Who Started World War II?

[Raptor1]

Originally Posted by Fahnenbohn

Poland didn't want to hear anything. And Britain did nothing to calm the situation.

Can you blame them, considering what happened to Czechoslovakia?

Originally Posted by Fahnenbohn

Because the signing of the Polish-British defense treaty was a total surprise. Britain knew that Hitler was determined to solve the corridor problem, one way or another. A conflict between Poland and Germany should NOT have requiered war between Germany and Britain/France.

It would have required one between Germany and Poland, though, and it's Germany who unilaterally made the demands and the decision to invade. Britain and France weren't willing to allow Germany to attack Poland without consequence, so I supposed it would have required a war between those nations as well.

Originally Posted by Fahnenbohn

Yes, in case of invasion only. So if Germany and USSR invaded Poland, this is the fault of Britain/Poland/USA who didn't want to leave the possibility for Germany to solve this scandalous fact of her country cut in 2 parts, without communication. --> So we can say that Britain/USA wanted the war against the Third Reich. Poland was an excuse, and She was the victim of her own pride.

About France this is a little more complexe ...

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Of course it was in case of invasion only. It was signed under the assumption that the invasion would have taken place. The German army was already under orders to launch the operation when it was signed.

Originally Posted by Fahnenbohn

Really Raptor1, do you think that Hitler would have made so reasonable proposals if he wanted a war ? If Poland didn't accept, that was not because of exagerate german proposals. Impossible.

How reasonable the proposal was is irrelevant, because it wasn't a proposal at all. It was delivered under conditions that would not have allowed it to be signed. The Germans demanded (from the British ambassador in Berlin) that the Polish send a negotiator with full powers to Berlin within a single day, and no attempt was made to continue negotiations with more time or under other conditions. Moreover, it was delivered after the decision to invade has been made and, in many ways, already put into motion.

Originally Posted by Fahnenbohn

On the contrary ! It was a non-agression pact ! And if really Britain/France defended Poland, then they shouldn't have declared war on Germany, because USSR was also guilty. What justice for Poland ? A half one is not justice.

The Pact, and particularly its secret protocol, covered more than non-aggression. As for justice, I wasn't talking about that in the slightest, just about who started the war. Of course, the time for getting justice should have been at the Munich Agreement.

Originally Posted by Fahnenbohn

But let's admit that Poland had accepted Hitler's deal. Then, Hitler would have had no more pretext to invade Poland ...

Which is exactly why it was delivered in the way that it was. Hitler wanted a pretext to invade Poland. That is also why deception operations like the attack on the Gleiwitz radio tower took place.