Friday 8 September 1939

Heinz Guderian and his XIX Panzer Corps receive orders to advance to Brest-Litovsk, which is in the allocated Soviet zone (see the entry about Ribbentrop below). They are heading south along the line of the Bug River toward Wizna, the scene of fighting by the 10th Panzer Division and and "Lötzen" Brigade.

German troops of the 4th Panzer Division arrive at the Warsaw suburb of Ochota in the southeast. Polish General Czuma, in charge of the city, orders 100,000 civilians to begin digging anti-tank ditches. General Czuma broadcasts somewhat incongruously that "We shall fight to the last ditch!" The Germans claim to have entered Warsaw, which Polish radio denies. The Poles do, however, admit to some retreats in other areas. News reports around the world echo the German claim.

German troops begin attacking Gdynia.

Polish troops at the village of Wola Cyrusowa near Stryków make a stand. The Poles are the Polish Piotrków Operational Group under Gen. Wiktor Thommée, who has replaced a more senior officer who abandoned the army and left for Warsaw. The attacking German forces of the 10th Infantry Division and 24th Infantry Division are slowed, but not stopped.

Other troops of the 10th Infantry Division encircle some 60,000 Polish troops to the west of Radom, south of Warsaw.

German/Soviet Diplomacy: German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop notifies the Kremlin that German forces for tactical reasons will be impinging upon territories assigned to the Soviets under the August Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact.

Western Front: French forces continue advancing timidly in the Saar. The invading force includes some 600 tanks. The Germans have evacuated Saarbrücken of non-essential personnel. General Gamelin is suspicious of the absence of German defensive activity and fears an ambush. Wild rumors are spread by Paris radio that the Germans have rushed six divisions to defend the area. Concerned, Gamelin orders his forces to maintain distance from the Siegfried Line. He also cautiously orders his forces to plan for a withdrawal to the nearby Spicheren Heights in France in the event of an attack. The French remain close to the comforting Maginot Line. The Germans, meanwhile, are just watching the proceedings with scratch forces. Factories in Saarbrücken continue working.

There are rumors of food shortages along the Siegfried Line.

Air War, Western Front: Curtiss Hawk fighters of l'Armee de l'Air (French air force) meet  5 Bf 109 fighters. They file claims for 2 of the Messerschmitts.

The RAF launches another propaganda drop over Germany, the fourth of the war so far.

Rumors are spreading of transfers of French and British aircraft to Poland.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-38 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe sinks the British steamer Manaar.

The British Ministry of Information releases a statement on the war at sea:

It is now palpably evident that Germany is prosecuting an unrestricted submarine campaign against merchant shipping as violent as that on which Germany embarked in 1917, and that the German submarine commanders have been given orders to sink merchant ships on sight and without warning. 

This, of course, is in direct contravention of the rules of submarine warfare which were unconditionally accepted by Germany in 1935, for all time and irrespective of the actions of any other Power. 

It is also quite clear that German submarines were on their stations on the ocean trade routes, with these orders, several days before war broke out.

The statement is correct in all particulars, as the U-boats were sent to sea on 15 August.

War Crimes: German troops entering  Bromberg (the German name for the Polish city of Bydgoszcz) claim to find hundreds of civilians slain by Polish snipers. This initiates the "Bloody Sunday" affair.

Meanwhile, in the village of Dąbrowa (near Ciepielów), Oberst Walter Wessel, acting commander of the German 15th Motorized Infantry Regiment, 29th Motorized Infantry Division, orders the execution of about 300 Polish POWs of the Polish 74th Infantry Regiment of Upper Silesia commanded by Major Józef Pelc. Wessel claims that they have been acting as partisans.

British Navy: The Admiralty expands the blockade of Germany. Three protected routes for convoys are established, two out of Liverpool and one from the Thames to the Atlantic. German ships overseas head for neutral ports for internment.

Polish/British Diplomacy: A Polish mission headed by General Novid-Neugebauer arrives in London.

German Homefront: Patients are "voluntarily" evacuated from hospitals to free up room for war casualties.

United States Government: President Roosevelt declares a limited national emergency and authorizes increases in the armed forces. A sum of $500,000 is authorized for the return of US citizens from the war zone. He reiterates the country's neutral status, and these measures are designed to protect it.

