The Nazi-Soviet Non- Aggression Pact in some ways seems strange as Hitler openly said he wished to destroy communism and indeed he would later invade Russia in 1941. However in 1939 the Soviet Union led by Stalin presented Hitler with a problem if he wished to invade Poland, he did not wish to have to potentially fight Britain, France and USSR at once.
Stalin on the other hand feared Germany but could not gain any lasting agreements/alliances with Britain or France, therefore decided to sign the pact with Germany to prevent invasion and gain valuable time to prepare for war. Stalin had signed a treaty with France in 1935 but did not trust it and he was also not included in the discussions at Munich in 1938. In some ways Stalin feared the worst, that Britain and France would be happy for Hitler to take over Eastern Europe and the USSR.
The pact was signed in August 1939. The two countries agreed not to attack each other and secretly agreed to divide Poland between them.
On 1st September 1939 Germany invaded Poland, Britain had previously guaranteed Polish independence and gave Germany an ultimatum to withdraw, when they did not Britain and France declared war on Germany 3rd September 1939.
War - POLAND INVADED SEPTEMBER 1939
The Pact was perhaps the pinnacle of Hitler’s triumphs. It cleared the way for Germany’s invasion of Poland.
On 1 September 1939 the German army invaded Poland from the west. On 17 September Soviet forces invaded Poland from the east. Poland soon fell.
If Hitler was planning ahead at all, then in his mind the next move would surely be an attack against his temporary ally, the USSR. He was certain that Britain and France would not go to war over Poland. But Hitler’s triumph was spoilt by a nasty surprise. Britain and France did keep their pledge. On 2 September they declared war on Germany.
Hitler had started a war, but it was not the war he had in mind. It was too soon and against the wrong opponents. Hitler had taken one gamble too many.
No comments:
Post a Comment