Historical context {{see also|Events preceding World War II in Europe}} At the conclusion of the [[World War I|First World War]], the [[German Empire]] signed the [[First Armistice at Compiègne]] on 11 November 1918 as an end to hostilities with France, the British Empire, and the United States during the convoluted [[German Revolution of 1918–19]], which began 29 October 1918.
Negotiations between the Allied powers regarding post-war Europe started on 18 January 1919 in the [[Salle de l'Horloge]] at the [[French Foreign Ministry]] on the [[Quai d'Orsay]] in Paris. Initially, 70 delegates from 27 nations participated in the negotiations. The opposing nations of the [[German Empire]] and the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] were excluded from the negotiations. At first a "Council of Ten" comprising two delegates each from Britain, France, the United States, Italy and Japan met officially to decide the peace terms. It became the "Big Four" when Japan dropped out and the top person from each of the other four nations met in 145 closed sessions to make all the major decisions to be ratified by the entire assembly. In June 1919, the Allies declared that war would resume if the German government did not sign the treaty they had agreed to among themselves. The government headed by [[Philipp Scheidemann]] was unable to agree on a common position, and Scheidemann himself resigned rather than agree to sign the treaty. [[Gustav Bauer]], the head of the new government, sent a telegram stating his intention to sign the treaty if certain articles were withdrawn, including articles 227, 230 and 231. In response, the Allies issued an ultimatum stating that Germany would have to accept the treaty or face an invasion of Allied forces across the Rhine within 24 hours. On 23 June 1919, Bauer capitulated and sent a second telegram with a confirmation that a German delegation would arrive shortly to sign the treaty.
Mason James
On 28 June 1919, Germany signed the [[Treaty of Versailles]], a peace treaty which formally ended the state of war and imposed various punitive measures upon Germany, including [[Treaty of Versailles#Military restrictions|military restriction]], [[Treaty of Versailles#Territorial changes|loss of territory and colonies]], [[Treaty of Versailles#Reparations| war debt, and effective acceptance of blame for the initiation of hostilities in World War I]]. At the time of the armistice, an attempted [[German Revolution of 1918–19|Communist revolution]] transpired (October 1918-August 1919) , resulting in the abdication of the [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Emperor of Germany]] in November 1918, and what became known as the [[Weimar Republic]] was subsequently established in the wake of the uprising. The transition from [[monarchy]] to [[republic]] was difficult, and many in the new government were not supportive of the democratic system of government. The officer class gave little support to the Republic, and Germany was forced to borrow money from the United States and others to pay its [[war reparations|war debt]], imposed by the [[Treaty of Versailles]]. In the early 1920s a period of [[hyperinflation]] made the [[Reichsmark]] almost worthless. In January 1922, one [[US Dollar]] was worth 191 Marks, but by November of the same year it was equal to 4,200,000,000 Marks.{{cite web|last=Kalfus|first=Richard|title=Weimar Republic 1919-1923|url=users.stlcc.edu/rkalfus/PDFs/018b.pdf|publisher=St. Luis Community College|accessdate=6 May 2014}}
Logan James
In 1932, [[Adolf Hitler]] was appointed [[List of Chancellors of Germany#Weimar Republic (Reichskanzler) (1919–1933)|Chancellor of the Reich]] following a contentious election. Under Hitler's leadership, the [[Reichstag (Nazi Germany)|Reichstag]] turned the government into an effective [[dictatorship]] under Hitler's oversight on 21 March 1933 with the passage of the [[Enabling Act of 1933]], and the economic hardships were significantly diminished via implementation of new economic and social policies. After five years in power, Hitler [[Anschluss|annexed Austria]], former component of the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] (allies of the former [[German Empire]]), into Germany, despite such an act (specifically, "prohibition on the merging of Austria with Germany without the consent of the League of Nations") being banned by both the [[Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919)|Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye]] and the [[Treaty of Versailles]]. In early November 1938, the [[First Vienna Award]] was signed, allowing Germany to seize the [[Sudetenland]], a German-speaking area of [[Czechoslovakia]] which was formerly a part of the [[German Empire]]-allied [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]]. Soon after, Germany invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia and also gained [[Memelland]] (part of the former German Empire from 1871-1920) through the [[1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania]].