American Homefront: Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians becomes the youngest pitcher to win 20 games in a season.

September 1939

September 1, 1939: Invasion of Poland
September 2, 1939: Danzig Annexed
September 3, 1939: France, Great Britain Declare War
September 4, 1939: First RAF Raid
September 5, 1939: The US Stays Out
September 6, 1939: Battle of Barking Creek
September 7, 1939: Polish HQ Bugs Out
September 8, 1939: War Crimes in Poland
September 9, 1939: The Empire Strikes Back
September 10, 1939: The Germans Break Out
September 11, 1939: Battle of Kałuszyn
September 12, 1939: The French Chicken Out
September 13, 1939: The Battle of Modlin
September 14, 1939: Germany Captures Gdynia
September 15, 1939: Warsaw Surrounded
September 16, 1939: Battle of Jaworów
September 17, 1939: Soviets Invade Poland
September 18, 1939: Lublin Falls
September 19, 1939: Germans, Soviets Hook Up
September 20, 1939: the Kraków Army Surrenders
September 21, 1939: Romania Convulses
September 22, 1939: Joint Soviet-German Military Parade
September 23, 1939: The Panama Conference
September 24, 1939: The Luftwaffe Bombs Warsaw
September 25, 1939: Black Monday for Warsaw
September 26, 1939: Warsaw on the Ropes
September 27, 1939: Hitler Decides to Invade France
September 28, 1939: Warsaw Capitulates
September 29, 1939: Modlin Fortress Falls
September 30, 1939: Graf Spee on the Loose

2021

Tuesday 22 August 1939

Hitler at lunch at the Berghof with his General on 22 August 1939. They are in civilian clothes to disguise the true nature of the day's agenda. After this, military garb will be the norm at the Berghof.

German Military Planning: With prospects for a deal with the Soviet Union rushing to a satisfactory conclusion, on Tuesday, 22 August 1939 Adolf Hitler holds a meeting for his fifty top military leaders at the Berghof. Attendees include the usual suspects: Luftwaffe boss Hermann Goering, General Erich von Manstein, and so forth.

There are three different known sources of notes for the speech that day. They apparently were taken by Abwehr (military intelligence), chief Vice-Admiral Canaris. Others at the meeting only jotted down random notes, but Canaris' full set found their way into the files at Heer headquarters at Zossen. The note versions differ only in details. In essence, Hitler gives a ninety-minute oration in which he sets forth his resolve to "smash Poland," a decision he claimed he had made the previous spring.

A controversial part of the speech involves a reference to the Armenian genocide around the time of World War I. In one version of the notes which has an unknown provenance, Hitler states:

Our strength consists in our speed and in our brutality. Genghis Khan led millions of women and children to slaughter – with premeditation and a happy heart. History sees in him solely the founder of a state. It’s a matter of indifference to me what a weak western European civilization will say about me. I have issued the command – and I’ll have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing squad – that our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines, but in the physical destruction of the enemy. Accordingly, I have placed my death-head formation in readiness – for the present only in the East – with orders to them to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish derivation and language. Only thus shall we gain the living space (Lebensraum) which we need. Who, after all, speaks to-day of the annihilation of the Armenians?

The translation is from Louis P. Lochner, who provided the sole copy of the notes that contained this paragraph. Lochner refused to identify his source ("Mr. Maasz gave it to me" was the extent of what he would say, and nobody has any idea who that might be) or give any specifics as to why he thought it was a reliable source. Lochner's version was not introduced into evidence at the Nuremberg trials due to the unknown source. In other words - it could be completely spurious and manufactured by anyone.

Looking at the paragraph above purely analytically, it is unclear if it is an accurate quote. It does contain some phrases that Hitler tended to prefer, such as "It's a matter of indifference to me," a common expression used by Hitler. On the other hand, the stark belligerency ("I'll have them all shot" may have been accurate, but is not the sort of Hitler statement often seen elsewhere in the record) is not a pose that Hitler often adopted in staff settings. Thus, there are pros and cons for those trying to divine its authenticity. There also is the possibility of the note-taker perhaps putting his own spin on whatever Hitler said - and Canaris (if he took these notes as well, which is unknown) was later shot at Auschwitz for plotting against Hitler. Canaris was a fairly mellow officer (for a member of the Third Reich), so he may have tended to exaggerate the blood-thirstiness that he heard for effect.

