BBC: The moment Britain finally declared war on Nazi Germany exactly 70 years ago is being remembered.
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain made his sombre radio broadcast at 11.15am on 3 September 1939, two days after German forces attacked Poland.
France followed suit hours after the historic address at 10 Downing Street.
There are no official events to mark the anniversary, but war-related re-unions and debates are being held in northern England and London.
A group of land girls who worked together on farms in Lincolnshire during the war will be reunited in Grimsby - some for the first time in 70 years. >>> | Thursday, September 03, 2009
BBC: With Hitler's invasion of Poland on 1 September the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasement had clearly failed.
In the face of a revolt from members of his Cabinet and a growing feeling in the country that Hitler must be tackled, he had little choice but to declare war.
At a little after 1100 on 3 September he made this broadcast.
I am speaking to you from the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street.
This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final note stating that, unless we hear from them by 11 o'clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.
You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that all my long struggle to win peace has failed. Yet I cannot believe that there is anything more or anything different that I could have done and that would have been more successful.
Up to the very last it would have been quite possible to have arranged a peaceful and honourable settlement between Germany and Poland, but Hitler would not have it. He had evidently made up his mind to attack Poland, whatever happened, and although he now says he put forward reasonable proposals which were rejected by the Poles, that is not a true statement.
The proposals were never shown to the Poles, nor to us, and though they were announced in a German broadcast on Thursday night, Hitler did not wait to hear comments on them but ordered his troops to cross the Polish frontier the next morning.
His action shows convincingly that there is no chance of expecting that this man will ever give up his practice of using force to gain his will. He can only be stopped by force.
We and France are today, in fulfilment of our obligations, going to the aid of Poland, who is so bravely resisting this wicked and unprovoked attack upon her people. We have a clear conscience - we have done all that any country could do to establish peace.
The situation in which no word given by Germany's ruler could be trusted, and no people or country could feel itself safe, has become intolerable. And now that we have resolved to finish it I know that you will play your part with calmness and courage.
At such a moment as this the assurances of support which we have received from the empire are a source of profound encouragement to us.
When I have finished speaking, certain detailed announcements will be made on behalf of the government. Give these your closest attention. The government have made plans under which it will be possible to carry on work of the nation in the days of stress and strain that may be ahead...
Now may God bless you all. May He defend the right. For it is evil things that we shall be fighting against - brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution - and against them I am certain that right will prevail. [Source: BBC] | Wednesday, September 01, 1999
BBC: At dawn on 1 September, German troops invaded Poland, unleashing Blitzkrieg or 'lightning war' on the world for the first time.
The Nazi invasion of Poland was entirely unprovoked and the German dictator, Adolf Hitler, gave no ultimatum or declaration of war to the Polish government.
Instead the Nazi leader simply issued a proclamation to the army saying that Poland had refused the "peaceful settlement" desired by him, but which in reality he had never worked for.
Later that morning the German High Command issued the order: "Soldiers of the German Army - after all other means have failed - weapons must decide."
Hitler addressed the German Parliament, the Reichstag, later that day.
Here are some extracts from his speech which have been translated from the original German.
For months we have been suffering under the torture of a problem which the Versailles 'Diktat' created. A problem which has deteriorated until it has become intolerable for us.
Danzig was and is a German city . The [Polish] Corridor was and is German. Danzig was separated from us. The corridor was annexed by Poland. As in other German territories [outside Germany] the east German minorities have been ill-treated in the most distressing manner... I attempted to bring about, by making proposals for revisions, an alteration in this intolerable position.
It is a lie when the outside world says that we only tried to carry our revisions through by pressure. I have, not once but several times, made proposals for the revision of intolerable conditions.
All these proposals have been rejected... In the same way I have also tried to solve the problem of Danzig, the Corridor etc... by proposing peaceful discussion... I then formulated at last the German proposals, and I must repeat that there is nothing more modest and loyal than these proposals.
These answers have been refused. Not only were they answered first with mobilisation, but with increased terror against our German compatriots and with a slow strangling of the Free City of Danzig - economically, politically, and in recent weeks by military and transport means.
I made one more final effort to accept a proposal for mediation on the part of the British Government. They proposed, not that they themselves should carry on the negotiations, but rather that Poland and Germany should come into direct contact and once more pursue negotiations.
I accepted this proposal and worked out a basis for those negotiations which are known to you. For two whole days I sat with my government and waited to see if it was convenient for the Polish Government to send a plenipotentiary or not. Last night they did not send us a plenipotentiary, but instead informed us through their ambassador that they were still considering whether and to what extent they were in a position to go into the British proposals...
If the German Government and its leader patiently endured such treatment Germany would deserve only to disappear from the political stage. I therefore, decided late last night, and informed the British Government that, in these circumstances I can no longer find any willingness on the part of the Polish Government to conduct serious negotiations with us...
When statesmen in the West declare that this affects their interests, I can only regret such a declaration. We ask nothing of these Western states and will never ask anything. I have declared that the frontier between France and Germany is a final one. I have repeatedly offered friendship and the closest co-operation to Britain, but this cannot be offered from one side only...
I will not make war against women and children. I have ordered my airforce to restrict itself to attacks on military objectives. If, however, the enemy thinks he can from that draw 'carte blanche' on his side to fight by other methods he will receive an answer that will deprive him of hearing and sight. [Source: BBC] | Friday, September 03, 1999]
