ABSTRACT
By late August 1939 Hitler’s determination to obliterate Poland’s independence even at the risk of a general European war was not in question. There would be no 1939 version of the Munich conference to deny him the satisfaction of seeing Poland disappear before his eyes. Appeasement was dead. Hitler had to face up to the fact that if his forces moved against Poland, the British, French and Dominion governments were likely to declare war on Germany. Nonetheless, armed with the pact that had just been negotiated with the Soviets, he was prepared to run this risk.1
