BATTLE REPORT #16 Fall Gelb:Blitzkrieg 1940

[AUSTERLITZ]

FALL GELB 1940 : BLITZKREIG IN THE WEST


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BACKGROUND:

ORIGIN OF THE WORLD WARS -

Franco-German Rivalry & French Revanchism -
The seeds of world war 2 trace back to the Franco-prussian war of 1871 which resulted in the humiliation of france and unification of germany under Bismarck(chancellor) and Moltke(army chief).This was the beginning of an intense franco-german rivalry which would be central to the world wars.
France had been since the reign of Louis XIV(1643-1715) over 200 years ago the 'grande nation' of Europe and the prime mover of european politics.Now it had been challenged and superseded by a new united german colossus at the centre of europe instead of large numbers of small german states backed by either prussia or austria that it had been used to pushing around.Moreover within 30 years of its unification german industry and population both exceeded france(thus france lost its material and manpower advantage that were the keys to its military supremacy of the past).French pride didn't take being relegated to 2nd place well.

On top this the prussian army in 1871 had occupied Paris and forced france to cede Alsace and Lorraine,2 coal-rich industrially vital areas which had been part of france since Louis's days(bismarck called it his greatest mistake).This national humiliation and the desire to recover the 2 lost provinces had left deep scars on the french psyche and calls for 'revanche'(revenge) were a common theme of post 1871 french politics.

Reversal of Foreign Policy-
Bismarck understood this and sought to diplomatically isolate france to prevent her from forming a coalition against germany.To this end he maintained an alliance of the monarchies(austria-hungary,german empire,russian empire) citing republican france as a destabilizing factor and declaring germany had no territorial ambitions.However this changed when the young ,arrogant and ambitious kaiser Wilhelm dismissed bismarck and set upon an openly aggressive foreign policy.This was supported by the astonishing rise of germany through the industrialization of the ruhr region,massive population growth and superb technological progress(between 1871 and 1914 germany dominated nobel prize on all technical fields,establishing near monopoly in chemistry and physics).The kaiser promoted german nationalism with the slogan 'Our time in the sun'.

German Militarism -
Of the 2 great german powers ,germany was unified by militaristic prussia and not austria.Prussia,a nation brought to prominence by warrior king frederick the great and was described as 'an army with a state' was largely a security state made by war and for war.Since prussia dominated unified germany and its military,the legacy of prussian militarism and its reverance for war was inherited by and shaped the post-1871 generations of the nascent german nation.In an age of increasingly extreme nationalism this led several germans,particularly the military sections to believe their nation had a destiny to lead europe.Germany despite its industry and trained human resources lacked raw materials ,german geostrategists thus dreamt of acquiring these via new conquests or colonies.(Lebensraum concept origin)

(Otto Von Bismarck)​

Europe in Two Camps:
Russia by 1790 had found the german alliance of increasingly less value.It was further alienated by germany's alliance with austro-hungarian empire and refusal to support its claims in the balkans(against austria).When the new kaiser didn't renew the russian alliance,france immediately stepped in(with financial aid for cash strapped czarist govt as a bonus).The franco-russian 'entente' now countered the german-austrian 'dual alliance'.

Britain had at first remained aloof-its only foreign policy objective being to prevent any one power from dominating continental europe and to maintain its industrial and commercial hegemony.But germany's rapid progress in industry and science soon threatened britain's long established position as 'the shopkeeper of europe'.By 1900 germany outproduced britain,the birthplace of the industrial revolution in industrial output and was also gaining ground in scientific development.This threatened britain's commercial classes.
Moreover,bismarck had guaranteed britain germany would never seek colonies or build a navy to prevent britain joining any coalition against her.The new kaiser started colonial conquests as well as building up a huge navy which britain saw as a direct threat to its survival.Thus the British empire joined France and Russia in the 'Triple Entente'.

Wave of Optimism - The populations of europe for a century since the end of the napoleonic wars in 1815 had seen no large conflict and were becoming complacent of the horrors of war.The soldiers of europe ,fired by nationalistic fervour dreamt of glory,of being the next napoleon.the common consensus was that the next war would be short and decisive war of manuever like the franco russian war 1871 or the campaigns of napoleon.None of them had any idea of the hell waiting for them called 'trench warfare'.

All that was needed was a spark to light the match ,which came with the balkans crisis that ignited World war I in 1914 when Germany invaded France.(because austria attacked serbia,russia mobilized in support of serbia.Germany supporting her ally austria attacked france-the ally of russia.Britain supported her ally france).

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The unprecedented death and destruction wiped out a whole generation of young europeans and bankrupted all participants.Faced with an immovable french army,a choking british blockade and the entrance of the united states germany admitted defeat in 1918 .The resultant peace treaty -The Treaty of Versailles was heavily punitive on germany which lost territory,had to pay huge war indemnity and had to shoulder whole responsibility for war.Her army was restricted to 100,000 and aircraft,tanks and battleship production disallowed.WW I reshaped the map of the world and led to the breakup of the austrian,german,russian and ottoman empires.

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Europe after WW1.Germany lost Alsace and Lorraine in the west and territories to the resurrected Poland in the east.(Poland had been partitioned by austria,prussia and russia in the 18th century)Austrian empire collapsed completely into several new nations in the balkans.Russian empire lost finland,the baltic states and areas to poland.(These areas had been ceded to germany -which then had lost to the allies)



POST-WAR GERMAN ECONOMIC COLLAPSE:

(Decorated german veteran begging in the streets)​

Post war germany was bankrupt and full of disillusioned veterans and a populace that having suffered through 4 years of blockade now faced severe economic repression.All the dreams of german glory had also come crashing down.On top of this emergence of communism,and its new bastion soviet russia was the new boogeyman that introduced an ideological angle to what had till now been a geopolitical struggle.

German recovery was further hampered by huge allied war reparations, still efforts were being made mostly through american economic loans.When the great depression hit USA and global stock markets collapsed this went up in flames,result was mass unemployment and hyperinflation in germany.It was in the backdrop of this that Adolf Hitler rose to power.

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RISE OF HITLER:

Adolf Hitler,a former austrian corporal(ethnic german) and his new National Socialist Party with radical views was increasingly gaining the support of the desperate and disgruntled german populace.Hitler a brilliant orator and politician ,a fanatic nationalist with deep seated racial hatred towards non-nordic peoples-especially jews and a violent animosity towards communism told the germans exactly what they wanted to hear.
He promised them economic recovery,employment,end to the versailles treaty,end to war reparations and restoration of german national pride and military glory.He also provided scapegoats that could explain germany's defeat and current condition - The jewish bankers and the communist unions.This came to be known as the 'Stab in the back' theory that germany had been defeated by sabotage of her war effort from these parties.Despite the fact these were lies,it was what the masses wanted hear - Hope,promise of glory and scapegoats.

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In 1933 elections in the backdrop of hyperinfaltion and mass unemployment the Nazi party emerged as the largest in germany,and Hitler became chancellor.Within a year he and his secret police thugs SD had staged a fire attack on the german parliament which he used as an excuse to arrest,prosecute and eventually ban all other political parties.Hitler portrayed himself as the messiah(believed it too!)who would lead germany to greatness by crushing all enemies-real and percieved.

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With the death of president hindenberg in 1934,the last obstacle to hitler's rise to power was complete.He combined chancellor and president into 1 post -The Fuehrer .Having obtained the support of the powerful army by promise of rearmament every german soldier was required to swear an oath of loyalty to hitler.

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As a final act hitler purged the ambitious SD,the very political intimidation police he had used as a tool to come to power and replaced them with the fanatically loyal but even more ruthless SS under himmler.Adolf Hitler was master of Germany ,and war was now only a matter of time.

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NEXT: ROAD TO WAR :GERMAN REARMAMENT & TERRITORIAL AGGRESSION

 

[Desert Fox]

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http://s749.photobucket.com/user/dharabhishek2007/media/Make-the-lie-big.jpg.html

Hitler never said this. There is actually no roof of him ever stating this in Mein Kampf or any of his speeches and private conversations.

​

RISE OF HITLER

:

Adolf Hitler,a former austrian corporal(ethnic german) and his new National Socialist Party with radical views was increasingly gaining the support of the desperate and disgruntled german populace.Hitler a brilliant orator and politician ,a fanatic nationalist with deep seated racial hatred towards non-nordic peoples-especially jews and a violent animosity towards communism told the germans exactly what they wanted to hear.
He promised them economic recovery,employment,end to the versailles treaty,end to war reparations and restoration of german national pride and military glory.He also provided scapegoats that could explain germany's defeat and current condition - The jewish bankers and the communist unions.This came to be known as the 'Stab in the back' theory that germany had been defeated by sabotage of her war effort from these parties.Despite the fact these were lies,it was what the masses wanted hear - Hope,promise of glory and scapegoats.

There was a Communist uprising at the end of WW2 in which Marxist Unions went on strikes stalling the German War Industries thus hampering ammo and food deliveries to the front lines.

Coming to the bankers, one only has too read about the origins of the Balfour Declaration to understand why the Bankers were accused of turning against Germany in favor of acquiring Palestine from Britain in return.

​

In 1933 elections in the backdrop of hyperinfaltion and mass unemployment the Nazi party emerged as the largest in germany,and Hitler became chancellor.Within a year he and his secret police thugs SD had staged a fire attack on the german parliament which he used as an excuse to arrest,prosecute and eventually ban all other political parties.Hitler portrayed himself as the messiah(believed it too!)who would lead germany to greatness by crushing all enemies-real and percieved.

​

With the death of president hindenberg in 1934,the last obstacle to hitler's rise to power was complete.He combined chancellor and president into 1 post -The Fuehrer .Having obtained the support of the powerful army by promise of rearmament every german soldier was required to swear an oath of loyalty to hitler.

​

As a final act hitler purged the ambitious SD,the very political intimidation police he had used as a tool to come to power and replaced them with the fanatically loyal but even more ruthless SS under himmler.Adolf Hitler was master of Germany ,and war was now only a matter of time.

