Although the Allies did declare war on the Third of September, very little action was followed in what was dubbed the ‘Phoney War’. Britain and France did not honour their agreement to secure the borders of Poland and, aside from declaring war, did nothing to prevent its invasion. As described by journalist William Shirer, many believed that Chamberlain and Bonnet were attempting to ‘sneak’ out of their responsibility. German life carried on as normal and no action was seen for many weeks. The Polish government (residing in Paris) were outraged by the Allied response and felt they had been betrayed by them.
The allies had failed to set up an agreement with the USSR and in 1939, Von Ribbentrop and Stalin signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact. This was a non-aggression treaty between the soviets and the Nazis and detailed the terms of the Polish invasion, form which both Germany and the USSR would benefit. If the Allies had set an agreement with the USSR invasion of Poland would have been much less simple for Hitler. Poland was attacked from the Nazi’s in the west and the Russians in the east, therefore was heavily weakened on both sides.
However, it can be argued that the British and French were not responsible for the fall of Poland. The Polish Army was not ready or mobilised for the invasion, despite imminent threat. The Polish army relied heavily on cavalry forces, and its army was significantly smaller than the Nazi’s, with the German’s 1,850,000 considerably outnumbering the Polish 1,000,000 troops. However, the French can be held responsible for the state of the Polish army, as they requested that Polish troops were not mobilised as the GB troops were not ready for attack, whereas the French troops were. They were therefore reluctant to encourage Polish mobilisation as they would have been without the help of the British for some time. The Polish army was unprepared for modern warfare as the Poles still relied on large cavalry forces. Moreover, much of the equipment used by the Polish army was obsolete. The Polish army in 1939 lacked motorised transport and had to rely upon horse drawn transport. In 1939 the Polish army was not fully mobilised and consisted of some 1,000,000 soldiers, 900 tanks, 4,300 artillery pieces and 435 airplanes. The Germans had a well organised spy network inside Poland. This was because of the many ethnic Germans living in Poland after the Treaty of Versailles. Moreover, the Germans were familiar with the Polish rail and road network as German engineers had constructed it. Polish defeat could have seemed inevitable for reasons such as these. The Blitzkrieg tactics which the Nazi’s employed were hard to withstand.
However, it can be argued that Polish defeat was not necessarily inevitable. Under the terms of the Munich Agreement, the Poles gained some land from the Czech occupation, it is in this sense that Poland can be seen to be responsible for its own fall, in not offering a united opposition to the Nazi’s but seeking short term gains.
In conclusion, although the Polish army was not completely mobilised and their policy at the Munich agreement backfired, it is arguable that Britain and France were responsible for the fall of Poland. Poland could not face the German army alone. Despite much resistance from Polish civilians, the government was overthrown on October 6th 1939, after the allies had deserted Poland and gone back on their pledge made at the Munich Agreement.
