Download The Nazi Invasion of Poland: The History of the Campaign That Started World War II AudioBook Free
"The object of the war is...to actually destroy the enemy. That is why I have well prepared, for the moment only in the East, my 'Death's Head' formations with orders to eliminate without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish descent or vocabulary. Only in this way can we obtain the living space we are in need of." (Hitler, August 1939) Throughout 1938 and 1939, discord broke out across European countries after the communal and economical disorder as a result of World Battle I helped the Nazis surge to power in Germany. In 1937, Adolf Hitler announced the Treaty of Versailles void and started aggressively annexing elements of the Western european continent. Europe's attempts to appease him, especially at Munich in 1938, failed as Nazi Germany swallowed up Austria and Czechoslovakia by 1939. Italy was on the march as well, invading Albania in April of 1939. The straw that broke the camel's backside, however, was Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1 of that year. Two days later, France and THE UK declared war on Germany, and World Battle II started in earnest. Of course, as most people now know, the invasion of Poland was only the preface to the Nazi blitzkrieg of the majority of Western European countries, which would include Denmark, Belgium, and France by the summertime of 1940. The level of resistance put up by these countries is often portrayed as poor, and the narrative is usually that the British stood together in 1940 up against the Nazi onslaught, defending the English Isles during the Battle of Britain and protecting against a potential German invasion.