The last sentence of the above quote is occasionally used for political purposes to this day. It obviously is a very pungent summation of a cynical attitude toward death and morality. The quote is inscribed on one of the walls of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Whether or not Hitler actually said it, the meaning of the sentence does seem to sum up Hitler's attitude towards the subject, and the importance of remembering past tragedies. At this point, it is just accepted that Hitler made the quote, and whether he actually did or not is almost beside the point - that is the "official" version of history that people rely upon today and which comports with the known character of the speaker.

A lot about the day is uncertain besides that quote. In fact, Hitler may have given two speeches that day, depending upon how one defines such things: one before lunch, and one after. As with many other aspects of Hitler's life, an air of mystery surrounds the event. However, one thing is clear: Hitler was ready to go to war, but did not think he would have to. As Admiral Canaris' (known) notes state, Hitler said:

I have only one fear, that at the last moment some idiot may offer to mediate.

Goering, of course, had been trying to "mediate" in his clumsy way all along, but without results, so that quote may have been directed specifically at him. Hitler also says that he does not expect his enemies to fight: "They are worms: I saw them at Munich."

The mood of the German Generals is somber, especially given the news they had just received that morning that a deal with Stalin was at hand. Such a deal with the only nation in any position to conceivably protect Poland, they must figure, would almost automatically trigger a conflict. There is not the joyous outburst of enthusiasm such as had happened throughout Germany in August 1914.

German/Soviet Diplomacy: After attending Hitler's speech, Foreign Minister Ribbentrop boards Hitler's personal Condor transport and flies to Moscow with roughly 30 associates. He had received Stalin's acceptance to the meeting only the day before. Among them is Hitler's personal photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann, there to memorialize the visit. They spend the night at Königsberg, it being a long flight from Bavaria for the era.

Ribbentrop with his Moscow delegation on their return to Germany on 24 August 1939.

British Government: With war fears ascending, the British Parliament is called back into session, to be held 24 August 1939.

US Homefront: The Pine Ridge Boys record country classic "You Are My Sunshine" for Bluebird Records.

Future History: Valerie Harper is born in Suffern, New York; Carl Yastrzemski is born in Southampton, New York. Harper becomes famous as a comic actress in the 1970s, while Yastrzemski ("Yaz") becomes the cleanup hitter for the Boston Red Sox.

Valerie Harper, born on 22 August 1939.

Pre-War

8-9 November 1923: Beer Hall Putsch

December 20, 1924: Hitler Leaves Prison

September 18, 1931: Geli Raubal Commits Suicide

November 8, 1932: Roosevelt is Elected

30 January 1933: Hitler Takes Office
February 27, 1933: Reichstag Fire
March 23, 1933: The Enabling Act

June 20, 1934: Hitler Plans the Night of the Long Knives
June 30, 1934: Night of the Long Knives

August 1, 1936: Opening of the Berlin Olympics

September 30, 1938: The Munich Agreement
November 9, 1938: Kristallnacht

August 1, 1939: Flight Tests of B-17 Flying Fortress
August 2, 1939: Einstein and the Atom Bomb
August 7, 1939: Goering Tries to Broker Peace
August 14, 1939: Hitler Decides To Attack Poland
August 15, 1939: U-Boats Put To Sea
August 16, 1939: Incident at Danzig
August 20, 1939: Battle of Khalkhin Gol
August 22, 1939: Hitler Tips His Hand
August 23, 1939: Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
August 25, 1939: Hitler Postpones Invasion of Poland
August 27, 1939: First Jet Flight
August 31, 1939: The Gleiwitz Operation

2019

Wednesday 16 August 1939

"Stop! Danger! Or you will be shot." The German military was in Danzig well before the war incognito and was quick to seize control of Danzig upon the outbreak of war. They then waited for German troops to arrive, which happened a day after this picture was taken on 1 September 1939.

