#PhoneyWar

[whencyclopedia]

Phoney War

The Phoney War was the period from the start of the Second World War (1939-45) when Britain and France declared war against Germany on 3 September until the start of significant military action in the West in the spring of 1940. While Poland bore the brunt of Germany's aggression, the civilians of Western Europe anxiously awaited their turn.

Hitler Invades Poland

Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), the leader of Nazi Germany, had pursued a persistently aggressive foreign policy through the 1930s by breaking the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, which had formally concluded the First World War (1914-18), forming the Anschluss, or union, with Austria and occupying the Czech Sudetenland in 1938. Powers like Britain and France, fearing the terrible costs of another world war, had opted for a policy of appeasement towards Hitler, but they finally took a stand after Hitler's occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 when the Nazi leader next threatened Poland. Britain and France promised to protect the Poland in the event of an attack, and so the invasion of Poland in 1939 resulted in both countries declaring war on Hitler if he did not withdraw. This declaration was made on 3 September, but Hitler did not respond and carried on with his invasion plan, carving up Poland with the USSR, as had been agreed in the Nazi-Soviet Pact the month before.

In practical reality, given the geographic distances involved, both Britain and France could do little to help the Polish government in terms of military aid – one of the main reasons Hitler had believed his invasion would not lead to WWII. Meanwhile, the USA pursued an isolationist policy, and Italy, for the time being, remained neutral. Perhaps if France had mobilised its army and attacked Germany from the west, then Hitler may have withdrawn, but the French generals had already put their faith not in offence but in defence. Britain did nothing practical either, as Member of Parliament Robert Boothby (1900-1986) noted: "We'd gone to war for the defence of Poland, we'd given a unilateral guarantee to Poland and in the event we did nothing to help Poland at all" (Holmes, 74).

While the Poles bore the full brunt of Germany's high-speed blitzkrieg war tactics, it was not until the spring of 1940 that the people of Western Europe became directly involved in the war. This initial period of non-military action in the West, when everyone expected the bombs, artillery fire, and tanks to arrive at any moment, was called the Phoney War. The term was coined by a US newspaper. Some of the British press described the period as the 'Bore War' while Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940) called it the 'Twilight War'. In France, the same period was called la drôle de guerre ('Strange War'), while in Germany it was the Sitzkrieg ('Sitting War').

Europe on the Eve of WWII, 1939

Simeon Netchev (CC BY-NC-ND)

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[warmaster-uk]

British soldiers enjoy an impromptu show during the Phoney War. #ww2 #secondworldwar #worldwartwo #worldwar2 #history #military #militaryhistory #colourised #colorized #colorizedhistory #phoneywar #war #colorizedhistoricalphotos #britisharmy #colourisedhistory #france #1940 #comedy #hitler Orginal b/w image at https://www.spiegel.de/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CfSWMmfK-0O/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[berlinluftterror]

Berliners cycling at Karlstraße (today Reinhardtstraße) corner of Friedrichstraße, before the war.

Note Berliner Kindl ad at the store front.

[Photo: Sobotta M. Berlin in frühen Farbdias, 1936 bis 1943. Sutton, 2013.]  

[warmaster-uk]

British troops occupying their time during the Phoney War. #ww2 #secondworldwar #worldwartwo #worldwar2 #history #military #militaryhistory #colourised #colorized #colorizedhistory #phoneywar #war #colorizedhistoricalphotos #britisharmy #colourisedhistory #france #1940 Original b/w photo at Wikipedia. https://www.instagram.com/p/CfSROyDqLOZ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[andrewtopping]

Not bad. #phoneywar of the wife and #murraylawther sneaking in! (at A Not So Secret Location)