The Outbreak of World War Two 70 Years On

On the 1st of September, 1939 the world changed forever as Adolf Hitler launched his invasion of Poland and the second World War began. Britain and France declared war on Germany on the 3rd of September, and all the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, except Ireland, rapidly followed suit. The Fighting in Poland was brief and Polish resistance was quickly crushed. The First German Lighting Attack, or Blitzkrieg, in Poland took place only a week after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union. Within six weeks the German tanks has made it across Poland, assisted by Soviet forces, and the Poles were defeated by early October, Richard Hargreaves' in depth account of the invasion is told in the words of the troops who conquered Poland, from dawn on the 1st of September to the fierce fighting in the defence of the Polish Capital.