Danzig: At the Free City of Danzig (now Gdansk), which is under the auspices of the League of Nations but for all practical purposes under Polish control, a Polish sentry on the Polish side unwisely crosses the border into "neutral" Danzig. When about 20 yards on the other side, he is shot dead without warning. Danzig, a majority-German city, is crawling with Germans anxiously awaiting a reunion with Germany à la Austria or Czechoslovakia. "Incidents" of this sort only aid their cause. Polish military guards are henceforth under orders to shoot any uniformed German or Danzinger in Polish territory on sight, which further heightens the border tensions.

German/Soviet Diplomacy: German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, at his Berchtesgaden-area castle located in Fuschl, receives a report from his ambassador to Moscow, Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg, about the meeting held the previous day with Molotov in Moscow. The ambassador's report states that Molotov received Ribbentrop's statement of a desire for a rapprochement with the USSR "with the greatest interest" and that he would be in touch with the Germans after discussing it with Stalin.

Hitler is excited when he sees the report and tells Ribbentrop to respond affirmatively to several specific questions posed by Molotov, specifically:

1. Did German wish to conclude a non-aggression pact with the USSR;
2. Would the Germans pressure the Japanese to stop attacking the Soviets in the Far East;
3. Would the Germans consider a "joint guarantee" of the Baltic states?

The question of the Baltic states, of course, would be a critical part of the later treaty. Ribbentrop also puts in his reply that he would be willing to visit Moscow to finalize a deal any time after 18 August 1939.

Hitler and cronies at the Obersalzberg Tea House, 16 August 1939. While I have not seen the SS officer in the rear identified, it may be Ribbentrop. Hitler is studiously wearing civilian clothes as he ramps up for war to give the illusion for prying eyes that nothing is going on.

Pre-War

8-9 November 1923: Beer Hall Putsch

December 20, 1924: Hitler Leaves Prison

September 18, 1931: Geli Raubal Commits Suicide

November 8, 1932: Roosevelt is Elected

30 January 1933: Hitler Takes Office
February 27, 1933: Reichstag Fire
March 23, 1933: The Enabling Act

June 20, 1934: Hitler Plans the Night of the Long Knives
June 30, 1934: Night of the Long Knives

August 1, 1936: Opening of the Berlin Olympics

September 30, 1938: The Munich Agreement
November 9, 1938: Kristallnacht

August 1, 1939: Flight Tests of B-17 Flying Fortress
August 2, 1939: Einstein and the Atom Bomb
August 7, 1939: Goering Tries to Broker Peace
August 14, 1939: Hitler Decides To Attack Poland
August 15, 1939: U-Boats Put To Sea
August 16, 1939: Incident at Danzig
August 20, 1939: Battle of Khalkhin Gol
August 22, 1939: Hitler Tips His Hand
August 23, 1939: Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
August 25, 1939: Hitler Postpones Invasion of Poland
August 27, 1939: First Jet Flight
August 31, 1939: The Gleiwitz Operation

2019

Saturday 2 September 1939

Germany annexes Danzig.

Background: German troops are on the march in Poland. England and France have warned Germany to withdraw or they will support Poland. No declarations of war have been tendered yet. It is Saturday, 2 September 1939, but world capitals are scenes of frantic diplomatic activity.

Italy, Diplomacy: In the morning, the Italian Ambassador to Germany, Count Bernardo Attolico, presents a proposal for a truce, to be followed by a conference. Italy has been acting as a diplomatic clearinghouse over central Europe for years but is known to favor Germany. The proposal, of course, hinges upon French/UK acceptance, as Germany desperately wants to delay or even prevent Allied intervention. Mussolini withdraws the proposal that afternoon due to Allied indifference. Italy declares neutrality.

Germany, Diplomacy: Ribbentrop invites British civil servant Sir Horace Wilson, a PM Chamberlain crony who has a room at 10 Downing Street, to Berlin for discussions. Wilson refuses and warns Ribbentrop that sentiment "in the House of Commons and in the Cabinet" strongly favors an immediate declaration of war. Hitler, dubiously encouraged by Ribbentrop who professes to have a superior understanding of British intentions, still believes a peaceful settlement is possible. Goering continues his attempts at unofficial diplomacy via the Swede Birger Dahlerus but gets nowhere despite repeated calls to Whitehall and visits to the British embassy.

