The invasion of Poland and the declaration of war

• Hitler was confident he could invade Poland with ease. After signing the Nazi-Soviet Pact he had the might of the USSR on his side and was convinced that Britain and France would continue their policy of appeasement
• On 1st September 1939, at 4:45am, the Schleswig-Holstein, a German battleship, opened fire on the port of Danzig. Danzig had been made an independent state in the Treaty of Versailles. Poland ran it, but 90% of the population was German
• At the same time 62 divisions of the German army and 1300 Luftwaffe aeroplanes invaded Poland. The Polish air force was caught on the ground and obliterated
• Hitler's generals were worried that they were still not ready for war and even leaked plans to Britain in the hope that it would force Hitler to abandon his plans. Hitler ignored his generals' concerns and made them swear oaths of loyalty to him
• On 3rd September 1939, the British sent an ultimatum to Germany. The Germans were to send assurances to Britain that they would withdraw their troops from Poland by 11am or Britain would be in a state of war with Germany and would send troops into Europe
• When no reply came by the deadline of the ultimatum, Britain declared war on Germany. France followed suit and also declared war on Germany
• Poland was overrun by Nazi and Soviet troops within four weeks and Hitler was convinced that Britain and France would back down. He was wrong, WWII had started