Topic 9: The outbreak of war

Question 1

What was the Nazi-Soviet pact?

Answer 1

• Hitler’s next victim would be Poland - here he could take Lebensraum, as well as continue to defy the terms of the treaty of Versailles, by invading land that was taken away from Germany in 1919.
• However, the USSR considered Poland to be part of its sphere of influence, so invading meant Hitler could face a war on 2 fronts - Britain and France in the west and USSR in the east - which was one of the reasons why Germany lost WW1.
• Hitler had to eliminate the threat of the USSR, so on 23 August 1939 Hitler and Stalin signed the Nazi-Soviet pact.

Question 2

What was in the Nazi-Soviet pact for Germany and USSR?

Answer 2

Germany
- Hitler could invade Poland without facing a war on 2 fronts.
- Britain and France would now face war with Germany, without the USSR as their ally.
- The USSR had a massive army, which would no longer be a threat to Germany.

USSR
- Stalin felt Brittan and France had betrayed him by leaving him out of the Munich conference and he thought they were weak by appeasing Hitler.
- He realised he couldn’t rust them to help protect the USSR if Hitler invaded.
- Britain and France had sent minor diplomats with no real authority to meet with Stalin. Hitler had sent a senior Nazi; he seemed to respect the USSR.
- Hitler agreed that Stalin would be given Polish territory. Stalin wouldn’t even have to send troops.
- Stalin feared that Hitler would invade the USSR but he wasn’t ready to fight. Becoming allies brought him more time to prepare.
- Land in Poland would act as a buffer zone if Hitler did try to invade the USSR.

Question 3

When did Hitler invade Poland?

Answer 3

• The Nazi-Soviet pact meant that Britain and France’s policy of appeasement had failed.
• They had already agreed to protect Poland if Hitler invaded, and now they had formalised this agreement; war seemed inevitable.
• Hitler felt confident to invade Poland.
• On 1 September 1939, a German battleship attacked Danzig and the German army and Luftwaffe descended on Poland.
• On 3 September, the British sent an ultimatum - Hitler must leave Poland by 11am or Britain would declare war.
• Hitler sent no reply, so Britain, followed by France, declared war.
• Poland was overrun within 4 weeks, and Hitler thought Britain and France would back down. He was wrong.