​

NEXT: ROAD TO WAR :GERMAN REARMAMENT & TERRITORIAL AGGRESSION

Germany was bound to the dictates of the Treaty of Versailles meanwhile the Soviet Union was invading all of Eastern and Central Europe a decade and a half before Hitler came to power, and the Western Powers continued to maintain powerful armed forces despite promising to disarm following Germany's disarmament after WW1:


Soviet aggression into Europe before Hitler appeared on the political scene:

Soviet Invasion of Eastern Europe,1919-Wikipedia

Soviet Westward Offensive Toward Germany, 1919-Wikipedia

Soviet Invasion of Poland,1920-Wikipedia

Soviet support for Communist revolution within Germany post WW1:

Communist Revolution in Germany, 1918-1919-Wikipedia

Soviet actions against the local populace of the Baltic states and other countries they annexed between 1938-1941:

Forced Settlements in the Soviet Union-Wikipedia

Population Transfer in the Soviet Union-Wikipedia

Soviet Deportations from Estonia-Wikipedia

Soviet deportations from Estonia in 1940s - estonia.eu

Soviet Mass Deportations from Latvia

Soviet Russia's Persecution of Latvia, 1918-1991

Latvia 50 Years

Soviet deportations from Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina-Wikipedia

Soviet Liquidation of Polish Officers - Katyn Forest Massacre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_massacre

Soviet Deportations from Lithuania-Wikipedia

 

[LeveragedBuyout]

@AUSTERLITZ One thumb up isn't enough, so here's another.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Hitler never said this. There is actually no roof of him ever stating this in Mein Kampf or any of his speeches and private conversations.

​

There was a Communist uprising at the end of WW2 in which Marxist Unions went on strikes stalling the German War Industries thus hampering ammo and food deliveries to the front lines.

Coming to the bankers, one only has too read about the origins of the Balfour Declaration to understand why the Bankers were accused of turning against Germany in favor of acquiring Palestine from Britain in return.




Germany was bound to the dictates of the Treaty of Versailles meanwhile the Soviet Union was invading all of Eastern and Central Europe a decade and a half before Hitler came to power, and the Western Powers continued to maintain powerful armed forces despite promising to disarm following Germany's disarmament after WW1:


Soviet aggression into Europe before Hitler appeared on the political scene:

Soviet Invasion of Eastern Europe,1919-Wikipedia

Soviet Westward Offensive Toward Germany, 1919-Wikipedia

Soviet Invasion of Poland,1920-Wikipedia

Soviet support for Communist revolution within Germany post WW1:

Communist Revolution in Germany, 1918-1919-Wikipedia

Soviet actions against the local populace of the Baltic states and other countries they annexed between 1938-1941:

Forced Settlements in the Soviet Union-Wikipedia
Population Transfer in the Soviet Union-Wikipedia

Soviet Deportations from Estonia-Wikipedia

Soviet deportations from Estonia in 1940s - estonia.eu

Soviet Mass Deportations from Latvia

Soviet Russia's Persecution of Latvia, 1918-1991

Latvia 50 Years

Soviet deportations from Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina-Wikipedia

Soviet Liquidation of Polish Officers - Katyn Forest Massacre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_massacre

Soviet Deportations from Lithuania-Wikipedia

1.First one the lie thing -

“In the primitive simplicity of their minds, they will more easily fall victim to a large lie than a small lie, since they sometimes tell petty lies themselves, but would be ashamed to tell a lie that was too big. They would never consider telling a lie of such magnitude themselves, or knowing that it would require such impudence, they would not consider it possible for it to be told by others. Even after being enlightened and shown that the lie is a lie, they will continue to doubt and waver for a long time and will still believe there must be some truth behind it somewhere, and there must be some other explanation. For this reason, some part of the most bold and brazen lie is sure to stick. - Adolf Hitler,in Mein Kampf.(This huge paragraph is largely shortened and expressed as the quote)

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie.-Goebbels.(The more accurate version was said by goebbels,hitler's propaganda minister who acted solely on his fuehrer's instructions)

2.On communist in gremany -This was towards the very end and by that time germany had already lost the war,it had negligible effect on german war effort of deciding the war but served as a good excuse.Jews of germany were not involved in treason while the war was ongoing.most served patriotically often compromising their personal reputations eg.fritz haber nor did they sabotage german war effort-there is no evidence for this.The main players of balfour declaration were jews in england and palestine not germany itself.

3.Soviet Union was not party to versailles treaty and thus had no obligations to peace,it saw spreading the revolution as central to its ideaology.When did i say soviet union of stalin was saint?(see last diagram-communist expansiveness)If u read well i already said communist threat and boogeyman was a prime factor behind hitler exploiting that fear to rise to power.With enormous economic hardship throughout europe post-war communist parties began to rise up in many countries,not just germany.They believed nationalism had failed after destruction of the war and communism was the new idea for a better future.(see last diagram-collapse of cultural confidence in european values,institutions)Some but not all were funded by soviet russia,many were genuine.As i said before what had been a purely geopolitical struggle now had become war of ideologies.
The promise of allies disarming after germany was largely done due to pressure from woodrow wilson ,usa president.However after WW1 USA withdrew into isolation away from european affairs and britain and france didn't bother.As i have already staed the treaty was punitive on germany due to vengeance mentality.

 

[Desert Fox]

1.First one the lie thing -

“In the primitive simplicity of their minds, they will more easily fall victim to a large lie than a small lie, since they sometimes tell petty lies themselves, but would be ashamed to tell a lie that was too big. They would never consider telling a lie of such magnitude themselves, or knowing that it would require such impudence, they would not consider it possible for it to be told by others. Even after being enlightened and shown that the lie is a lie, they will continue to doubt and waver for a long time and will still believe there must be some truth behind it somewhere, and there must be some other explanation. For this reason, some part of the most bold and brazen lie is sure to stick. - Adolf Hitler,in Mein Kampf.(This huge paragraph is largely shortened and expressed as the quote)

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie.-Goebbels.(The more accurate version was said by goebbels,hitler's propaganda minister who acted solely on his fuehrer's instructions)

You didn't provide a source for the Goebbels quote.

And that quote of Hitler's is quoted out of context. Hitler was accusing the Jews of the Big Lie, not advocating it.

Here is the entire quote within context:

"But it remained for the Jews, with their unqualified capacity for falsehood, and their fighting comrades, the Marxists, to impute responsibility for the downfall [of Germany in WWI] precisely to the man who alone had shown a superhuman will and energy in his effort to prevent the catastrophe which he had foreseen and to save the nation from that hour of complete overthrow and shame. By placing responsibility for the loss of the world war on the shoulders of Ludendorff they took away the weapon of moral right from the only adversary dangerous enough to be likely to succeed in bringing the betrayers of the Fatherland to Justice. All this was inspired by the principle -- which is quite true in itself -- that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily, and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying. These people know only too well how to use falsehood for the basest purposes.

From time immemorial, however, the Jews have known better than any others how falsehood and calumny can be exploited. Is not their very existence founded on one great lie, namely, that they are a religious community, whereas in reality they are a race? And what a race! One of the greatest thinkers that mankind has produced has branded the Jews for all time with a statement which is profoundly and exactly true. He (Schopenhauer) called the Jew "The Great Master of Lies." Those who do not realize the truth of that statement, or do not wish to believe it, will never be able to lend a hand in helping Truth to prevail"


On the Goebbels Quotes:

That Goebbels quote is a fake quote. There is actually no source for it, refer to these sites:

False Nazi Quotations

Hitler and the 'Big Lie'

Fraudulent Nazi Quotations
http://www.historiography-project.com/misc/biglie.html

2.On communist in gremany -This was towards the very end and by that time germany had already lost the war,it had negligible effect on german war effort of deciding the war but served as a good excuse.Jews of germany were not involved in treason while the war was ongoing.most served patriotically often compromising their personal reputations eg.fritz haber nor did they sabotage german war effort-there is no evidence for this.

There were millions of Communists in Germany, more than any other country in the world bar Russia. Most of these Communists were factory workers.

All three main leaders of the various Communist Revolutions within Germany were Jews:

Jew:
Karl Liebknecht - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jew:
Rosa Luxemburg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jew:
Kurt Eisner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


These Jews actively participated in subversive activities detrimental to the German state, including sabotage and receiving military aid from a foreign entity (Bolshevik regime in Soviet Union), that is treason.

The main players of balfour declaration were jews in england and palestine not germany itself.

The creation of a Jewish homeland within Palestine was the goal of every influential and wealthy Jew no matter in which country they presided, whether it was influential American, English, or German Jews, they all had one goal and they would achieve that goal even if it was at the expense of their host country.

3.Soviet Union was not party to versailles treaty and thus had no obligations to peace,it saw spreading the revolution as central to its ideaology.When did i say soviet union of stalin was saint?(see last diagram-communist expansiveness)If u read well i already said communist threat and boogeyman was a prime factor behind hitler exploiting that fear to rise to power.With enormous economic hardship throughout europe post-war communist parties began to rise up in many countries,not just germany.They believed nationalism had failed after destruction of the war and communism was the new idea for a better future.(see last diagram-collapse of cultural confidence in european values,institutions)Some but not all were funded by soviet russia,many were genuine.As i said before what had been a purely geopolitical struggle now had become war of ideologies.
The promise of allies disarming after germany was largely done due to pressure from woodrow wilson ,usa president.However after WW1 USA withdrew into isolation away from european affairs and britain and france didn't bother.As i have already staed the treaty was punitive on germany due to vengeance mentality.

Regardless of whether the Soviet Union was a party to Versailles treaty or not, that wasn't my point.

My point was that the Soviet Union had an expansive and aggressive posture towards Eastern and Central European countries. In the face of this threat Germany was expected to remain defenseless and vulnerable to foreign influences detrimental to its National interests and when Hitler did begin to re-arm Germany's military (which were still small compared to Soviet and Western armies) he was accused of having aggressive intentions, etc....

​

NEXT: ROAD TO WAR :GERMAN REARMAMENT & TERRITORIAL AGGRESSION

BTW, speaking of aggressions:

British Empire 1939:

French Empire in 1939:

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

You didn't provide a source for the Goebbels quote.

And that quote of Hitler's is quoted out of context. Hitler was accusing the Jews of the Big Lie, not advocating it.

Here is the entire quote within context:

"But it remained for the Jews, with their unqualified capacity for falsehood, and their fighting comrades, the Marxists, to impute responsibility for the downfall [of Germany in WWI] precisely to the man who alone had shown a superhuman will and energy in his effort to prevent the catastrophe which he had foreseen and to save the nation from that hour of complete overthrow and shame. By placing responsibility for the loss of the world war on the shoulders of Ludendorff they took away the weapon of moral right from the only adversary dangerous enough to be likely to succeed in bringing the betrayers of the Fatherland to Justice. All this was inspired by the principle -- which is quite true in itself -- that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily, and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying. These people know only too well how to use falsehood for the basest purposes.

