German
Troops During the Invasion of Poland
German Invasion of
Poland
German Invasion of Poland
(September 1, 1939-October 6, 1939)--Germany invaded
Poland on September 1, and Britain, France, and Canada,
declared war on Germany on September 3. The Soviet Union
joined the war on Germany's side on September 17, with
the Soviet Invasion of Poland from the east. The
German Invasion of Poland (called Operation Case
White/Unternehmen Fall Weiss by the Germans), marks the
beginning of World War Two in Europe. (NOTE: World War
Two in Asia is generally considered to have begun with
the Japanese Invasion of China in 1937).
See also: Images
and Pictures of the German Invasion of
Poland and
Video
and Film of the German Invasion of Poland
(1939)
Events in Europe and Asia had been
building up over the past several years toward a general
war in Europe, pitting Germany against at least some of
the Allied nations that defeated the Germans in the First
World War (which was known at that point as The World
War, or as The Great War). Germany had
violated the Versailles Treaty, which ended World War One
by re-arming its military, and by engaging in a military
occupation of the Rhineland region in 1936. The Rhineland
was German territory, but had been designated as an area
off-limits to the German military as a condition of
ending World War One. Also, in 1938, Germany took over
its smaller German-speaking neighbor, Austria, ending its
existence as a separate nation and making it a part of
Germany.
Pin
It
Links and Resources
on the German Invasion of Poland:
1. Kohn,
George C. Dictionary
of Wars.
New York: Facts On File Publications. 1986.