Zooey
4 May 2013
History / How different would WW2 turned out if Poland accepted Hitler's offer [219]
In 1936, Ribbentrop offered Poland the chance to join Germany and Italy in the Pact of Steel because Poland, at the time, coveted Těšínské knížectví (The Duchy of Teschen) because of its industry and coal mines. Germany, at the time, wanted to invade Czechoslovakia and annex Sudentenland in order to incorporate it into the Reich. But the primary reason Poland did not join the Pact of Steel was Germany's demands, which, if accepted, would cut across the Polish corridor and move the Western border eastward, which would cut off Polish trade in the Baltic. Ribbentrop wanted to establish a connection to East Prussia for ideological reasons, so he proposed a railroad through the corridor. Knowing that Danzig was Ribbentrop's primary motive, Poland refused the demands and joined France, bound by the 1921 treaty, and England, bound to a hasty 1939 treaty, to resist German expansion.
Poland was never offered an option of joining Germany so the basis of your entire thread is pointless.
In 1936, Ribbentrop offered Poland the chance to join Germany and Italy in the Pact of Steel because Poland, at the time, coveted Těšínské knížectví (The Duchy of Teschen) because of its industry and coal mines. Germany, at the time, wanted to invade Czechoslovakia and annex Sudentenland in order to incorporate it into the Reich. But the primary reason Poland did not join the Pact of Steel was Germany's demands, which, if accepted, would cut across the Polish corridor and move the Western border eastward, which would cut off Polish trade in the Baltic. Ribbentrop wanted to establish a connection to East Prussia for ideological reasons, so he proposed a railroad through the corridor. Knowing that Danzig was Ribbentrop's primary motive, Poland refused the demands and joined France, bound by the 1921 treaty, and England, bound to a hasty 1939 treaty, to resist German expansion.