From time immemorial, however, the Jews have known better than any others how falsehood and calumny can be exploited. Is not their very existence founded on one great lie, namely, that they are a religious community, whereas in reality they are a race? And what a race! One of the greatest thinkers that mankind has produced has branded the Jews for all time with a statement which is profoundly and exactly true. He (Schopenhauer) called the Jew "The Great Master of Lies." Those who do not realize the truth of that statement, or do not wish to believe it, will never be able to lend a hand in helping Truth to prevail"


On the Goebbels Quotes:

That Goebbels quote is a fake quote. There is actually no source for it, refer to these sites:
False Nazi Quotations

Hitler and the 'Big Lie'
Fraudulent Nazi Quotations



There were millions of Communists in Germany, more than any other country in the world bar Russia. Most of these Communists were factory workers.

All three main leaders of the various Communist Revolutions within Germany were Jews:

Jew:
Karl Liebknecht - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jew:
Rosa Luxemburg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jew:
Kurt Eisner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


These Jews actively participated in subversive activities detrimental to the German state, including sabotage and receiving military aid from a foreign entity (Bolshevik regime in Soviet Union), that is treason.



The creation of a Jewish homeland within Palestine was the goal of every influential and wealthy Jew no matter in which country they presided, whether it was influential American, English, or German Jews, they all had one goal and they would achieve that goal even if it was at the expense of their host country.






Regardless of whether the Soviet Union was a party to Versailles treaty or not, that wasn't my point.

My point was that the Soviet Union had an expansive and aggressive posture towards Eastern and Central European countries. In the face of this threat Germany was expected to remain defenseless and vulnerable to foreign influences detrimental to its National interests and when Hitler did begin to re-arm Germany's military (which were still small compared to Soviet and Western armies) he was accused of having aggressive intentions, etc....




BTW, speaking of aggressions:

British Empire 1939:

French Empire in 1939:

The quote is applied on the masses ,not on who does the lying.Of course he would accuse the jews of doing that in his own autobiography..u expect him to say i'll lie in his own book?
Goebbels accused churchill of lying by the above method in magazine -Die Zeit ohne Beispiel.

Germany was one of biggest industrialized nations so yes obviously there would be lot of workers and communism would be popular there.Also Marx and Engles were germans.Communism originated as an idea in germany.
All communist rebellions happened after end of WW1 when germany already defeated,how did they sabotage german effort after war was already over?As for many communist leaders being jews,a communist doesn't believe in god in the first place.
Give proof of jewish sabotage of german war effort to help britain for homeland in palestine during ww1....there is nothing but conspiracy theories.
'Regardless of whether the Soviet Union was a party to Versailles treaty or not, that wasn't my point.

My point was that the Soviet Union had an expansive and aggressive posture towards Eastern and Central European countries. In the face of this threat Germany was expected to remain defenseless and vulnerable to foreign influences detrimental to its National interests and when Hitler did begin to re-arm Germany's military (which were still small compared to Soviet and Western armies) he was accused of having aggressive intentions, etc....'

Communist rebellions were crushed by german govt in 1919 itself.He was accused of aggressive intentions because of what he had declared in his speeches openly he would do with a rearmed germany - regain all german territories by war and seize lebensraum in the east by genocide.And the world was proved right.
Did hitler rearm to defend germany?What did he with his army once he had re-armed?History is testament.Was Poland,czechoslovakia,denmark,norway,balkans,netherlands,belgium all planning to destroy germany?Don't be a blind apologist just because u like how badass the waffen-ss and their black uniforms were.

As for aggressions,ur perfectly right both parties here were imperialists -anglo-french colonial imperialists.Churchill was an arch-imperialist.But despite the oppression,they didn't systematically single out whole peoples like this methodically exterminating them in concentration camps and slave labour.Anglo-french-soviets weren't saints ,but hitler was certainly not a good guy,he was much worse than the rest.

Now this topic is not for discussing ideologies,just the campaign..so plz if u answer start a new topic.

 

[Desert Fox]

The quote is applied on the masses ,not on who does the lying.Of course he would accuse the jews of doing that in his own autobiography..u expect him to say i'll lie in his own book?
Goebbels accused churchill of lying by the above method in magazine -Die Zeit ohne Beispiel.

Don't try to play smart now. You were the one who posted a fake quote in the OP without even doing proper research.

That's not what you were trying to convey earlier through this fake quote, perhaps you should have clarified yourself before propagating this historical fallacy:

And neither did you provide a source for that (fake) Goebbels quote.

Germany was one of biggest industrialized nations so yes obviously there would be lot of workers and communism would be popular there.Also Marx and Engles were germans.Communism originated as an idea in germany.

This has nothing to do with what we're discussing.

All communist rebellions happened after end of WW1 when germany already defeated,how did they sabotage german effort after war was already over?

Coming to the issue about Communist strikes and sabotage, are you suggesting that the Communists were sitting idle during the war??

"Strikes erupted in Vienna and Budapest, set off not only by hunger but by Germany's failure to make peace with the new Bolshevik government in Russia. They spread to Germany itself, which had been under virtual military dictatorship for several months, and on Monday, January 28, 1918, workers throughout Germany went out on strike. Peace was their main demand but they also insisted on workers' representation in negotiations with the Allies, increased food rations, the abolition of martial law, and a democratic government throughout Germany. In Munich, another insurrection broke out. It was led by Kurt Eisner, a small elderly Jew wearing a black floppy hat which, large as it was, couldn't contain a shock of wild hair. Epically untidy, he was a living cartoon of the bomb-throwing Red. He had already spent almost nine months in prison for his wartime strike activities. In Friedrichshafen workers at the Zeppelin plant formed a council. The factory workers in the Stuttgart area, including the vast Daimler motor works, struck and, led by socialists with views similar to Eisner's, made similar demands. Government after government throughout Germany collapsed as workers' and soldiers' councils took control" - Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography

As for many communist leaders being jews,a communist doesn't believe in god in the first place.

Can you prove that the Leaders of the Communist Revolts in Germany disowned their own Jewish faith?? Please provide valid sources (Links) and not drivel. Thanks.

Give proof of jewish sabotage of german war effort to help britain for homeland in palestine during ww1....

Funny, someone's who posting fabricated quotes is asking for proof. Could you prove your falsified Hitler & Goebbels quotes with actual sources (Links) and not drivel?? That would be appreciated.

Nonetheless, powerful Jewish financiers using their influence to assist Britain in her war against Germany in exchange for Palestine:

"Malcolm's belief in the Balfour Declaration as a means of bringing the United States into the war was confirmed by Samuel Landman, secretary to the Zionist leaders Weizmann and Sokolow, and later secretary of the World Zionist Organization. As

" the only way (which proved so to be) to induce the American President to come into the war was to secure the cooperation of Zionist Jews by promising them Palestine, and thus enlist and mobilize the hitherto unsuspectedly powerful forces of Zionist Jews in America and elsewhere in favour of the Allies on a quid pro quo contract basis. Thus, as will be seen, the Zionists having carried out their part, and greatly helped to bring America in, the Balfour Declaration of 1917 was but the public confirmation of the necessarily secret "gentlemens' " agreement of 1916, made with the previous knowledge, acquiescence, and or approval of the Arabs, and of the British, and of the French and other Allied governments, and not merely a voluntary, altruistic and romantic gesture on the part of Great Britain as certain people either through pardonable ignorance assume or unpardonable ill-will would represent or rather misrepresent ...[188] "- Great Britain, the Jews and Palestine (London, 1936), pp. 4-5, New Zionist Press.

Behind the Balfour Declaration

Communist rebellions were crushed by german govt in 1919 itself.

So Communist revolutions were crushed within Germany in 1919, did that prevent the Soviet Union from invading Poland in 1920 in a Westward drive towards a disarmed Germany?? Of course not.

Soviet Invasion of Poland,1920-Wikipedia

Did hitler rearm to defend germany?What did he with his army once he had re-armed?History is testament.Was Poland,czechoslovakia,denmark,norway,balkans,netherlands,belgium all planning to destroy germany?Don't be a blind apologist just because u like how badass the waffen-ss and their black uniforms were.

Nothing to do with my personal interest in the National Socialist era. If i were blind like you i too would be posting falsified quotes without any proper research on my part.

Regarding Hitler's invasions of the countries you mentioned, i could easily tear apart your argument, though my post would become too long to read.

As for aggressions,ur perfectly right both parties here were imperialists -anglo-french colonial imperialists.Churchill was an arch-imperialist.But despite the oppression,they didn't systematically single out whole peoples like this methodically exterminating them in concentration camps and slave labour.Anglo-french-soviets weren't saints ,but hitler was certainly not a good guy,he was much worse than the rest.

If you believe that the British never employed slave labor and deliberate mass extermination then you really have no clue of history. And don't get me started on the Soviets.

“Indians are the beastliest people in the world next to the Germans"- Winston Churchill

The Greatest Briton: Essays on Winston Churchill's Life and Political Philosophy - Jeremy Havardi - Google Books

How Churchill Starved To Death 4 Million Indians and Got Away With It

India's Partition: The Story of Imperialism in Retreat - Devendra Panigrahi - Google Books

The Bengal Famine of 1943, how 4 million Indians perished





Can one also label early America's "Manifest Destiny" as a quest for Lebensraum and imperialism?? Without achieving this goal America would not have become the power that it is today.

Now this topic is not for discussing ideologies,just the campaign..so plz if u answer start a new topic.

I wasn't discussing ideologies. I noticed that fake quote you posted and decided to point that out lest people buy into that lie since more than half of the so called "Think Tanks" on this forum don't do their own research.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Don't try to play smart now. You were the one who posted a fake quote in the OP without even doing proper research.

That's not what you were trying to convey earlier through this fake quote, perhaps you should have clarified yourself before propagating this historical fallacy:

And neither did you provide a source for that (fake) Goebbels quote.







This has nothing to do with what we're discussing.



Coming to the issue about Communist strikes and sabotage, are you suggesting that the Communists were sitting idle during the war??

"Strikes erupted in Vienna and Budapest, set off not only by hunger but by Germany's failure to make peace with the new Bolshevik government in Russia. They spread to Germany itself, which had been under virtual military dictatorship for several months, and on Monday, January 28, 1918, workers throughout Germany went out on strike. Peace was their main demand but they also insisted on workers' representation in negotiations with the Allies, increased food rations, the abolition of martial law, and a democratic government throughout Germany. In Munich, another insurrection broke out. It was led by Kurt Eisner, a small elderly Jew wearing a black floppy hat which, large as it was, couldn't contain a shock of wild hair. Epically untidy, he was a living cartoon of the bomb-throwing Red. He had already spent almost nine months in prison for his wartime strike activities. In Friedrichshafen workers at the Zeppelin plant formed a council. The factory workers in the Stuttgart area, including the vast Daimler motor works, struck and, led by socialists with views similar to Eisner's, made similar demands. Government after government throughout Germany collapsed as workers' and soldiers' councils took control" - Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography


Can you prove that the Leaders of the Communist Revolts in Germany disowned their own Jewish faith?? Please provide valid sources (Links) and not drivel. Thanks.



