German invasion of Poland and outbreak of World War II

Date

1 September 1939

Category

Military & conflict

Region

Europe (Poland)

Era

Modern

Significance

On 1 September 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west, north and south, employing fast-moving armoured and air forces in a campaign that became associated with the term Blitzkrieg.

Britain and France, bound by guarantees to Poland, declared war on Germany on 3 September, marking the formal outbreak of World War II in Europe. Under the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact signed days earlier, the Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland on 17 September, and the country was partitioned between the two powers by early October. The conquest subjected millions of Poles to brutal occupation and inaugurated the deadliest conflict in human history, which would eventually engulf much of the globe and cause an estimated 70–85 million deaths.

Empires active in 1 September 1939

• Soviet Union
  1922 CE – 1991 CE
• Empire of Japan
  1868 CE – 1947 CE
• French Colonial Empire (Second)
  1830 CE – 1962 CE
• British Empire
  1583 CE – 1997 CE
• Spanish Empire
  1492 CE – 1976 CE
• Portuguese Empire
  1415 CE – 1999 CE

Related military & conflict events

• Attack on Pearl Harbor
  7 December 1941
• Operation Barbarossa: German invasion of the Soviet Union
  22 June 1941
• Second Sino-Japanese War and the Nanjing Massacre
  7 July 1937 – 2 September 1945
• Battle of Stalingrad
  23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943
• Italy Invades Ethiopia
  1935–1936
• D-Day: the Normandy landings
  6 June 1944

Further reading

The Second World War

If you read one book

The Second World War

Antony Beevor

Magisterial single-volume history of the war.

Get it on Amazon →

Also worth reading

• The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won — Victor Davis HansonAmazon →
• Poland 1939: The Outbreak of World War II — Roger MoorhouseAmazon →

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