History /
Poland did reasonably well in land terms out of the postwar settlement [270]
This guarantee made Poland confident enough to declare war against Germany in March 1939.
That's a new one on me. Where did you dream up this fantasy?
Of course for PR reasons there was no open declaration of war by the Polish government, but their behaviour was a de-facto declaration of war:
- making their military ready,
- outrageous provocations,
- refusal to negotiate.
I am referring to the partly mobilisation of their military on on 23 March 1939 (completed on 30 August). Further Poland had refused to even negotiate over self-determination for the German city of Danzig. Further the growing Polish campaign of terror and dispossession against the one and a half million ethnic Germans under Polish rule (same for Lithuanians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, even until the 1950s public use of other languages than Polish was forbidden in Poland).
All of that escalated in March 39 because of the British/French guarantee.
FDR played also a big part in this.
bit.ly/tSWZCj
"Nine months before the outbreak of armed conflict, on 2 December 1938, Biddle told Burckhardt
'with remarkable satisfaction that the Poles were ready to wage war over Danzig. They would counter the motorized strength of the German army with agile maneuverability. 'In April,' he [Biddle] declared, 'a new crisis would break out. Not since the torpedoing of the Lusitania [in 1915] had such a religious hatred against Germany reigned in America as today! Chamberlain and Daladier [the moderate British and French leaders] would be blown away by public opinion. This was a holy war!,[21]'"
"In the West," the Ambassador told Szembek, "there are all kinds of elements openly pushing for war: the Jews, the super-capitalists, the arms dealers. Today they are all ready for a great business, because
they have found a place which can be set on fire: Danzig; and a nation that is ready to fight: Poland.
They want to do business on our backs. They are indifferent to the destruction of our country. Indeed, since everything will have to be rebuilt later on, they can profit from that as well."[30]
See also:
wintersonnenwende.com/scriptorium/english/archives/articles/wrsynopsis.html
No area was added to Poland without plebiscite, What are you rubbishing about ?
LOL.
In the so-called corridor and in the area around Poznan there were no plebiscites. It was simply conquered.
Further in Działdowo (Soldau), Grudziądz (Graudenz), Chełmno (Kulm), Brodnica (Strasburg) and Toruń (Thorn) was no plebiscite even though all of these cities were clearly Old Prussian, not Polish.
In Upper Silesia was a plebiscite, when that was won by Germany the Allies took off Eastern Upper Silesia and added it to Poland.
Further let's talk about Southern Lithuania, Belarus and Western Ukraine. No plebiscite either, there areas were conquered by the Polish army and added into their state.
I don't mean the frontier of the year 1914 but also Greater Polish cities like Lodz were annexed to Germany.
Check the timeline.
The first German peace offer was in early Sep 39. It included
- going back to status quo ante,
- Germany pays Poland for any war-related damages,
- Danzig is allowed to join Germany
- the railway/autobahn through the corridor (passing without interference by Polish officials)
This was rejected by Chamberlain.
THEN in Oct 39 Posen was annexed, and in November 39 Lodz was annexed - if for real or as bargaining chip - we will never know.
The next phase was after the Sitzkrieg, the occupation of Denmark, Norway, Benelux and France. Chamberlain resigned, Churchill became Prime MInister.
The new German peace offer still included an independent Polish state, but the Germans would probably not be satisfied with less than pre-1914 German borders. We will never know for sure because Churchill and Vansittart were strictly against any peace agreement with a strong Germany as result.
Only AFTER THAT British refusal the decision was made to make "old germanic Weichselland" (the remaining Generalgouvernement) a German province like Tibet or Hawaii.
What the Nazis did in Poland was not a normal occupation but a systematic program to annihilate the Polish nation and millions of Polish individuals.
That is what the victorious Allies are telling us. And they tell a lot of BS.