Funny, someone's who posting fabricated quotes is asking for proof. Could you prove your falsified Hitler & Goebbels quotes with actual sources (Links) and not drivel?? That would be appreciated.

Nonetheless, powerful Jewish financiers using their influence to assist Britain in her war against Germany in exchange for Palestine:

"Malcolm's belief in the Balfour Declaration as a means of bringing the United States into the war was confirmed by Samuel Landman, secretary to the Zionist leaders Weizmann and Sokolow, and later secretary of the World Zionist Organization. As

" the only way (which proved so to be) to induce the American President to come into the war was to secure the cooperation of Zionist Jews by promising them Palestine, and thus enlist and mobilize the hitherto unsuspectedly powerful forces of Zionist Jews in America and elsewhere in favour of the Allies on a quid pro quo contract basis. Thus, as will be seen, the Zionists having carried out their part, and greatly helped to bring America in, the Balfour Declaration of 1917 was but the public confirmation of the necessarily secret "gentlemens' " agreement of 1916, made with the previous knowledge, acquiescence, and or approval of the Arabs, and of the British, and of the French and other Allied governments, and not merely a voluntary, altruistic and romantic gesture on the part of Great Britain as certain people either through pardonable ignorance assume or unpardonable ill-will would represent or rather misrepresent ...[188] "- Great Britain, the Jews and Palestine (London, 1936), pp. 4-5, New Zionist Press.

Behind the Balfour Declaration




So Communist revolutions were crushed within Germany in 1919, did that prevent the Soviet Union from invading Poland in 1920 in a Westward drive towards a disarmed Germany?? Of course not.

Soviet Invasion of Poland,1920-Wikipedia





Nothing to do with my personal interest in the National Socialist era. If i were blind like you i too would be posting falsified quotes without any proper research on my part.

Regarding Hitler's invasions of the countries you mentioned, i could easily tear apart your argument, though my post would become too long to read.


If you believe that the British never employed slave labor and deliberate mass extermination then you really have no clue of history. And don't get me started on the Soviets.

“Indians are the beastliest people in the world next to the Germans"- Winston Churchill

The Greatest Briton: Essays on Winston Churchill's Life and Political Philosophy - Jeremy Havardi - Google Books

How Churchill Starved To Death 4 Million Indians and Got Away With It

India's Partition: The Story of Imperialism in Retreat - Devendra Panigrahi - Google Books

The Bengal Famine of 1943, how 4 million Indians perished





Can one also label early America's "Manifest Destiny" as a quest for Lebensraum and imperialism?? Without achieving this goal America would not have become the power that it is today.





I wasn't discussing ideologies. I noticed that fake quote you posted and decided to point that out lest people buy into that lie since more than half of the so called "Think Tanks" on this forum don't do their own research.

New thread,plz.Can't u stop ruining the thread?If u want an answer start there.

 

[Desert Fox]

My post wasn't off topic when it was concerning the fallacies you so proudly posted in the OP.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

ROAD TO WAR:1936-1939

AGE OF DICTATORS -WORLD IN TURMOIL :

The era between the 2 world wars is characterized by ideological polarization,radicalization and the need for a 'strongman' personified by the rise of dictators in europe and beyond.Hitler in Germany,Franco in Spain,mussolini in Italy,Stalin in Russia, Tojo in Japan,Chiang Kai shek/Mao Zedong in China.We have already seen the rise of hitler in germany.

SPAIN:CIVIL WAR

After 7 years of Spanish dictatorship under General Miguel Primo de Rivera, the Spanish people, as directed by King Alfonso XIII, went to the polls to determine their political future. A majority of their votes went to the various Republican (anti-monarchist) parties. The King, accepted the verdict and went into exile. A Republic was created, secular-socialist in character -- much to the great displeasure of those of Spanish society who remained fervently monarchist and Catholic. This latter group was known collectively as the Fascists. The most radical of this latter group were the Falangists, headed by Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, the son of the former dictator. Like the Fascists of Italy, they were a uniformed paramilitary organization, with a reputation as "toughs."
The elections of 1936 brought in a "Popular Front" government made up of parties of the Left -- including the Communists (who, under the direction of Stalin, were cooperating with the other leftist and centrist secular parties across Europe.) Immediately political conditions in Spain deteriorated -- with on-going street battles running between the Falangists and the equally tough Republican police, the Asaltos. Terror and assassinations became increasingly the order of the day for Spanish politics.

When, in July of 1936, the Asaltos murdered a prominent Fascist politician, all hell broke loose. Soldiers in Morocco loyal to the monarchy, "Nationalists" as they called themselves, revolted against the Republican government in Madrid. This was the signal in Spain itself for the Catholic monarchists in the military to rise up in revolt against the Republican government -- in accordance with a plan carefully worked out beforehand by a young general, Francisco Franco Bahamonde.

Seeing a fellow Popular Front Government in Spain under threat by Rightist forces, Leon Blum's Leftist Popular Front government in France quickly sent 30 French planes and pilots to help the Republican government crush the rebels. But in turn, Franco called upon the Nazis of Germany and the Fascists of Italy to come to the aid of the Nationalists' cause. By the end of July German and Italian planes were arriving in Morocco to assist Franco in his revolt against the Republican government of Spain. Thus the Spanish civil became from the very outset an international issue.

The Spanish civil war turns into a test struggle between “Democracy” and “Fascism”: one side (Germany and Italy) supporting Franco’s traditionalist Fascism (winners); the other side (England, France, Russia) supporting industrial Republicanism (losers).With large scale backing from the german and Italians compared to the lukewarm support from england and france, Franco emerged victorious.Crucially the germans had an oppurtunity to test their new tactics and equipment-particularly tanks and aircraft during this conflict.(eg.Condor Legion).

MUSSOLINI'S ITALY:

In March 1919, Mussolini formed the Fascist Party, galvanising the support of many unemployed war veterans. He organised them into armed squads known as Black Shirts, who terrorised their political opponents. In 1921, the Fascist Party was invited to join the coalition government.
By October 1922, Italy seemed to be slipping into political chaos. The Black Shirts marched on Rome and Mussolini presented himself as the only man capable of restoring order. King Victor Emmanuel invited Mussolini to form a government. Mussolini gradually dismantled the institutions of democratic government and in 1925 made himself dictator, taking the title 'Il Duce'. He set about attempting to re-establish Italy as a great European power. The regime was held together by strong state control and Mussolini's cult of personality.(Excellent orator)
Italy was industrially weak and lacked any modern military tradition,but mussolini dreamed of recreating the roman empire making italy again the mistress of the mediterranean.In order to hide his economic weakness at home,Mussolini launched the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935.The helpless League of Nations and the western powers merely protested vocally.

​

Birth of the Axis - Mussolini was initially an opponent of hitler and had allied with france against germany to protect austria in 1935.However things changed after italy's invasion of ethiopia.The League's clumsy handling of Italy's invasion of Ethiopia (angering Italy for the League's condemnation, but doing little to actually stop Italy) ,The Italian annexation of Abyssinia had strained relations between Italy and its allies Britain and France, and Benito Mussolini finally repudiated Italy's alliance with them. Hitler then began planning to draw fascist Italy into an alliance with Nazi Germany.
The Spanish civil war provided the opportunity. In July 1936, Fascist rebels led by General Franco took up arms against the Spanish government, and Mussolini intervened in support of the rebels with troops, aeroplanes and arms. As a demonstration of solidarity with Fascist Italy, Hitler also intervened in the Spanish civil war on the side of the Fascist rebels.Hitler followed up his intervention in the Spanish civil war with a warm invitation to the Italian foreign minister to come to Berlin, where on 21 October 1936, Germany and Italy signed a formal alliance which came to be known as the Rome-Berlin Axis. This alliance contained a protocol committing Germany and Italy to follow a common foreign policy.

Italy and Germany signed a treaty of friendship on October 25, 1936. Mussolini commented that the two countries had created a Rome-Berlin axis around which all European nations would eventually revolve. Thus the term 'Axis Powers' came into usage.
The Anti-Comintern Pact, entered into by Germany and Japan on November 25, 1936 -- was directed against Communist expansion fostered by Soviet Russia (promising mutual isolation of Russia -- and recognizing Japan's dominion over Manchukuo). On November 6, 1937 Italy joined the Pact.

JAPANESE AGGRESSION IN ASIA :

Having lost their traditional status in the Meiji Restoration, the samurai or warrior caste and their descendants resented deeply the intrusion of Western ways – and found various ways to support hyper-nationalist causes in Japan and abroad. They naturally made their way into the new Japanese army where they became voices supporting the same militaristic ideals (bushido) – which during the 1920s had many traits in common with the rising Fascist spirit within Europe. Central to their political philosophy was State Shinto, with emperor-worship at the heart of this philosophy/religion. Opposed to these bushido militarists were the Japanese who felt deeply that Japan’s future was best assured by adopting the ‘democratic’ and ‘capitalist’ ways of the West. This split reached deep into Japanese society – even within the officer class of the Japanese military.
Although Japan was recognized by the new League of Nations as one of the world’s handful of major powers, efforts by the Japanese representatives in 1920 to get the League to include a declaration of racial equality into the League Charter failed to get the League’s support, humiliating the Japanese.

When the Great Depression hit at the beginning of the 1930s both the image of Western economic superiority and the status of pro-West politicians weakened considerably. The militarists’ claims of ‘corruption’ and ‘incompetency’ widespread within the ranks of the pro-West group, and their boast that the militarist ways were cleaner, more disciplined, and thus more effective than Western ways, began to seem highly plausible to an increasingly nationalistic Japanese population. When in late 1930 there occurred an attempted assassination of the Japanese Prime Minister by a hyper-nationalist for having agreed to the latest of the international naval limitations agreements (the Japanese were once again allowed slightly smaller numbers of warships than were Britain and America) the militarists were ready for open defiance of their civilian government.

