Invasion of Poland The Invasion of Poland was the event which sparked World War II in Europe . ( PROSE : " " ) Origins . Poland was made an independent state by the Treaty of Versailles after World War I . Nazi Colonel Oskar Steinmann later expressed the view that the " draconian treaty " was intended to punish Germany , and that it was to the detriment of the millions of German people who lived in Poland . ( PROSE : " Just War " , AUDIO : " Just War " ) Throughout the 1930s , Adolf Hitler led Germany to reconquer European numerous territories . The reoccupation of the Rhineland led Winston Churchill to fear what Hitler ' s intentions were towards the rest of Europe , most immediately Czechoslovakia and Poland . ( PROSE : " Players " ) However , Churchill ' s warning were initially not taken seriously . ( PROSE : " Log 384 " ) After Germany swallowed up Austria , the Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia in 1938 , the United Kingdom guaranteed aid to Poland in the event of a German attack . Prior to the invasion , Germany approached the Soviet Union and agreed upon a treaty of friendship . Although Hitler loathed communism and intended to one day attack the Soviets , he prioritised Poland . The treaty stipulated that Poland be divided between German and Russia , with Hitler hoping it would keep the Soviets off Germany ' s back for a time . ( PROSE : " " ) Invasion . Germany launched the invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 . In response , Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September . This came as a surprise to Hitler as the Allies had failed to honour their previous guarantees . The Soviets also invaded . ( PROSE : " " ) The Matrix noted the invasion as a part of the Web of Time . ( AUDIO : " Neverland " ) " Brigadeführer " Kraus , an officer in the " Schutzstaffel " , took part in the invasion . He gained a reputation as the Butcher of Cracow . The invasion lasted one month before Poland capitulated ( PROSE : " Illegal Alien " ) According to Oskar Steinmann , the German troops were cheered upon in Poland due to their commitment to unite the world under the strong ideology of Fascism . ( PROSE : " Just War " ) Aftermath . In October , after the invasion , Germany offered to continue negotiations with Britain and France , which was refused . As a way of painting the Allies as the aggressors in the conflict , Nazi propaganda stated that the war did not begin with the invasion of Poland but with the Allied declaration of war and subsequent refusal to negotiate peacefully , thus forcing the war to continue . ( PROSE : " Just War " , AUDIO : " Just War " ) Germany subsequently took the war to Western Europe , launching a lightning war against Britain , France , Holland and Belgium . This theatre of war was a distraction from the primary Nazi aim . It was Hitler ' s intention that , after invading Poland , Germany move into Russia , then Persia , then Asia . ( PROSE : " " ) Hostilities between Germany and the Soviet Union opened in 1941 . ( PROSE : " Just War " , " Losing the Audience " ) After the end of the war in 1945 , Poland remained under the control of the communists . ( AUDIO : " The Curse of the Fugue " , COMIC : " The Broken Man " )