Naddoður
Active member
Conclusion
Thus by September 1, 1939, the pieces were in place for the beginning of a general European war. It would be a war for which Great Britain and France were egregiously unprepared. Meanwhile, Poland would pay in untold lives. France and Great Britain did indeed honor their signatures and declare war on Germany on September 3, 1939. Nevertheless, this proved to be a hollow declaration that provided no help to the Poles. From the evidence presented here is is clear that neither France nor Great Britain had the slightest intention of actually coming to the assistance of their Polish ally.
What transpired is by now well known. The RAF did not even attempt to bomb German military installations because, as the Air Staff concluded on September 20: "Since the immutable aim of the Allies is the ultimate defeat of Germany, without which the fate of Poland is permanently sealed, it would obviously be militarily unsound and to the disadvantage of all, including Poland, to undertake at any given moment operations ... unlikely to achieve effective results, merely for the sake of maintaining a gesture."
The Chiefs of Staff agreed, informing 10 Downing Street that "nothing we can do in the air in the Western Theatre would have any effect of relieving pressure on Poland." And so the RAF decided instead to drop propaganda leaflets.
For its part, the French army did launch a diversionary offensive into the Saar region. German defenses quickly stopped the attack, however, and it was never resumed. In fact, France and Great Britain would never launch an combined offensive during the first year of the war, preferring instead to await the German attack, which came in May 1940 and ended in disastrous defeat for both nations.
As General Ironside commented in 1945, after much of Europe was in ruins, "Militarily we should have gone all out against the German the minute he invaded Poland. ... We did not ... And so we missed the strategical advantage of the Germans being engaged in the East. We thought completely defensively and of ourselves." And so they did.
Thus by September 1, 1939, the pieces were in place for the beginning of a general European war. It would be a war for which Great Britain and France were egregiously unprepared. Meanwhile, Poland would pay in untold lives. France and Great Britain did indeed honor their signatures and declare war on Germany on September 3, 1939. Nevertheless, this proved to be a hollow declaration that provided no help to the Poles. From the evidence presented here is is clear that neither France nor Great Britain had the slightest intention of actually coming to the assistance of their Polish ally.
What transpired is by now well known. The RAF did not even attempt to bomb German military installations because, as the Air Staff concluded on September 20: "Since the immutable aim of the Allies is the ultimate defeat of Germany, without which the fate of Poland is permanently sealed, it would obviously be militarily unsound and to the disadvantage of all, including Poland, to undertake at any given moment operations ... unlikely to achieve effective results, merely for the sake of maintaining a gesture."
The Chiefs of Staff agreed, informing 10 Downing Street that "nothing we can do in the air in the Western Theatre would have any effect of relieving pressure on Poland." And so the RAF decided instead to drop propaganda leaflets.
For its part, the French army did launch a diversionary offensive into the Saar region. German defenses quickly stopped the attack, however, and it was never resumed. In fact, France and Great Britain would never launch an combined offensive during the first year of the war, preferring instead to await the German attack, which came in May 1940 and ended in disastrous defeat for both nations.
As General Ironside commented in 1945, after much of Europe was in ruins, "Militarily we should have gone all out against the German the minute he invaded Poland. ... We did not ... And so we missed the strategical advantage of the Germans being engaged in the East. We thought completely defensively and of ourselves." And so they did.
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