Japanese aggression in Manchuria

By this time elements of the Japanese military were ready to move on the basis of their own political agenda – despite the views of their ‘civilian’ government. In 1931 a small incident (a feeble explosion on some railroad tracks), probably set up by Japanese troops themselves, was used as an excuse by them to invade the whole of the Chinese province of Manchuria – ‘justified’ because this demonstrated how unable the Chinese were to guarantee the safety of Japanese interests in Manchuria. Once in full control of this province, the Japanese converted Manchuria into a puppet state of ‘Manchukuo’ – an action which was immediately contested by the Chinese who took their case to the League of Nations. When in 1933 the League officially refused to recognize the state of Manchukuo and demanded the withdrawal of Japan from the conquered territory, Japan simply resigned from the League. Subsequently nothing more than moral condemnation was forthcoming from the League – and the Japanese held onto their conquered Chinese territory.
Imperial Japan extended the conflict into a brutal invasion of central china after the marco polo bridge incident in 1937.The chinese nationalists under chiang kai shek and communists under Mao fell back as the japanese army made steady inroads.USA was alarmed by growth in japanese power.As a result, the United States sought to bring the Japanese war effort to a halt by imposing an embargo on all trade between the United States and Japan. Japan was dependent on the United States for 80 percent of its Petroleum, and as a consequence the embargo resulted in an economic and military crisis for Japan, as Japan could not continue its war effort against China without access to petroleum.In order to maintain its military campaign in China with the major loss of petroleum trade with the United States, Japan saw the best means to secure an alternative source of petroleum in the petroleum-rich and natural-resources-rich S-E asia.
The Japanese government justified its actions by claiming that it was seeking to unite East Asia under Japanese leadership in a Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere that would free East Asians from domination and rule by clients of Western imperialism Japan invoked themes of Pan-asianism and said that the Asian people needed to be free from Western influence

Japan itself feared the massive communist soviet colossus to its north.Interest in Germany and Japan in forming an alliance began when Japanese diplomat Hiroshi visited Ribbentrop,german foreign minister in Berlin in 1935. Oshima informed von Ribbentrop of Japan's interest in forming a German-Japanese alliance against the Soviet Union. Von Ribbentrop expanded on Oshima's proposal by advocating that the alliance be based in a political context of a pact to oppose the comintern.The proposed pact was met with mixed reviews in Japan, with a faction of ultra-nationalists within the government supporting the pact while the Japanese Navy and the Japanese Foreign Ministry were staunchly opposed to the pact.Eventually the hardliners won out in Japan,In germany Hitler ended the sino-german economic co-operation because he recognized that Japan,a superior military power than china would be a more valuable ally.The Anti-comintern Pact aimed at communist russia was born.Italy joined the pact in 1937.Eventually the 3 axis powers would sign the Tripartite Pact in 1940.The "Axis powers" formally took the name after the Tripartite Pact was signed by Germany, Italy, and Japan on 27 September 1940, in Berlin. The pact was subsequently joined by Hungary (20 November 1940), Romania (23 November 1940), Slovakia (24 November 1940), and Bulgaria (1 March 1941).

STALIN'S RUSSIA:

Stalin carefully orchestrated his rise to power in the communist party after Lenin's death,eliminating his opponents first subtly and then through massive brutal purges until he had become all powerful embodiment of the state.His Collectivization of agriculture programme caused huge suffering amongst the russian peasantry but the five year plans led to rapid industrialization of the soviet union which would aid its survival in the second world war.Stalin's reign embodied the 'cult of personality'.
Fears of communism and world revolution had made Soviet russia a pariah state in the international scene.The rise of Hitler alarmed stalin who attempted to reach an agreement with the anglo-french to contain the nazis.This failed in the face of policy of 'appeasement' at Munich(where soviet russia was given no representatives) leading to the dismembering of czechoslovakia.The oppurtunistic Stalin,distrusting further western overtures then made a deal with hitler leading to the Non-aggression pact and the partition of poland(1939),increasing soviet strategic depth,gaining territory(poland and baltic states) and intending to let the anglo-british and germans slaughter each other in the western front like in the first world war.

NEXT:GERMAN RE-ARMAMENT AND TERRITORIAL AGGRESSION

 

[vostok]

In my opinion, it should be mentioned that in those days (pre-War) in Central and Eastern Europe was only one democratic state - Czechoslovakia. All the others were dictatorships.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

ROAD TO WAR -PART II

​

GERMAN RE-ARMAMENT :

Hitler came to power on a promise to tear up the versailles treaty and re-arm germany.This henceforth from 1933 became the top priority for the Nazi government.The architect of german re-armament was Hjalmar Schacht.Germany was virtually prostrate in the early part of 1933; she was faced with dwindling revenues from taxation and seemingly unable to raise money either through external or internal loans. Hitler entrusted to Schacht the task of wringing from the depressed German economy the tremendous material requirements of armed aggression, and endowed him with vast powers over every sector of German industry, commerce, and finance to carry out that task.Schacht would oversee an incredible turnaround and come to be known as 'The wizard of the economy'.Germany rearmed covertly from 1933 and openly from 1936 onwards.

Schacht's achievements maybe categorized into 4 headings-

(a)Armaments Financing - Initially schacht was presented by a 2 -prong problem.To finance the re-armament he had to secure funds over and above the levels possible through Taxation and Public Loans.However he also had to do this in a way to conceal the scale of the re-armament at least in its early stages from the allied powers.Schacht's answer to the problem was the "mefo" bills.
Transactions in "mefo" bills worked as follows: "mefo" bills were drawn by armament contractors and accepted by a limited liability company called the Metallurgische Forschungsgesellschaft, m.b.H. (MEFO). This company was merely a dummy organization; it had a nominal capital of only one million Reichsmarks. "Mefo" bills ran for six months, but provision was made for extensions running consecutively for three months each. The drawer could present his "mefo" bills to any German bank for discount at any time, and these banks, in turn, could rediscount the bills at the Reichsbank at any time within the last three months of their earliest maturity. The amount of "mefo" bills outstanding was a guarded state secret .The "mefo" bill system continued to be used until 1 April 1938, when 12 billion Reichsmarks of "mefo" bills were outstanding. This method of financing enabled the Reich to obtain credit from the Reichsbank which, under existing statutes, it could not directly have obtained. Direct lending to the Government by the Reichsbank had been limited by statute to 100 million Reichsmarks . Schacht has conceded that his "mefo" bill device "enabled the Reichsbank to lend by a subterfuge to the Government what it normally or legally could not do"

In his efforts to draw upon every possible source of funds for the rearmament program, Schacht even used the blocked funds of foreigners deposits in the Reichsbank.

Funds for rearmament were likewise derived from taxation and an increase in public debt -- channels through which part of national income is ordinarily diverted to public authorities. But what distinguished the program of public indebtedness was the fact that the German capital market was completely harnessed to the expanding needs of the Nazi war machine. By a series of controls, they reduced to the minimum consistent with their rearmament program, all private issues which might have competed with Government issues for the limited funds in the capital market. Thus, the capital market was, in effect, pre-empted for Government issues.During the period from 31 December /1932 to 30 June 1938, the funded debt of the Reich rose from 10.4 billion Marks to 19 billion Marks.

(The Banker -Schacht had the highest IQ of the nazi leadership -143)​

(b)The New Plan - Grandiose armament plans obviously required huge quantities of raw materials. Schacht was a proponent of the view that as much of the requisite raw materials as possible should be produced within Germany. At the same time, however, he recognized that large imports of raw materials were indispensable to the success of the conspirators' gigantic armament program. To that end, he fashioned an intricate system of controls and devices which he called the "New Plan.
There were three main features of the "New Plan" as devised by Schacht: (1) restriction of the demand for such foreign exchange as would be used for purposes unrelated to therearmament program; (2) increase of the supply of foreign exchange, as a means of paying for essential imports which could not otherwise be acquired; and (3) clearing agreements and other devices obviating the need for foreign exchange. Under the "New Plan", economic transactions between Germany and the outside world were no longer governed by the autonomous price mechanism; they were determined by a number of Government agencies whose primary aim was to satisfy the needs of the military economy.

(1)Schacht accomplished the task of restricting the demand for foreign exchange by various measures suspending the service on Germany's foreign indebtedness, by freezing other claims of foreigners on Germany, by a stringent system of export controls and by eliminating foreign travel and other unessential foreign expenditures.

(2)To increase supply of foreign exchange Schacht repeatedly requisitioned all existing foreign ex. change reserves of German residents, required all foreign exchange arising out of current exports and other transactions to be sold to the Reichsbank, and by developing new export markets. Exports were encouraged by direct subsidies and by accepting partial payment in German foreign bonds or in restricted Marks which could be acquired by foreign importers at a substantial discount.

(3)A vast network of organizations was erected to effectuate these various measures. These agencies, which were under Schacht's control as Minister of Economics, decided whether given imports and exports were desirable; whether the quantities, prices, credit terms, and countries involved were satisfactory; and in short, whether any particular transaction advanced the armament program.

The principle of the clearing system is as follows: The importer makes a deposit of the purchase price in his own currency at the national clearing agency of his country, which places the same amount to the credit of the clearing agency of the exporting country. The latter institution then pays the exporter in his own currency. Thus, if trade between two countries is unequal, the clearing agency of one acquires a claim against the agency of the other. That claim, however, is satisfied only when a shift in the balance of trade gives rise to an offsetting claim.
This device was used by Schacht as a means of exploiting Germany's position as Europe's largest consumer in order to acquire essential raw materials from countries which, because of the world wide economic depression, were dependent upon the German market as an outlet for their surplus products. Speaking of his system of obtaining materials abroad without the use of foreign exchange, Schacht has stated:


"It has been shown that, in contrast to everything which classical national economy has hitherto taught, not the producer but the consumer is the ruling factor in economic life. And this thesis is somewhat connected with general social and political observations, because it establishes the fact that the number of consumers is considerably larger than the number of producers, a fact which exercises a not inconsiderable social and political pressure."

Schacht's clearing agreements were particularly effective in Southeastern Europe, where agricultural exports had been considerably curtailed by competition from the more extensive and efficient overseas agriculture. The success of Schacht's ruthless use of Germany's bargaining position is indicated by the fact that by August 1937, there had been imported into Germany approximately one half billion Reichsmarks of goods in excess of the amount delivered under the clearing arrangements.Thus, through this device, Schacht was able to extract huge loans from foreign countries which Germany could not have obtained through ordinary channels.

