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Originally Posted by joegrundman
I have one minor question here. People here have stated that WW2 began with Germany's invasion of Poland and the Anglo-French declaration of war, and that Germany was ultimately doomed from that point.
Given that the Soviet Union also invaded Poland at more-or-less the same time, ought Britain and France to have declared war on the Soviet Union too?
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Poland wanted them to and reminded them of that fact. Remember, Neville Chamberlain was still Prime Minister of Britain and the time and didn't desire making the war any larger than it already was. Given how both powers were relatively helpless as it was to aid Poland against Germany, taking on the Soviet Union as well would probably have been counter-productive. France and Britain came very close to going to war with Stalin when he invaded Finland in the winter of 1940. But when plans fell through to put Allied soldiers in the country via Sweden it never happened. Hitler made it plain to the Swedes that Allied soldiers transiting a resource-rich Sweden on which he depended heavily for iron and nickel supplies would result in a German declaration of war on Sweden.