England, Diplomacy: Shortly before midnight, the British ambassador to Germany Sir Nevile Henderson informs Ribbentrop to expect an ultimatum at 9 a.m. the following day.

England, military: The National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939 is enacted immediately and enforces full conscription on all males between 18 and 41 who are residents in the UK.

Ireland, Diplomacy: President Douglas Hyde of the Republic of Ireland declares the neutrality of his nation;

Switzerland, military: the government orders a general mobilization of its forces.

Germany, military: German forces complete the annexation of the free city of Danzig, which is adjacent to East Prussia and has no hope of staying unoccupied. Many German troops in plainclothes have been waiting in the city. Most historians pinpoint the beginning of the war as the attack on the depot at Danzig (Westerplatte) the previous day. Light but determined resistance in the city's Polish Post Office is overcome. Elsewhere, German forces remain on the move, pointed toward Warsaw.

Naval War, Atlantic: The SS Athenia, commanded by Captain James Cook, leaves Liverpool for Montreal at 13:00 hours despite indications that war is imminent - there is no war declaration so far. The Athenia carries 1,103 passengers including about 500 Jewish refugees, 469 Canadians, 311 US citizens, 72 UK subjects, and 315 crew.

September 1939

September 1, 1939: Invasion of Poland
September 2, 1939: Danzig Annexed
September 3, 1939: France, Great Britain Declare War
September 4, 1939: First RAF Raid
September 5, 1939: The US Stays Out
September 6, 1939: Battle of Barking Creek
September 7, 1939: Polish HQ Bugs Out
September 8, 1939: War Crimes in Poland
September 9, 1939: The Empire Strikes Back
September 10, 1939: The Germans Break Out
September 11, 1939: Battle of Kałuszyn
September 12, 1939: The French Chicken Out
September 13, 1939: The Battle of Modlin
September 14, 1939: Germany Captures Gdynia
September 15, 1939: Warsaw Surrounded
September 16, 1939: Battle of Jaworów
September 17, 1939: Soviets Invade Poland
September 18, 1939: Lublin Falls
September 19, 1939: Germans, Soviets Hook Up
September 20, 1939: the Kraków Army Surrenders
September 21, 1939: Romania Convulses
September 22, 1939: Joint Soviet-German Military Parade
September 23, 1939: The Panama Conference
September 24, 1939: The Luftwaffe Bombs Warsaw
September 25, 1939: Black Monday for Warsaw
September 26, 1939: Warsaw on the Ropes
September 27, 1939: Hitler Decides to Invade France
September 28, 1939: Warsaw Capitulates
September 29, 1939: Modlin Fortress Falls
September 30, 1939: Graf Spee on the Loose

2019

Friday 1 September 1939

Old German battleship SMS Schleswig-Holstein opens fire on the morning of 1 September 1939.

Preliminary Fact: The previous night, the Germans had implemented "Operation Himmler." This involved the staging of "provocations" along the German/Polish border, most famously at the radio station at Gleiwitz. Hitler has used this operation to build a propaganda "justification" for an invasion of Poland.

Germany, Air Operations: Case White, the invasion of Poland, begins. At 4:40 a.m., the Luftwaffe attacks the Polish town of Wieluń, causing extensive damage and killing an estimated 1200 civilians and soldiers. Later, air attacks commence against Kraków, Łódź, and Warsaw.

Operation Wasserkante, the air attack on Warsaw, is composed of four bomber groups but is hampered by poor weather. In addition, PZL P.11 fighters of the Pursuit Brigade shot down 16 German aircraft for the loss of 10 of their own. While a major Polish success, the Germans can sustain their losses, the Poles cannot.
Germany, Naval Operations:  SMS Schleswig-Holstein, a pre-dreadnought laid down in 1905 which had participated in the Battle of Jutland, opens fire at about 4:45 a.m. The target is a Polish ammunition depot at Westerplatte by the Port of Danzig. Many consider this the first "official" shot of the war, though an entire war machine was on the move at the time and indications are that other forces were in play before this action. Choosing this as the start was more due to the convenience of cameras being present that recorded the action than reality. The salvo initiates a ground attack on the depot that is initially unsuccessful.