(Aided by schacht's economic miracle,the nazi social measures succeeded in reducing unemployment through various measures)​

Aski Accounts - In addition to the clearing agreements, Schacht devised the system which came to be known as the "aski" accounts. This scheme likewise obviated the need for free currency (i.e. Reichsmarks freely convertible into foreign currency at the official rate-U. S. dollars, pounds sterling, etc). The system worked as follows: The German foreign exchange control administration would authorize imports of goods in specified quantities and categories on the condition that the foreign sellers agreed to accept -payment in the form of Mark credits to accounts of a special type held in German banks. These accounts were called "aski", an abbreviation of Auslander Sonderkonten fuer Inlandszahlungen (foreigners' special accounts for inland payments). The so-called "aski" Marks in such an account could be used to purchase German goods only for export to the country of the holder of the account; they could not be converted into foreign currency at the official rates of exchange. Each group of "aski" accounts formed a separate "island of exchange" in which the German authorities, under Schacht's leadership, could apply their control as the country's bargaining position in each case seemed to warrant.

Schacht himself boasted of his tremendous success.
"The success of the New Plan can be proved by means of a few figures. Calculated according to quantity, the import of finished products was throttled by 63 percent between 1934 and 1937. On the other hand, the import of ores was increased by 132 percent, of petroleum by 116, of grain by 12 and of rubber by 71 percent."

(c)Production Controls - As an additional means of assuring that the military needs would be met, Schacht adopted a host of controls over the productive mechanism of Germany, extending, inter alia, to the allocation of raw materials, regulation of productive capacity, use of abundant or synthetic substitutes in place of declining stocks of urgently needed materials, and the erection of new capacity for the production of essential commodities.The plan to allocate raw materials was carried out through myriad "orders to produce" specifying that certain commodities must or must not be produced; "orders to process or use" prescribing the type and quantity of raw material which could or could not be used in the production of a given commodity; orders specifying that scarce raw materials could be used only as admixtures with more plentiful but inferior products; and other like measures.

Schacht dominated german economic policy until 1938 and made possible for hitler to complete germany's rapid re-armament.

FRANCE BETWEEN WORLD WARS - POLITICAL PARALYSIS

Post-world war I france was deeply scarred,it had taken the highest manpower losses of all and a whole generation of young men had been wiped out.The french were haunted by another war of attrition with germany in the future and to safeguard against this policy constructed the impregnable Maginot line fortifications stretching from the swiss border to the ardennes forest-this modern construction wonder ate up bulk of the funds of the defence ministry and reduced an already small budget(due to peace) ,especially the french were badly lagging in anti tank and anti aircraft weaponry and aircraft production.Unlike the germans who started from scratch the french were burdened with weaponry left over from the great war.

To compound all this in the 30s france found herself amidst a severe political crisis,with a series of coalition governments forming and dissolving and unable to agree on anything or of forming a coherent policy.
In February of 1934 the growing antagonisms between the political Left and the political Right, greatly exacerbated by the Stavisky investment fraud which implicated many Leftist cabinet members, erupted in Paris riots which many thought was the prelude to an attempt at a right-wing political coup. Order was restored to France. However, Left-wing suspicions of on-going Fascist plots, and similar suspicions by the Right of Communist plots to take over France, split the country into deeply hostile political groupings.

Besides the Left-Right deadlock over the basic political path the country should take, the evolution of the larger world of European politics, especially during the 1930s, made French national politics even more complex. The French could not decide which rising power to the East, Nazi Germany or Communist Russia, posed the greater danger to Western, or at least French, civilization. Along with this went wide disagreement on how to respond to Mussolini in Ethiopia and the civil war raging in Spain (1936-1939).

France really was not able to get its act together at a time that it was supposed to be one of the two major enforcers of the Post-World-War-One international status quo (the other being England). France's late response to german re-armament owing to political chaos and paralysis at home aided hitler in his territorial aggression and was a major factor behind the 'Appeasement' policy.

BRITAIN : WEAKNESS AND APPEASEMENT

Stanley Baldwin​

The british empire on a map had expanded to its greatest extent after ww1.However internally the british empire was facing huge problems,the great war had annihilated a generation of its manhood,the Royal Navy was no longer the undisputed mistress of the world's seas -being increasingly superseded by the USN in the atlantic and the Japanese Navy in the pacific .Most of all the economic base of the empire had been undermined.Britain faced enormous national and external debt and a long road to recovery.Meanwhile all over the british empire,particularly india and the middle east -the rising tide of nationalism was creating unrest.

Baldwin,leader of the conservative party dominated English politics during much of the inter-war period.
Baldwin's governance was characterized by a policy of peace-at-any-cost. He understood that the English did not want ever to go to war again; that they expected him to keep them from diplomatic entanglements and any military build-up, viewed at that time as largely responsible for the 'Great War' of 1914-1918; and that his first priority as England's leader was to get England back on sound economic ground. Thus he cut back tremendously on England's military spending and strength - at a time that Germany was rebuilding its military power.
He and Winston Churchill were constantly at odds over this issue of England's pacifism in the face of German remilitarization. Baldwin viewed Churchill as a war-monger who wanted to drag England into an arms race and thus another war with Germany. Churchill viewed Baldwin as one who invited German military adventurism by the obvious lack of English resolve to stop Hitler before he became so strong that there would be no way to block his military ambitions
Basically Baldwin was working out of the spirit of the moment, of the times he lived in. Churchill was working out of a longer sense of British history - and its long-standing role as balancer of power on the European continent

Chamberlain became English Prime Minister in May of 1937 after Stanley Baldwin stepped down.
Whereas Baldwin was a pacifist, Chamberlain was actually rather pro-German. As the 1930s developed, it appeared that Europe was facing a choice of which of the two growing military powers to the East, Communist Russia or Nazi Germany, was the greater threat to European peace. Chamberlain took the view that it was the Russian Communists that posed the greater danger, and a policy of 'appeasing' Germany's Hitler (and Italy's Mussolini) would bind the nations of West and Central Europe into a broad anti-Communist / anti-Russian front.

But the logic of his appeasement policy soon developed a life of its own - especially as Churchill continued to challenge Chamberlain concerning the grave Nazi danger (Churchill,an avid anti-Communist, took the view with Hitler's rise to power in Germany that the Nazi's were quickly becoming the greater threat to England's security).

Promises that each of Chamberlain's many concessions to Germany would be the last were constantly broken - with each retreat by Chamberlain rationalized as necessary steps in pacifying Hitler. Actually, each retreat only made the dictator more greedy for German expansion. Sadly, Chamberlain talked himself into believing that what he was doing was protecting (rather than undermining) the peace of Europe.

NEXT:GERMAN TERRITORIAL AGGRESSION -RHINELAND 1936-POLAND 1939

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

In my opinion, it should be mentioned that in those days (pre-War) in Central and Eastern Europe was only one democratic state - Czechoslovakia. All the others were dictatorships.

In a way,this is correct.France and england were not classic dictatorships.They were democratic at home,but imperialistic abroad.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

ROAD TO WAR-III

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GERMAN TERRITORIAL AGGRESSION:1936-1939

Re-Militarization Of the Rhineland 1936 - With the re-armament programme well underway openly by late 1935 ,Having exposed the weakness of the two great democracies on a matter of principle as important as German rearmament, Hitler decided to test further the resolve of Britain and France to stand up to him. He had noted the failure of Britain and France to take firm action against Italy, their ally under the Locarno Pact of 1925, when the fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, launched Italy's army against Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) in 1935. After Mussolini had bombed and gassed that country's poorly armed tribesmen into submission, he annexed Abyssinia as a province of Italy in 1936.Hitler observed with interest that relations between Britain, France and Italy had merely been strained by this outrage against a defenceless country.
Feeling that he had correctly assessed the spinelessness of the British and French governments at this time, on 1 March 1936, Hitler ordered German troops to re-enter the demilitarised Rhineland in a further breach of the Treaty of Versailles. Only a token force of three German battalions actually entered the Rhineland, and they were under strict orders from their nervous generals to withdraw at once if the French responded to this breach of the treaty with military force.
The British were obliged under the Locarno Pact to provide France with military support in such a situation, but when asked by France for that support, the British government refused to honour its treaty obligation. Although entitled to resist entry of German troops to the demilitarised Rhineland with military force, and despite having thirty army divisions at the border in readiness to cross and disperse the three German battalions, the French under a weak coalition government lost their nerve in the absence of support from Britain. When Hitler cynically offered further assurances of peace, the British government seized on this offer as evidence of his good faith.

(German troops enter the Rhineland)​

Hitler had gambled and won again. The Nazi leader had shown that he could flout the Treaty of Versailles with impunity. His prestige and popularity soared in Germany, while France's allies in eastern Europe were forced to review the value of their alliances with her. If France had acted firmly in what would have been little more than a police action, and Britain had fulfilled its treaty obligations to France, the German troops would certainly have been instantly withdrawn, and Hitler's prestige would have been dealt a deadly blow from which it might never have recovered.

Re-organization of the army - By 1938 hitler removed all obstacles in army high command to his plans,Chief General Fritsch being indicted and forced to resign in a false homesexuality case and war minister blomberg by digging up dirt on his wife's past.Hitler now assumed the post of Chief of the Armed forces and set up a paralllel command structure to the traditional army command to concentrate even more powers unto himself.

(OKW command set up parallel to OKH ,reporting only to hitler)
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Anschluss of Austria 1938 - In Austria ,Schuschnigg took over the office of Chancellor after Dolfuss's assassination in an attempted nazi coup in July of 1934. In 1935 he was able to disband the Heimwehr, a paramilitary group similar to the Nazis, in an effort to get Austria settled down.
In January of 1938 Hitler removed members of the German military who were opposed to a military takeover of Austria - and made himself supreme military commander of Germany.With opposition from Mussolini regarding austria(as in 1935)out of the picture by the Rome-Berlin Axis he felt free to move.The next month, February, Hitler invites Austrian Chancellor von Schuschnigg to Berchtesgaden where he threatens disaster if the Chancellor does not place Nazis in his cabinet. In particular, Hitler forced Schuschnigg to accept Arthur Syess-Inquart as Minister of the Interior (in charge of the national police). This greatly crippled Schuschnigg's ability to control Nazi street agitators - who now increased their activity.
Meanwhile the international community was attempting to get some kind of lineup on this growing issue. Hitler let it be known to the English that if they wanted continuing good relations with Germany they were going to have to back down on their opposition to the idea of an "Anschluss" (absorption) of Austria under the "New Order." Prime Minister Chamberlain seemed unable to take a firm stand against Hitler - which finally brought the resignation of Anthony Eden, Britain's Foreign Minister, who was adamantly opposed to any further English "appeasement" of Hitler.

