1jola: I haven't read much about that, but you seem to know, so enlighten me.
Christ knows. It made no sense at all, Poland had no strategic value to Britain and its empire or to France for that matter.
My only thought is that Britain was trying to use its political muscle as the premier world power (which it was at that time) to try and impress Hitler that if he messed in Europe he would have to mess with the world's most powerfull nation and that would be enough to hold him in check.
The fact that Britain's mobilisation plans for war were no where near in place when war was declared shows how much store HMG had in the belief that Hitler would not dare contemplate taking on Britain. Hitler equally believed Britain and France were bluffing, as they had not acted over any of Hitlers earlier transgressions. He was wrong also.
1jola: Had Hitler attacked Britain, Poland would have declared war, and sent troops.
Hitler had no desire to attack Britain he wanted the East not the west. So the Polish part of the treaty was of no real value or consequence to Britain's postition in May-August 1939, which is why I asked you why you thought Britain signed this treaty? Poland needed Britain's guarantee not the other way around, Britain was the power Poland was not.
1jola: The peaceful Stalin was just helping Hitler to take over Europe, and the bastard Hitler unfairly attacked him, right? In a minute you will say that if Poland had accepted Hitler's reasonable demands, he wouldn't had attacked her either, or some other nonsense so popular today.
Stalin certainly believed Hitler unfairly attacked the USSR. Molotov certainly made this clear:
Today at 4 o'clock a.m., without any claims having been presented to the Soviet Union, without a declaration of war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders at many points and bombed from their airplanes our cities; Zhitomir, Kiev, Sevastopol, Kaunas and some others, killing and wounding over two hundred persons.
There were also enemy air raids and artillery shelling from Rumanian and Finnish territory.
This unheard of attack upon our country is perfidy unparalleled in the history of civilized nations. The attack on our country was perpetrated despite the fact that a treaty of non-aggression had been signed between the U. S. S. R. and Germany and that the Soviet Government most faithfully abided by all provisions of this treaty.
The attack upon our country was perpetrated despite the fact that during the entire period of operation of this treaty, the German Government could not find grounds for a single complaint against the U.S.S.R. as regards observance of this treaty.
As to Hitler's demands on Poland who is to say what might or might not have happened if Poland ceded to these demands. They did not, and that is the history of it.
|
top of page