In addition Hitler had sworn for years that he was the mortal enemy of Bolshevism, so it was not surprising that the Pact came as a shock.
During 1939 Stalin had invited Britain to discuss a possible alliance against Germany to prevent Hitler from carrying out his plans. At first Britain had refused talks with Russia, but during August 1939 talks had been held. However, when the Russians asked if they could send troops into Poland if Hitler invaded, Britain refused. The talks broke down, but no-one would have expected Russia to sign a Pact with their enemy, Germany, a few days later.
The following are all reasons why war broke out in September 1939:
- the invasion of Poland by Germany
- the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact
- Britain’s policy of appeasement.
Which of (i), (ii) and (iii) do you think was the most important? Explain your answer.
In September of 1939, World War II broke out.
There were three main reasons for the outbreak of war.
When Germany invaded Poland, Britain and France finally had to do something as they had signed an alliance with Poland on 25 August 1939. This time they couldn’t back down in the face of Nazi aggression. Had they done so, this would have signalled to the rest of the world that they could no longer be regarded as world powers.
The invasion of Poland became inevitable as soon as the Germans and Russians signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact as they had agreed to carve up Poland between themselves.
Ultimately, Britain’s policy of appeasement had encouraged war and had made Hitler think no one would dare stop him. By never standing up to him he was always prepared to go further as he demonstrated by signing the Nazi-Soviet pact and invading Poland.
I believe it was a combination of long-term and short-term factors which made war inevitable.
The long term policy of appeasement finally collapsed in September 1939, and resulted in war being declared on Germany. However, I think that it was probably the short-term policy of the signing of the Nazi-Soviet pact, when Stalin had finally decided he could not trust Britain, which caused the outbreak of war. Had the Pact not been signed when it was, although Germany would have invaded Poland, the invasion might not have happened in September 1939, even though war would have broken out sooner rather than later.
In my opinion, therefore, it was the policy of appeasement which was the single most important reason for war breaking out on 3rd September 1939. However it was the short-term policy of the Nazi-Soviet Pact, resulting in the invasion of Poland, which acted as a catalyst for war breaking out on 3rd September 1939.