(German troops entering austria are cheered by viennese crowds)​

At first Schuschnigg seemed ready to back down before Hitler's pressures to literally turn Austria over to the Nazi party - but then announced a decision of a national plebiscite to let the Austrians themselves decide on this matter. But Hitler would not be outplayed. Two days before the scheduled plebiscite he gave the Austrians an ultimatum demanding, among other things, the resignation of Schuschnigg. This Schuschnigg did, stating as a cause his inability to rule in the face of such Nazi opposition both from Germany and from within the country.
At this point (March 12, 1938) Seyss-Inquart took over as chancellor, "inviting" Germany into Austria to take over and "restore order" (which his own Nazis were largely responsible for.) In fact, the Germans were already over the border into Austria even as the "invitation" was extended. And thus Hitler marches his troops into Austria, has Schuschnigg arrested and seizes control of the Austrian government. Hitler immediately headed for Austria, his homeland, where to his great delight crowds of Austrians came out to cheer him (many, of course stayed home). He was so delighted by the reception that he decided that instead of making Austria a satellite nation, he would simply incorporate it into Germany itself.
Meanwhile, the international reaction was tepid. England was upset, but did nothing-with churchill being the lone voice of dissent. France was paralysed by political chaos and dreaded war.

Sudetenland and Munich 1938:

"Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonour. They chose dishonour. They will have war."- Churchill​

Having siezed Austria, Hitler now turned his attentions to Czechoslovakia, in particular to the Sudetenland, the mountainous borderlands of Czechoslovakia where a large German-speaking population lived, but also where all of Czechoslovakia’s national defenses (aimed at Germany) were located.Hitler seized upon a mounting protest by Germans living in the Sudetenland fabricating complaints about their terrible treatment and atrocities being committed upon them as a German minority by the Czech government.September – Sensing a looming catastrophe, British Prime Minister Chamberlain flew to Munich to meet with Hitler and other European leaders – to try to work out a 'peaceful' settlement to the growing 'crisis'.Ultimately Chamberlain signed an agreement in which Hitler promised that he had no more territorial ambitions towards Czechoslovakia beyond the Sudetenland.and in which Chamberlain promised that he would lean on the Czech president Beneš to peacefully deliver the Sudetenland to Germany.The czechs were not even consuslted,france in political turmoil refused to move without britain and declared itself unable to break germany's western border defences in time to aid czechoslovakia.

''How horrible, fantastic, incredible it is that we should be digging trenches and trying on gas-masks here because of a quarrel in a far away country between people of whom we know nothing. It seems still more impossible that a quarrel which has already been settled in principle should be the subject of war.'' -Chamberlian on the Czech Crisis.​

Chamberlain took the view that it was the Russian Communists that posed the greater danger, and a policy of 'appeasing' Germany's Hitler (and Italy's Mussolini) would bind the nations of West and Central Europe into a broad anti-Communist / anti-Russian front.Chamberlain congratulated himself on this supposedly brilliant piece of statesmanship because he understood that through this agreement between Hitler and himself he had saved Europe from falling into another horrible shooting match and indeed had secured “peace in our time.”

"My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is 'peace for our time'... Go home and get a nice quiet sleep."- Chamberlain Announces 'Peace in our time'

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Czechoslovakia 1939 -

"All is over. Silent, mournful, abandoned, broken, Czechoslovakia recedes into the darkness. We have passed an awful milestone in our history, when the whole equilibrium of Europe has been derailed, and these terrible words have for the time being been pronounced against the Western democracies, 'Thou art weighed in the balance, and found wanting'."-Churchill,after Munich.​

The Munich Agreement deprived Czechoslovakia of its strong mountain fortifications in the Sudeten districts which were incorporated into Germany. The loss of its mountain fortifications left the unfortunate country unable to defend itself against Nazi military aggression.The greatly weakened Czechoslovak Republic was forced to grant major concessions to the non-Czechs.renamed Czecho-Slovakia and consisting of three parts: Bohemia and Moravia, Slovakia, and Carpatho-Ukraine.Hitler had no serious intentions of limiting to the Sudetenland his grab of Czechoslovak lands.He scheduled a German invasion of Bohemia and Moravia for the morning of 15 March. In the interim, he negotiated with the Slovak People's Party and with Hungary to prepare the dismemberment of the republic before the invasion. On 13 March, he invited Slovak leader Tiso to Berlin and on 14 March, the Slovak Diet convened and unanimously declared Slovak independence. Carpatho-Ukraine also declared independence but Hungarian troops occupied it on 15 March and eastern Slovakia on 23 March.Hitler summoned Czech President Hácha to Berlin and during the early hours of 15 March, informed Hácha of the imminent German invasion. Threatening a Luftwaffe attack on Prague, Hitler persuaded Hácha to order the capitulation of the Czechoslovak army. Hácha suffered a heart attack during the meeting, and had to be kept awake by medical staff, eventually giving in and accepting Hitler's surrender terms on documents drafted by the nazi govt. Then on the morning of 15 March, German troops entered Bohemia and Moravia, meeting practically no resistance.On 16 March, Hitler went to Czechoslovakia and proclaimed the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

No warm welcome - Shocked and angry Czechs look on as the Wehrmacht enters Prague.​

Even after the Germans had occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia, Neville Chamberlain's initial response was to blame the Czechs for their misfortune. In the House of Commons, on 15 March 1939, he cynically excused Britain's neglect to honour its undertaking at Munich to protect what remained of Czechoslovakia on the ground that the declaration of independence by Slovakia nullified the Munich Agreement. To Chamberlain's surprise, the British public and media reacted with outrage to his repudiation of Britain's obligation to Czechoslovakia. Even more ominously, members of his own cabinet and party were turning against him on his policy of appeasing Hitler. Chamberlain realised that his position as Prime Minister was in jeopardy, and on 17 March 1939, he denounced publicly the complete occupation of Czechoslovakia by Germany. He warned Hitler that Britain would not necessarily stand idly by if Germany undertook further aggression. It was only after this speech, that formal protests were lodged by the British and French governments with Germany. The Germans dismissed the protests contemptuously.
Despite a warning from the German ambassador in London that the British warning should be taken seriously, Hitler now viewed the British and French with contempt, and felt free to pursue further aggression in Europe.

'Who will die for Danzig'?

Hitler next turned his attention to Poland, and began to make demands on Polish territory which the Poles firmly rejected. Great Britain was finally alarmed, and after secret consultation with the Polish Foreign Minister, the British government committed itself publicly on 31 March 1939 to the defence of Poland against aggression. The commitment to Poland was a strange one from a country which had betrayed Czechoslovakia to the Nazis. Britain had no historic ties with Poland, located as it was on the eastern extremity of Europe. However, British public opinion had turned strongly against Neville Chamberlain over his betrayal of Czechoslovakia, and he was prepared to clutch at any means to restore his political image. This British commitment to Poland became a formal treaty on 25 August 1939.Two days earlier the Nazis had in a move of diplomatic daring and genius done the unthinkable -They had signed a non-aggression pact with their greatest Ideological enemy- The Soviet Union.

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Molotov-Ribbentropp Non-aggression Pact 1939 -
As distasteful as the idea was to him, Churchill in April of 1939 advised Parliament that the only hope Europe had at that point was the formation of some kind of alliance with Soviet Russia. To some extent this was in response to feelers put out by the Soviets - probably inspired by the Soviet Foreign Minister Litvinov who still held out hope for a working relationship with the English (and French).But Chamberlain was appalled at the idea - and did his best to head it off, even though it was beginning to make sense to more and more English, including Chamberlain's military advisors. After Munich Stalin had concluded western guarantees as useless.In early May Litvinov was relieved by Stalin of his duties as Foreign Minister.He was replaced by Vyacheslav Molotov, someone who had come to the conclusion that some kind of arrangement with Hitler was Russia's only hope of security at this point. The English and French were proving themselves to be rather worthless allies. Molotov felt that the time had come to deal directly with Hitler.
Much to the surprise of the world, on August 23rd a “non-aggression” pact between Germany and Russia was announced. What the world did not know was that as part of this pact Hitler and Stalin had secretly agreed on respective spheres of German and Russian control in Eastern Europe, and in particular had agreed to divide up a conquered Poland between them.
Stalin saw this act as creating something of additional land buffer between Russia and Germany. He hoped that this would satisfy Hitler’s land lust in the East and give Hitler the opportunity to turn his attentions to the West, to France (and even England). He was hoping that this would lock Germany in a long, protracted war in the West that would take the German pressure off Russia for a very long time. And if he were very lucky, the Germans, French and English would all destroy each other again, like they had in the First World War.

Hitler felt he had the one last concern, opposition from the Russians, removed. There would now be no 2-front war .Hitler was now ready to seize the German-Polish lands to the East that had been assigned to Poland in its re-establishment as a nation. These lands would be united to a Greater Germany Nothing, least of all Chamberlain’s idle threat of war, now stood in the way of Hitler.

Poland 1939 -

The decision was quickly made: Poland would be invaded on September 1st by a huge array of German divebombers, tanks, and mobile troops. Blitzkrieg was about to get underway.A false flag attack on a german border post was staged as an excuse as hitler unleashed the wehrmacht to smash poland for its refusal over danzig.To hitler's surprise,as soon as it learned of the Nazi dictator's invasion of Poland, the British government acted on its undertaking to defend Poland, and demanded that Hitler halt the attack on Poland and withdraw his troops. When Hitler failed to respond, the British government declared war (along with france)on Germany on 3 September 1939. World war II had begun.

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NEXT:Blitzkreig in Poland, Sitzkreig(phoney war) in the west ,september 1939-may 1940.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

BLITZKRIEG IN POLAND - SITZKRIEG IN THE WEST

Fall Weiss(Case White)-Illustrating a Classic german Kesselschlacht or Pincer Operation that would become the Wehrmacht's trademark.​

FALL WEISS -POLAND SMASHED

Hitler launched his powerful war machine against Poland on 1 September 1939. The Poles were taken completely by surprise when one and a half million German troops poured across their borders.60 german divisions spearheaded by the new armoured and motorized formations quickly overwhelmed the half-mobilized 39 polish divisions.The Polish air force was destroyed by the luftwaffe in the first week. Almost all Polish aircraft were destroyed on their airstrips before they could take off, and thereafter, German bombers were able to roam freely across Poland's undefended skies and strike with impunity at military and civilian targets.
With the collapse of the polish army,on 17th september the soviets attacked according to the secret provisions of the molotov ribbentrop pact and occupied their part of poland.Poland was thus partitioned for the 4rth time in her history.
While this cynical move by stalin was denounced worldwide,a curious but prophetic remark was made by mussolini-

''It is a good thing to make use of a small person to kill a large one,but a mistake to use a large one to liquidate a small one.''I am''more than ever convinced that Hitler will regret the day he brought the russians into the heart of europe''

(A triumphant Hitler in Warsaw)​

The speed of the german conquest,radically different from the rate of daily progress in world war I was noted - possibly an american reporter coined the term 'Blitzkreig' or Lightning War and it stuck.On closer look however the operation was more of a traditional german Vernichtungsgedanke,which essentially means a battle of annihilation,by strategic double envelopment.The panzers acted as vanguard of the pincer wings and under the leadership of bold commanders like guderian exceeded all expectations.The conservative general staff had not as such set out to launch a blitzkrieg operation.Nowhere is this word used in german military manuals,nor were tanks given priority in armaments production.The concept was still thus in progress and poland demonstrated its potential.(Not going into details of polish campaign,as that will take a whole thread in itself)

Meanwhile what was happening in the western front?