In London, September 1st, 1939. Three  Kennedys - Joe Junior, Kathleen, and Jack - hurry to attend a special sitting of the British House of Commons. Their father, Joe, is the Ambassador to the Court of St. James.

Germany, Army Operations: Shortly before 5 a.m., German forces move across the frontier. The main attack, though, does not begin until 8 a.m., when the Wehrmacht attacks Mokra. Three pincers aim at Warsaw from East Prussia in the north, Slovakia (a German ally) in the south, and straight east from Germany proper.

The primary forces (53 Divisions) entering Poland under Army (Heer) Commander-in-Chief Walther von Brauchitsch:

• Heeresgruppe Nord (Army Group North) (Fedor von Bock);
• Heeresgrupped Sud (Army Group South) (Karl Rudolf von Rundstedt);

The individual armies are:

• 3rd Army (Georg von Küchler)
• 4th Army (Günther von Kluge)
• 8th Army (Johannes Blaskowitz)
• 10th Army (Walter von Reichenau)
• 14th Army (Wilhelm von List).

There are two Luftwaffe forces corresponding to the Army Groups and giving them dedicated support (one for each):

• Loftflotte 1 (Albert Kesselring);
• Luftflotte 4 (Alexander Löhr);

Poland, Army Operations: Polish forces successfully defend against an opening attack on the strategic Dirschau Bridge designed to capture it intact. Elsewhere, though, resistance is light.

Germany, Diplomacy: Chancellor Adolf Hitler announces the invasion to the Reichstag at the Kroll Opera House (the Reichstag building having been burned in the 27 February 1933 Reichstag Fire). Hitler states that the hostilities are a defensive action. He further states, "If anything should befall me in this struggle, then my successor shall be party-member Goering." He does not ask for a declaration of war, but nobody is left in any doubt that war has commenced.

Hitler holds out hope, encouraged by German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, that Britain and France will not intervene. Unofficial/amateur Swedish diplomat Birger Dahlerus, at the behest of Hermann Goering, phones the permanent undersecretary of the British Foreign Office in London, Sir Alexander Cadogan early in the morning. He wants to broker some kind of understanding. Cadogan tells him that no talks are possible unless and until Germany withdraws from Poland. Around noon, Dahlerus goes to the British embassy in Berlin with the same proposal and is told the same thing.

Germany, Home Front: In sharp contrast to August 1914, when there were wild celebrations upon the outbreak of World War I in Germany and Austria-Hungary, there are few if any public demonstrations in Germany. Crews are busy securing various art treasures and buildings against air attack.

Adolf Hitler addresses the Reichstag on 1 September 1939.

Future History: Lily Tomlin is born on 1 September 1939. She gains fame in the 1960s and thereafter as a television/film/stage comedienne.

September 1939

September 1, 1939: Invasion of Poland
September 2, 1939: Danzig Annexed
September 3, 1939: France, Great Britain Declare War
September 4, 1939: First RAF Raid
September 5, 1939: The US Stays Out
September 6, 1939: Battle of Barking Creek
September 7, 1939: Polish HQ Bugs Out
September 8, 1939: War Crimes in Poland
September 9, 1939: The Empire Strikes Back
September 10, 1939: The Germans Break Out
September 11, 1939: Battle of Kałuszyn
September 12, 1939: The French Chicken Out
September 13, 1939: The Battle of Modlin
September 14, 1939: Germany Captures Gdynia
September 15, 1939: Warsaw Surrounded
September 16, 1939: Battle of Jaworów
September 17, 1939: Soviets Invade Poland
September 18, 1939: Lublin Falls
September 19, 1939: Germans, Soviets Hook Up
September 20, 1939: the Kraków Army Surrenders
September 21, 1939: Romania Convulses
September 22, 1939: Joint Soviet-German Military Parade
September 23, 1939: The Panama Conference
September 24, 1939: The Luftwaffe Bombs Warsaw
September 25, 1939: Black Monday for Warsaw
September 26, 1939: Warsaw on the Ropes
September 27, 1939: Hitler Decides to Invade France
September 28, 1939: Warsaw Capitulates
September 29, 1939: Modlin Fortress Falls
September 30, 1939: Graf Spee on the Loose

2020

Friday 25 August 1939

Adolf Hitler engaging in his common pursuit of reading the newspaper.

