Lead up to WW2/Events of 1939

1938:

1939:

Five key events

1) German invasion of Czechoslovakia, breaking the Munich Treaty, 15th March
2) Pact of Steel between Germany and Italy, miliary pact, 22nd May
3) Neutrality pact between the Soviet Union and Germany (Molotov-Ribbentrop pact) - Germany wanted to subdue the Soviets to focus on the war against the rest of Europe first, then go against the Soviet Union, to avoid a two-front war like the first world war, 24th August
- Came with the secret part of the pact, which dictated that Germany and the Soviet Union would divide the countries that lay between them. (Germany claimed Western Poland and Lithuania)
- Lasted less than 2 years
4) German invasion of Poland on the pretext that Poles has attacked a German border station
5) Allied powers declaration of war against Germany

The Phony War:

“Phony War” seen from British perspective, since they were not involved until 1940. From the Polish perspective, a bloody conflict.

Britain had declared war on Poland, but did not make any offensive/defensive war

Russia became and independent nation from 1991 and onwards
England + Germany were both natural enemies of communism and Bolshevism, so it was good for the Soviet Union to have them fight each other
Stalin refused to prepare for a war with Hitler despite rumours and intelligence that the Germans were on the way
When the Germans actually invaded, Stalin went into hiding for a week, allowing the Germans to get a massive headstart