I've done a bunch of research into the lead up to WWII and the evidence is clear that the UK was intentionally stoking tensions between Germany and the Soviets (a good summary from Counterpunch). What I still haven't figured out, though, is why Poland was the line in the sand for the policy of appeasement. If the UK wanted an armed conflict between Germany and the USSR, why be so passive on Austria and Czechoslovakia only to flip when Poland is threatened, when a partially annexed Poland would have been the gateway for the Eastern war that UK seemed to desire?
Because there were two factions in the British elite. The French were against going to war (yet, they wanted Hitler to crush the Soviets and then invade) but reluctantly did.
One, representing Capital, wanted the Soviets to fall at any cost but was sidelined due to Edward VIII causing a constitutional crisis. The other representing the British Civil Service and the Aristocracy, continued down the standard path of preventing a single power from dominating Europe and thought the Munich Conference was a line in the sand. Once Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia anyway they began mobilisation
I've done a bunch of research into the lead up to WWII and the evidence is clear that the UK was intentionally stoking tensions between Germany and the Soviets (a good summary from Counterpunch). What I still haven't figured out, though, is why Poland was the line in the sand for the policy of appeasement. If the UK wanted an armed conflict between Germany and the USSR, why be so passive on Austria and Czechoslovakia only to flip when Poland is threatened, when a partially annexed Poland would have been the gateway for the Eastern war that UK seemed to desire?
Because there were two factions in the British elite. The French were against going to war (yet, they wanted Hitler to crush the Soviets and then invade) but reluctantly did.
One, representing Capital, wanted the Soviets to fall at any cost but was sidelined due to Edward VIII causing a constitutional crisis. The other representing the British Civil Service and the Aristocracy, continued down the standard path of preventing a single power from dominating Europe and thought the Munich Conference was a line in the sand. Once Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia anyway they began mobilisation