[QUOTE="AHUGECAT"]1. Germany only bombed Britain because Britain declared war on Germany.
And why did Britain do such a thing? To reassure Poland that it would not be a conquest of Nazi Germany. Besides, Hitler could've easily just concentrated on bombing the airfields, but insisted on bombing London, Coventry and other densely populated areas. Actually, if the Germans hadn't diverted bombing orders from the RAF airfields to cities, they might've won the battle of Britain.
2. Hitler was never bent on world domination.
He was pretty bent on the idea of making the whole of Eastern Europe lebensraum for his Reich, including the slavery of other races. Plus he really, really longed for an Empire.
3. The Soviet Union was. Remember how much they tried to make every nation a marxist nation?
Like how the Nazis tried to force every country in Europe to fall into satelite states or assumed sovereignty over other nations as they saw fit? Plus yeah, as -Sun_Tzu- said, Stalin got support because of his "socialism in one country" doctrine, at the time, Nazi Germany was a far more expansionist power.
4. Hitler invaded Poland to retrieve stolen land after WWI (the Danzing corridor). Stalin on the other hand invaded mainland Poland.
That was kind of an excuse, if that was true then he would've stopped at Danzig, however he had no intention of stopping there. Also, that's superb logic, then the territory of Poland was legitimate conquest for the USSR because it was once a part of the Russian Empire? Shooting yourself in the foot isn't fun, don't do it.
England had NO right to judge Hitler for retrieving stolen land because England at the time was occupying Scotland, Wales and Norther Ireland.
Erm, despite the United Kingdom being a political union that was agreed by two Parliaments at the time? Scotland and England agreed to centralize Parliamentary and constitutional power in the Westminster Parliament. And then you have Nazi Germany, who absorbed several nations into their Reich by force? Sure as hell doesn't seem comparable to me. T_P_O
Yes, Britain cared so much about Poland that Churchill (and FDR) completely sold out the Poles to live under Communist tyranny at the Yalta Conference.
But that is a good point, why did Hitler go farther than the Danzing corridor? He did go all the way to the bug river.
Throughout the 1930's both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were trying very hard to get the leaders of Poland to sign a mutual defense pact against each other. In other words Poland signing with Germany against the Soviet Union or Poland signing with the USSR against Germany.
Joseph Pilsudski, a military hero in Poland, who was dictator until his death in 1936 aways refused either and dreamed of the time when Poland was a large country extending from the Baltic to the Black Sea. He had no problem in wanting those days to return. In fact when Germany sliced up Chechoslovakia, Poland had no problem in getting it's own slice. Same with when Pilsudski sent in the army to take a slice of Lithunia.
When Pilsudski died the new Polish leaders were not up to his diplomatic and military experience. If Pilsudski were still alive in 1939 and looked at the military situation in Europe he no doubt would have singed on with Hitler Not liking it, but facing realities.
Instead the new Polish leaders continued Pilsudski's policy of 1935 which was not going to work. Hitler saw Poland as a valuable buffer state between the USSR and Germany. He repeatedly told the Polish leaders that one Polish division on the Polish/USSR border meant one German division free to be somewhere else. Stalin saw Poland as a gateway to advance further into Europe.
Around 1939 something had to give.
For example, let's use gangs. You have Gang A trying to make a pact with Gang B against Gang C who is just around the block. Gang C also tries to make a pact with Gang B against Gang A. The three gangs are all the same neighborhood. The leaders of Gang B are in the center and cannot make a decision. Finally they make a pact with Gang D which is a few states away and is in no position whatsoever to come and help when help is needed.
Well the leaders of Gang A and C being well versed in gang warfare look at each other and say "Why are we even talking to these fools." So they decide between them that they will just divide up the area of Gang B between themselves and not bother with them any longer.
No getting back to the case of Poland in Sept 1939, Stalin pulled off a brilliant public relations ploy that lasts until this day. Both Hitler and Stalin agreed in writing that they would invade and divide Poland. Hitler invaded on Sept 1, 1939 and waited and waited for Stalin to do the same. Stalin was stalling, waiting almost two weeks when he finally sent in the Red Army announcing to the world that he was doing so to protect the Poles and his follow Slavs.
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