PHONEY WAR - SITZKRIEG IN THE WEST

''Here was the strongest army in the world [the French],facing no more than twenty-six [German] divisions, sitting still and sheltering behind steel and concrete while a quixotically valiant ally was being exterminated!”- J.F.C.FULLER

Maurice Gamelin -The overcautious and indecisive C-in-C of the French Army.​

According to the Franco-Polish military convention, the french army was to start preparations for a major offensive three days after the beginning of mobilization. The French forces were to effectively gain control over the area between the French border and the German lines and were to probe the German defences. On the 15th day of the mobilisation (that is on 16 September), the French Army was to start a full-scale assault on Germany. The preemptive mobilisation was started in France on 26 August, and on 1 September full mobilisation was declared.A French offensive in the Rhine river valley area (Saar Offensive) started on 7 September, four days after France declared war on Germany. Since the Wehrmacht was occupied in the attack on Poland, the French soldiers enjoyed a decisive numerical advantage along their border with Germany. However, the French took no meaningful action to assist the Poles. Eleven French divisions advanced along a 32 km (20 miles) line near Saarbrucken against weak German opposition.The French Army had advanced to a depth of 8 km (5.0 miles) and captured about 20 villages evacuated by the German army, without any resistance. However, the half-hearted offensive was halted after France seized the Warndt Forest, 7.8 km2 of heavily mined German territory.

"If we did not collapse already in the year 1939 that was due only to the fact that during the Polish campaign, the approximately 110 French and British divisions in the West were held completely inactive against the 23 German divisions." -
Alfred Jodl,Chief of Staff OKW at Nuremberg​

On 12 September, the Anglo French Supreme War Council gathered for the first time at Abbeville. It was decided that all offensive actions were to be halted immediately as the French opted to fight a defensive war, forcing the Germans to come to them. By then, the French divisions had advanced approximately 8 km into Germany on a 24-kilometre long strip of the frontier in the Saarland area.The following day, the commander of the French Military Mission to Poland, informed the Polish—that the major offensive on the western front planned for 17–20 September had to be postponed. At the same time, French divisions were ordered to withdraw to their barracks along the Maginot Line.

Franz Halder,Chief of Staff OKH​

''The success against Poland was only possible by almost completely baring our Western border. If the French had
seen the logic of the situation and had used the engagement of the German forces in Poland, they would have been able to cross the Rhine without our being able to prevent it and would have threatened the Ruhr area, which was the most decisive factor of the German conduct of the war.'' - Franz Halder,Chief of German General Staff(OKH)

Meanwhile hitler took full advantage of the situation further encouraging allied passivity.
Hitler issued Directive No. 3 for the Conduct of the War, ordering arrangements to be made for Army and Air Force units to be sent from Poland to the west.But not to fight.
”Even after the irresolute opening of hostilities by Great Britain . . . and France my express command,must be obtained in each of the following cases: Every time our ground forces [or] . . . one of our planes cross the western borders; [and] for every air attack on Britain''.(none of which happened).

Why did the french not attack despite overwhelming superiority?
''There were many reasons: the defeatism in the French High Command, the government and the people; the memories of how France had been bled white in the First World War and a determination not to suffer such slaughter again if it could be avoided; the realization by mid-September that the Polish armies were so badly defeated that the Germans would soon be able to move superior forces to the west and thus probably wipe out any initial French advances; the fear of German superiority in arms and in the air. Indeed, the French government had insisted from the start that the British Air Force should not bomb targets in Germany for fear of reprisal on French factories, though an all-out bombing of the Ruhr, the industrial heart of the Reich, might well have been disastrous to the Germans.'' - William Shirer,historian

Sitzkrieg - In defensive power the Maginot Line was far stronger than the Siegfried Line.​

Above all Maginot philosophy,or the idea that the germans would be allowed to come to attack the huge maginot line fortifications on the borders where the french could destroy them as pre planned,the creation of the maginot line had dominated french military budgets in the interwar period.Another factor was the lingering anti -communist sentiment,and many members of the french cabinet were of the view - 'Rather hitler than stalin'.The negative popularity of the war was exemplified by divisions among political factions with many raising the slogan -'Why die for Danzig?'
In all the french had yet not grasped the stakes of the contest,and the fact that they would be fighting for their survival as a sovereign state.
Even as the German attack on Poland became imminent, the timid French generalissimo Gamelin was telling his government, that he could not possibly mount a serious offensive ”in less than about two years . . .in 1941-2” – assuming, he had added, that France by that time had the ”help of British troops and American equipment! ''

''Operation in the West not yet clear. Some indications that there is no real intention of waging a war . . . French cabinet lacks heroic caliber. Also from Britain first hints of sobering reflection'' - Halder's Diary.​

Result was what was called the 'phoney war 'German force manned the Siegfried Line, their fortified defensive line along the French border. At the Maginot Line on the other side of the border, British and French troops stood facing them, but there were only some local skirmishes while in the air there were occasional dogfights between fighter planes. Each side dropped propaganda pamphlets by air,there was under a period of uneasy calm that would last for the next seven months.

Only at sea the battle of the Atlantic had begun.

RUSSO-FINNISH WINTER WAR :

A notable event during the Phoney War was the Winter War which started with the USSR′s assault on Finland on 30 November 1939.The Soviet Union sought principally to claim parts of Finnish territory, demanding—amongst other concessions—that Finland cede substantial border territories in exchange for land elsewhere, claiming security reasons, primarily the protection of Leningrad, which was only 30 km (19 mi) from the Finnish border.
At the beginning of the war, total victory over Finland was expected within a few weeks.
The Soviets possessed more than three times as many soldiers as the Finns, thirty times as many aircraft, and a hundred times as many tanks. The Red army however had just been crippled by stalin's mass purges,in the swampy snow conditions the red army soldiers without adequate training or winter equipment were bamboozled and ambushed repeatedly by highly motivated Finnish troops well trained and equipped for such conditions riding in skis and armed with tommy guns(sub machine guns) and by snipers.There were no paved roads, and even gravel or dirt roads were scarce; most of the terrain consisted of trackless forests and swamps.

Finland repelled Soviet attacks for several months, much longer than the Soviets expected-causing huge soviet losses by hit and run tactics.Finns isolated smaller portions of numerically superior Soviet forces. With Soviet forces divided into smaller pieces, the Finns could deal with them individually and attack from all sides.just staying alive was an ordeal comparable to combat. The men were freezing and starving and endured poor sanitary conditions.

Stalin was furious with the results of the first month of the Finnish campaign. The Red Army had been humiliated. By the third week of the war, Soviet propaganda was working hard to explain the failures of the Soviet army to the populace: blaming bad terrain and harsh climate, and falsely claiming that the Mannerheim Line was stronger than the Maginot Line and that the Americans had sent 1,000 of their best pilots to Finland. Chief of Staff Shaposhnikov was given full authority over operations in the Finnish theatre, and he ordered the suspension of frontal assaults in late December. Voroshilov was replaced with Timoshenko as the commander of the Soviet forces in the war on 7 January.

Finnish Sniper Simo Haya -'The White Death',with over 500 kills the most successful in history.​

The soviet forces switched tactics.Avoiding the northern swamps 75% of the russian forces were concentrated to break through the mannerheim line by brute volume of firepower.On 1 February, the rejuvenated Red Army began a massive offensive.Soviets began increasing bombardments, wearing down the defenders and softening their fortifications.
By mid-February, it became clear that the Finnish forces were rapidly approaching exhaustion. For the Soviets, casualties were high, the situation was a source of political embarrassment to the Soviet regime, and there was a risk of french-british expedition Furthermore, with the spring thaw approaching, the Soviet forces risked becoming bogged down in the forests.Both Germany and Sweden were keen to see an end to the Winter War. The Germans feared losing iron ore fields in northern Sweden and threatened to attack at once if the Swedes granted the Allied forces right of passage.On 9 March, the Finnish military situation on the Karelian Isthmus was dire as troops were experiencing heavy casualties. In addition, artillery ammunition supplies were exhausted and weapons were wearing out. The Finnish government, noting that the hoped-for Franco-British military expedition would not arrive in time, as Norway and Sweden had not given the Allies right of passage, had little choice but to accept the Soviet terms.
The finnish war was a debacle for the red army which lost over 325,000 for finnish losses of 70,000-but belatedly the USSR managed to secure its objectives.However the loss of territory during the finnish war was among the prime causes of finland's entry into the axis during barbarossa.

The Winter War had several important consequences.Public opinion, particularly in France and Britain, found it easy to side with Finland, and demanded from their governments effective action in support of the brave Finns against their much larger adversary, the Soviet Union.A proposed french-british expedition was eventually cancelled.It further revealed the indecisiveness of the western allied council and led to collapse of the Daladier government in france.

In germany ,the very poor performance of the Red Army encouraged Hitler to think that an attack on the Soviet Union would be successful.He now viewed russian military capability with contempt- a mistake that would cost him dear.

The russians recognized the glaring flaws in the red army and set in motion reforms.The Supreme Military Soviet command met in April 1940, reviewed the lessons of the Finnish campaign, and recommended reforms.The role of frontline political commissars was reduced and old-fashioned ranks and forms of discipline were reintroduced. Clothing, equipment, and tactics for winter operations were improved. However, not all of these reforms had been completed when the Germans began Operation barbarossa 15 months later.Failure of russian light tanks like the BT series accelerated the development of heavier designs such as the t-34 and KV-1 with far reaching consequences.

NEXT : HITLER VS HIS GENERALS.PLANS FOR ATTACK IN THE WEST