t align with them
How did Hitler’s remilitarisation of the Rhineland in 1936 change the political atmosphere of Europe
- When the Nazis remilitarised the Rhineland in 1936, the Polish government expected France to fight to drive the German troops out,
- so it offered military help under the terms of the 1921 Mutual Assistance Pact with France
- However, the French did not send troops into the Rhineland, thereby changing the political situation
Explain 3 ways the political atmosphere of Europe changed in 1936
- Poland had exposed itself as willing to fight Germany.
- France had shown itself as unwilling to fight, as did Britain and the LofN
- Hitler became more confident about pressing for what he wanted by force.
Identify the 2 treaties in 1939 which strebgthened Hitler’s position
- Pact of Steel
- Nazi Soviet Pact
Explain how the Nazi Soviet Pact strengthened Hitler’s position
- Both sides clearly thought it was worth making, even temporarily, and it shifted the balance of power in Eastern Europe by placing allies on both sides of Poland
- What the signatories of the Pact did not reveal was the secret clause in which Germany and the USSR agreed to invade Poland and divide it between them
Explain how the Pact of Steel strengthened Hitler’s position
- Italy and Germany committed to close economic ties and mutual military aid
- Hitler had previously feared that Mussolini would not support him militarily - it was probably one reason he did not invade Czechoslovakia when Mussolini urged him to negotiate in 1938
- The Pact of Steel meant he could now rely on Italy’s military support
Evidence the Nazis were always going to invade and Germanise Poland
- 1935 Germany introduce rearmament & conscription
- did not believe GB & France would help Poland, as Poland had an aliiance with France
- expansionism & lebensraum
- offered Poland to be in anti-comintern Pact
- wanted Danzig after ToV, instilled a Nazi presence there
- simply not in position to invade in 1934 but Hitler knew this - just biding his time
Evidence the Nazis were not always going to invade and Germanise Poland
- Germany & Poland sign non-aggression pact in 1934
- wanted Poland as an ally against the USSR
- just wanted road & raillinks through Polish Corridor
- GB & France were willing to uphold Polish independence
Evidence Hitler’s invasion of Poland was a direct step in a move to world war
- In speeches & negotiations with Italy, he talked of bieng ready to fight a large scale war in the early 1940s
- Pact of Steel/ Nazi-Soviet Pact gives him confidence
- rearming since 1933
- Hitler was willing to go to war against GB & France as he now had the support of the USSR
- Possibility that Hitler was so assured by his alliance with the USSR that he was prerpared for his war with the West
Evidence Hitler’s invasion of Poland was not a direct step in a move to world war
- Hossbach conference - always said would only be ready for war in 1943
- thought GB & France were bluffing due to appeasement
- did not think GB & France would go to war over Poland now he had the support of the USSR
Other countries as enabling agents for Hitler’s expansionist vision
Italy
- destabilised the political environment distracting western democracies to help Hit;er remilitarise the Rhineland & expand further east
Other countries as enabling agents for Hitler’s expansionist vision
France
- domestic chaos prevented it from combatting Nazi aggression & convinced France it could stay safe behind the Maginot line
Other countries as enabling agents for Hitler’s expansionist vision
USSR
- Knew full well that the war with Germany would come but his greed for territory & the need to buy his army led him to sign the Nazi Soviet Pact in 1939 which led Hitler to believe that war with Poland would be local only
Other countries as enabling agents for Hitler’s expansionist vision
Britain
- Their policy of appeasement meant that Hitler was convinced that Western democracies could be bullied wihout reprival
What were Poland’s strengths in 1939
- had a mutual assistance pact with farnce
- fiercely independent
- took land from Czechoslovakia in 1939
- had a large army
What were Poland’s weaknesses in 1939
- unlikely Western Powers would defend Poland
- could not trust its neighbours as its allies
- army was not mechanised
How did Poland and Germany’s ambitions with eachother contradict
- At the very least Germany wanted Poland as a satellite state & Polalnd knew this si were relcutant to form an alliance iwth Germany
- Although Hitler continued to keep friendly terms with the USSR, it would be difficult asking Poland to join the anti-comintern pact
Timeline of German-Polish relations
28th May 1933
Local Nazi Party wins elections in Danzig
Timeline of German-Polish relations
26 January 1934
- Germany & Poland sign Non-Aggression Pact
Timeline of German-Polish relations
13 January 1935
Plebiscite in the Saar vites to rejoin Germany
Timeline of German-Polish relations
16 March 1935
Germany introduces conscription & announces it is rearming
Timeline of German-Polish relations
7 March 1936
- German troops reoccupy the Rhineland; Poland offerFrance the military help promised at Locarno in 1925
Timeline of German-Polish relations
1 November 1936
- Rome-Berlin Axis between Italy & Germany promises mutual support short of war
Timeline of German-Polish relations
5 November 1937
- German-Polish minorities treaty guaranteeing the rights of Germans in Poland & Poles in Germany
Timeline of German-Polish relations
11-13 March 1938
- Anschluss
Timeline of German-Polish relations
1 October 1938
- Germany takes the Sudetenland
Timeline of German-Polish relations
15 March 1939
Germany invades the rest of Cezchoslovkia
Timeline of German-Polish relations
22 May 1939
Germany & Italy sign the Pact of Steel
Timeline of German-Polish relations
23 August 1939
Nazi-Soviet Pact
