Question

With reference to Hitler’s foreign policy, answer the following question:

Discuss the full-scale invasion and defeat of Poland in 1939.

Answer 1

1. With reference to Hitler’s foreign policy, the full-scale invasion and defeat of Poland in 1939 marked a turning point in European history and led directly to the outbreak of World War II.
2. As part of his expansionist plans to recover German lands lost as a result of the Treaty of Versailles and to increase the amount of Lebensraum available to the German people, Hitler ordered a large invasion of Poland on 1^st September, 1939.
3. To swiftly overrun Polish forces, Germany employed a novel military strategy known as Blitzkrieg, or lightning war, which featured speedy and well-coordinated attacks using infantry, tanks, and aviation. The German attack’s magnitude and rapidity caught the Polish army off guard, despite their valour.
4. Hitler had signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact (also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) with the Soviet Union on 23^rd August, 1939, before the invasion. This pact contained a secret clause that allowed the two powers to partition Poland.
5. The Soviet Union’s attack from the east on 17^th September, 1939, doomed Poland, and it had lost the war by the end of September. The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany split the nation after the capital, Warsaw, surrendered on 27^th September. 
6. Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3^rd September, 1939, in response to the invasion, sparking the start of the Second World War. Hitler’s aggressive action showed his disdain for international agreements and his resolve to increase German territory at whatever cost.