Why did Germany want Poland

• By late 1938 Hitler had taken over both Austria and Czechoslovakia. Poland was Hitler's next step for Lebensraum
• In the hated Treaty of Versailles, areas of Germany had been given away to the form the new state of Poland. Many Germans lost their property or found themselves living outside Germany
• When Hitler came to power he promised to destroy the Treaty of Versailles, to reunite German-speaking people, and to claim Lebensraum in the east. Invading Poland would help him achieve all of these aims
• Furthermore, Hitler had grown confident. He had seen Britain and France fail to take action against him as he broke the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and felt that, even though they had made agreements to protect Poland, they would do nothing to stop him invading the country. Finally, Poland had no natural frontiers, so it would be easy to attack