Germany, Military Decisions - Adolf Hitler had planned 26 August as the date of the invasion of Poland, and this plan continued until the early evening of 25 August 1939. The pact with the Soviet Union of the previous day (dated 23 August) had seemed to make this a date certain. However, several events suddenly happened to cause a change in plans, and Hitler postpones the invasion of Poland at the last minute.

First, the Luftwaffe's intelligence service (the Forschamgsamt) reports that Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano was preparing to inform Berlin that Italy would not participate in an invasion. Second, the French ambassador informs Hitler that France would honor its defense guarantee to Poland. Third, news reports say that Great Britain also now has ratified a similar agreement with Poland. All three events were completely unexpected.

All of this rattles Hitler. He had been relying on advice from his own foreign minister von Ribbentrop that the western powers would stand aside. He also had taken Italian support from his friend, Italian Duce Benito Mussolini, for granted. Hitler tells General Keitel to "Stop everything!" and later states that the postponement will only be for "four or five days." Hermann Goering, meanwhile, continues using a businessman intermediary, Swede Birger Dahlerus of the Electrolux company, to remove Great Britain from the equation. Dahlerus, who is engaging in perhaps the first instance of shuttle diplomacy, is in London this day acting as an unofficial German ambassador. However, he has little to work with and is not making much progress.

Birger Dahlerus.

Terrorism: Five people are killed in an explosion in Coventry. Police quickly suspect the IRA.

Future History: Director John Badham is born on 25 August 1939. He becomes famous in the 1970s for films such as "Saturday Night Fever."

Pre-War

8-9 November 1923: Beer Hall Putsch

December 20, 1924: Hitler Leaves Prison

September 18, 1931: Geli Raubal Commits Suicide

November 8, 1932: Roosevelt is Elected

30 January 1933: Hitler Takes Office
February 27, 1933: Reichstag Fire
March 23, 1933: The Enabling Act

June 20, 1934: Hitler Plans the Night of the Long Knives
June 30, 1934: Night of the Long Knives

August 1, 1936: Opening of the Berlin Olympics

September 30, 1938: The Munich Agreement
November 9, 1938: Kristallnacht

August 1, 1939: Flight Tests of B-17 Flying Fortress
August 2, 1939: Einstein and the Atom Bomb
August 7, 1939: Goering Tries to Broker Peace
August 14, 1939: Hitler Decides To Attack Poland
August 15, 1939: U-Boats Put To Sea
August 16, 1939: Incident at Danzig
August 20, 1939: Battle of Khalkhin Gol
August 22, 1939: Hitler Tips His Hand
August 23, 1939: Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
August 25, 1939: Hitler Postpones Invasion of Poland
August 27, 1939: First Jet Flight
August 31, 1939: The Gleiwitz Operation

2019

Wednesday 23 August 1939

Molotov, Ribbentrop, and Stalin in Moscow on 23 August 1939 (Federal Archive).

German/Soviet Relations: After an overnight flight from Germany in Hitler's personal Condor, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop concludes an alliance in Moscow with his counterpart Molotov and Soviet Premier Josef Stalin. The final question concerned the fate of Latvia, upon which Stalin insisted. Upon Hitler's acquiescence to this condition, the Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact is concluded and dated 23 August 1939, though actually signed at 2 a.m. on the 24th.

The pact provides in pertinent part that:

The question of whether the interests of both parties make the maintenance of an independent Polish state desireable and how the frontiers of the state should be drawn can be definitely determined only in the course of further political developments. In any case, both governments will resolve this question by means of friendly understanding.

Basically, the two parties had decided that what Poland's government wanted was irrelevant, and they would decide the country's fate. There also were secret protocols, not disclosed for many years, dividing up the Baltic states between the two powers.

Unbeknownst to the Germans, the pact had been in doubt until shortly before Ribbentrop's visit. The last straw for Stalin to throw in with Hitler was the Polish government's refusal to allow British and French troops on their territory in mid-August. It was this event that decided the timing of the pact and gave Ribbentrop the green light to fly to Moscow.