While some sources claim Hitler still wanted more, to create [[Lebensraum]], or "living space", for Germany, other sources claim evidence of [[Ethnic cleansing|hostility]] on behalf of Polish [[partisan (military)|partisans]] toward [[Germans|ethnic Germans]] in the [[Polish Corridor|Danzig Corridor]] (territory lost to [[Germany]] as a result of the [[Treaty of Versailles]]) which may have served as a motivating factor for the [[Invasion of Poland|German invasion]] (often portrayed as [[propaganda]] to justify German [[expansionism]]).
Liam Peterson
Two [[Western powers]], the [[United Kingdom]] and [[France]], gave [[Anglo-Polish_military_alliance#British_Guarantee_to_Poland|guarantees]] to [[Poland]] that they would declare war if Polish independence came under threat, as presented in a statement to the [[House of Commons]] by British [[Prime Minister]] [[Neville Chamberlain]] 31 March 1939 (formalized by the British 6 April 1939; not ratified until 4 September 1939 by the French):
{{quote|… in the event of any action which clearly threatened Polish independence, and which the Polish Government accordingly considered it vital to resist with their national forces, His Majesty's Government would feel themselves bound at once to lend the Polish Government all support in their power. They have given the Polish Government an assurance to this effect.
I may add that the French Government have authorised me to make it plain that they stand in the same position in this matter as do His Majesty's Government.[avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/blbk17.asp Statement by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons on March 31, 1939.]}}
Although they honoured these guarantees by declaring war soon after Germany's [[Invasion of Poland]] on 1 September 1939,{{cite web|last=Rapten|first=Pema Dechen|title=Political Disorder: The Weimar Republic and Revolt 1918-23|url=mtholyoke.edu/~rapte22p/classweb/interwarperiod/politicaldisorder.html|publisher=Mount Holyoke College|accessdate=6 May 2014}} and although the [[Dominions]] of the British Empire quickly followed suit, so little practical assistance was given to Poland, which was soon defeated, that in its early stages the war declared by Britain and France was described as a [[Phoney War]].
Brody Bailey
Further, neither the [[British Empire]], nor the [[France|French]], ever declared war upon the [[Soviet Union]], which invaded Poland on 17 September 1939 (17 days after [[Nazi Germany]] invaded from the West) and held sway over the former-Polish territory at the war's conclusion, having become a part of the [[Allies of World War II|Allied front]] in the course of the [[World War II|war]]. At the insistence of [[Joseph Stalin]], the post-war [[Yalta Conference]] in 1945 sanctioned the formation of a new provisional pro-Communist coalition government in Moscow, which ignored the [[Polish government-in-exile]] based in [[London]]; a move which angered many Poles, who considered it a betrayal by the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]], and, as a result, [[Anti-Communism in the Communist Bloc|as elsewhere in Communist Europe]], the Soviet occupation of Poland met with [[Cursed soldiers|armed resistance]] from the outset which continued into the fifties. The consequences of the [[Yalta Conference]] subsequently added new permanence to the end of [[Poland#Postwar communism|Polish independence]] on 22 July 1952 with the creation of the [[People's Republic of Poland]], a [[Communist]] [[puppet state]] of the [[Soviet Union]] which held sway over the territory from its inception in 1952, until [[Poland]] once again achieved [[independence]] on 13 September 1989, following the toppling of the [[Communist]] regime and preceding the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]].
Evan Hill
THE ETERNAL (((POLSKA))) CRIES OUT IN VICTIMHOOD AS HE DECLARES WAR ON YOU One fifth of the world's kike population.
Jack Ramirez
You are being too ambiguous.
WW2 started when the UK and France declared war on the Reich.
Churchill is on record saying he declared war because NS threatened the interests of (((banking and finance))).
