The Crux of the 1939 German Invasion of Poland Essay

The Crux of the 1939 German Invasion of Poland - Essay Example This essay explores that on the 31st of March, France and Britain promised support for Germany. In the meantime the German propaganda instrument had been working solidly to sway public opinion against Poland for false and suspected acts of violence against Germans, and the National Socialists in Danzig, on orders from Berchtesgaden and Berlin, were working on methodically breaking the foundations of the Free City and terrorizing and harassing its Polish occupants. Danzig was already a strong German military base, occupied by Army members and the Party’s military units amounting to a sum of almost 15,000. Poland’s customs inspectorate—retained there within the provisions of the Free City’s agreement-- was one of the primary targets of the wrath of the Danzig National Socialists. A number of occurrences had taken place where in these officials were stopped from accomplishing their tasks, and they had on several instances endured atrocities with casualties. T he Polish government, on the 31st of July, declared that because of the situation they would consider different Danzig institutions as those situated outside of the import-export tax structure of Poland and would place their exports to Poland under the established import taxes. According to Henderson, as a counter-step, the Danzig National Socialists carried on to notify several Polish custom officers that they would not be permitted to continue their jobs anymore. The Polish government, on the 4th of August, taking action under the consent of the British Ambassador at Warsaw, dispatched a solicitous note to the Danzig Senate. It proposed to pull out its tariff policy if the Senate would consent to end its intrusion with the inspectorate’s job, but included an admonition of the grave outcomes which would ensue if the Senate kept on capriciously intruding on Polish civil liberties (Fraser 1945). The Senate gave its approval and awhile it appeared as if the conflict were dying down. But meanwhile, Forster—the Gauleiter of Danzig—had went to Berchtesgaden to consult the state of affairs with Adolph Hitler (Fraser 1945). According to Glen (1941), Hitler made a decision to revive this tension, which had by now been resolved between the Polish government and the Senate; and the strategy he picked was to have a critical letter dispatched from Berlin to Warsaw reprimanding the Polish government for their appeasing letter. The Polish government retorted by showing that it had took action fully within its liberties and in the defense of its legal welfare, and warning that it would consider any intrusion with such interests from foreign entities as an aggressive act. The reply of Hitler was to send huge numbers of forces to Poland’s border (Fraser 1945). On the 22nd of August the British Prime Minister addressed a private note to Hitler ordering him