It is Ribbentrop's shining moment. He will never be in such favor as he is when he returns to Berlin. Hitler, however, gives a speech taking personal credit for the agreement. When Ribbentrop's repeated assurances that the British and French will not intervene to protect Poland are shown to be false only days later, he will quickly fall from grace.

Molotov and Ribbentrop in Moscow on 23 August 1939.

Pre-War

8-9 November 1923: Beer Hall Putsch

December 20, 1924: Hitler Leaves Prison

September 18, 1931: Geli Raubal Commits Suicide

November 8, 1932: Roosevelt is Elected

30 January 1933: Hitler Takes Office
February 27, 1933: Reichstag Fire
March 23, 1933: The Enabling Act

June 20, 1934: Hitler Plans the Night of the Long Knives
June 30, 1934: Night of the Long Knives

August 1, 1936: Opening of the Berlin Olympics

September 30, 1938: The Munich Agreement
November 9, 1938: Kristallnacht

August 1, 1939: Flight Tests of B-17 Flying Fortress
August 2, 1939: Einstein and the Atom Bomb
August 7, 1939: Goering Tries to Broker Peace
August 14, 1939: Hitler Decides To Attack Poland
August 15, 1939: U-Boats Put To Sea
August 16, 1939: Incident at Danzig
August 20, 1939: Battle of Khalkhin Gol
August 22, 1939: Hitler Tips His Hand
August 23, 1939: Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
August 25, 1939: Hitler Postpones Invasion of Poland
August 27, 1939: First Jet Flight
August 31, 1939: The Gleiwitz Operation
2019

Monday 14 August 1939

Hitler at the Berghof, 14 August 1939.

German Military Strategy: On this day, Adolf Hitler holds a meeting at the Berghof in Berchtesgaden with his ministers and military leaders. He declares that it is his unalterable will to invade Poland later that month. He sets a tentative date of 26 August. The code for the operation is Case White (code names were sometimes re-used).

On the same day, Hitler decides to send Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop to Moscow to see if he can arrange an alliance with the Soviets. Moscow had been signaling since the spring (such as by Stalin replacing a pro-Western foreign minister with his crony Molotov, seen as more pro-German) that it was interested in developing closer relations with Germany. The feeling in Berlin was that Soviet Premier Josef Stalin had felt betrayed by the Western Allies' 1938 Munich Agreement, and believed he could not trust them. In addition, Stalin felt that the western powers had snubbed him, most recently by sending two low-ranking officers to see him about a military alliance rather than someone more senior.

Hitler, realizing that a deal might be obtainable against all the odds, instructed his Foreign Minister to go in person (rather than an underling as originally planned) in order to flatter Stalin. At this point, though, there is no indication that anything immediate would come of the talks, and nobody knows how Stalin would react to a German invasion of Poland. For Ribbentrop, it is a sweet chance to get back at the British, who he felt had mistreated him when he was ambassador to England in 1937.

Joachim von Ribbentrop.

Pre-War

8-9 November 1923: Beer Hall Putsch

December 20, 1924: Hitler Leaves Prison

September 18, 1931: Geli Raubal Commits Suicide

November 8, 1932: Roosevelt is Elected

30 January 1933: Hitler Takes Office
February 27, 1933: Reichstag Fire
March 23, 1933: The Enabling Act

June 20, 1934: Hitler Plans the Night of the Long Knives
June 30, 1934: Night of the Long Knives

August 1, 1936: Opening of the Berlin Olympics

September 30, 1938: The Munich Agreement
November 9, 1938: Kristallnacht

August 1, 1939: Flight Tests of B-17 Flying Fortress
August 2, 1939: Einstein and the Atom Bomb
August 7, 1939: Goering Tries to Broker Peace
August 14, 1939: Hitler Decides To Attack Poland
August 15, 1939: U-Boats Put To Sea
August 16, 1939: Incident at Danzig
August 20, 1939: Battle of Khalkhin Gol
August 22, 1939: Hitler Tips His Hand
August 23, 1939: Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
August 25, 1939: Hitler Postpones Invasion of Poland
August 27, 1939: First Jet Flight
August 31, 1939: The Gleiwitz Operation

2019