outbreak of war

• By March 1939 the rest of Czechoslovakia had been carved up between Poland, Hungary and Germany
• Benes


  Czech leader, was forced to hand control over to Hitler
• Appeasement


  Made the USSR suspicious of Britain and France
• The USSR made a deal with Germany (Nazi-Soviet Pact). Part of the deal was dividing Poland between them, with Germany taking Danzig and the Polish Corridor
• Britain made a guarantee with Poland to defend it
• On 1 September 1939, German troops entered Poland
• Britain issued an ultimatum - withdraw or go to war
• Hitler ignored this and on 3 September 1939 Britain declared war on Germany