Why Didn't the Allies Declare War on the Soviet Union in 1939?
October 5, 2024
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11:08Now PlayingWhy Didn't the Allies Declare War on the Soviet Union in 1939?
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as posted by the channelThe Allies, specifically Britain and France, did not declare war on the Soviet Union in 1939 despite the USSR invading Poland from the east shortly after Germany's invasion from the west. Britain and France saw Germany as the primary aggressor and the main threat to European stability. Hitler's invasion of Poland triggered the war, and their strategy was to focus on Germany first rather than opening another front against the Soviet Union. At the time, the Allies were not fully prepared for war, even against Germany. Declaring war on both Germany and the Soviet Union would have stretched their military resources even thinner and would likely have been disastrous. The Soviet Union and Germany had signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a non-aggression treaty that included a secret protocol to divide Eastern Europe. Declaring war on the USSR would have solidified the alliance between Germany and the Soviets, further complicating the conflict for the Allies. Some British and French officials believed that the USSR could eventually become a valuable ally against Germany. They hoped that as the situation evolved, Stalin might break away from his pact with Hitler. While Britain and France were bound by treaty to defend Poland, their commitments were largely focused on German aggression, not a Soviet invasion. They provided Poland with little direct military support and were in no position to open a second front in the east.
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SOURCES
– Russia's War (Richard Overy).
– Bloodlands Europe. Between Hitler And Stalin (Timothy Snyder).
– British Reactions to the Soviet Occupation of Eastern Poland in September 1939. The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 69, No. 1 (Jan., 1991), (Keith Sword).
– First to Fight. The Polish War 1939 (Roger Moorhouse).
– The Second World War (Antony Beevor).
IMAGES
Images from commons.wikimedia.org.
VIDEO
Video material from:
Ufa Sound Week No. 470- 7 Sep. 1939 [Full HD] (Invasion of Poland, Fighting in Danzig, Mobilization)
"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
MUSIC
"Lost Frontier"
"Constancy Part One"
"Crossing the Chasm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
SOUNDS
Freesound.org.
historyhustle[at]gmail.com
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