From the November 2021 IBDP HL History paper 3 exam
The question requires candidates to consider the interrelationship between the invasion of Poland and the expansion into a Europe-wide war by 1941. Candidates may examine why Britain and France declared war on Germany and also why Hitler did not believe in their guarantees to Poland. Candidates may refer to Hitler invading Poland because the Nazi-Soviet Pact meant that he would not have to face a war on two fronts. By 3 September 1939, three major powers were at war, but conflict was limited. There may be some examination of how conflict spread in 1940 with Blitzkrieg attacks on the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway and the fall of France. After Dunkirk, Britain continued to fight with aid from the US (“Cash and Carry” and Lend Lease), Britain's refusal to discuss peace meant that war continued. Candidates may refer to Italian campaigns in the Balkans which extended the conflict to the Mediterranean. Some may argue that early successes meant that Hitler felt confident enough to launch Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, thus facing a war on two fronts and hugely increasing the scale of the conflict. Candidates’ opinions or conclusions will be presented clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.
Written under exam conditions and transcribed below:
How the invasion of Poland in 1939 developed into a European war by 1941 is evident to anyone with a large understanding of war. Just by looking at the map of 1939, it's clear to us that the invasions of Poland in '39 and Russia in '41 were caused by Hitler's Nazi foreign policy and the need for Lebensraum in Eastern Europe. His hatred towards ethnic Slavs and Bolsheviks fuelled these two invasions, but so did the need for resources, particularly oil. On top of that, the alliance system of Axis and Allies contributed to the outbreak of even larger wars. Britain and France were forced to declare war on Germany because they were allied with Poland. This essay will argue how Hitler's expansion eastwards, fuelled by Nazi foreign policy, were the reasons for the invasion of Poland in '39 and Operation Barbarossa in 1941. Moreover, the alliance system contributed to these two separate conflicts in the east of Europe, deeming it a major European conflict.
Hitler despised the Polish Corridor, which split Germany into two, and was adamant in breaking the Treaty of Versailles that saw Germany lose massive territory to Poland. On top of that, his Nazi ideology fuelled his foreign policy and demanded that all Slavs and Bolsheviks were to be destroyed or enslaved. On September 1, 1939, he launched the invasion and within only six weeks, the country collapsed. The surprising alliance between Nazis and USSR was on shaky grounds, and this would be evident through Hitler's hatred towards Polish people. Between '39 and '41, ethnic and cultural genocide ensued in Poland as millions were placed in ghettos and concentration camps. The aforementioned Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which divided Eastern Europe into two spheres of influence, was about to come crashing down under its own ideological hypocrisy. Nazi ideology couldn't be allied with communists, and Hitler's hatred towards the Slavs was about to be unleashed in all its glory. On June 26, 1941, Operation Barbarossa commenced. It was the largest land invasion ever, with three million German soldiers and three whole army groups. Following the rapid advance of the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe, Hitler ordered the extermination of the Slavic population and to create Lebensraum for the German people. The fact that, once at the gates of Moscow, Hitler rather spent valuable manpower resources on ethnically cleansing the eastern territory, supports my argument that Nazi ideology and foreign policy were the reasons he had to invade Poland and Russia. He despised ethnic groups in Eastern Europe and was adamant in ethnically cleansing these territories. Expanding these territories and then exploiting them for resources was a goal of Nazi Germany, which also faced many problems with resources, particularly oil. Hitler's aspiration was to take over the oil fields of Grozny, something he would fail at and pay dearly for. Finally, his need for resources, Lebensraum, and general hate towards Slavs, because Nazi ideology mandated it, were reasons that Poland in '39 and Russia in '41 had to be invaded, contributing to the expansion of World War Two in Europe.
The notorious alliance system of World War Two, the Axis and Allies, was another major factor in these two invasions of '39 and '41, leading to a major European war. Britain and France were closely allied with Poland, therefore, once Nazi Germany invaded Poland, the Allies had to declare war on Germany. Britain and France did so accordingly on September 3rd, just two days after the invasion of Poland. This was the first time they had a determined response to Hitler's aggression, as they learned from the previous mistakes, namely Munich '38 and, in general, Hitler's entire breakdown of the Versailles Treaty during the 1930s. Hitler, after deceiving Stalin with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, had his eastern flank secured and was able to build up his military and carefully plan his invasion of France and the Benelux nations. Because the alliance system meant that Britain and France had to declare war on Hitler's Germany, they were now brought into a conflict they were not ready to fight. Again, in just six weeks, France fell, and the entirety of Central, Northern, and Balkan Europe were free for Hitler's taking. However, he would lose the Battle of Britain and then turned his attention eastwards. Before he could do so, he had to clean up the mess Mussolini left in the Balkans after conquering Greece and Yugoslavia because of the alliance system obligations. This campaign in the Balkans delayed Operation Barbarossa by six weeks, a valuable time for British and Soviet intelligence to gain information on Hitler's plans for Russia. Up to this point in '41, while Europe had been fighting and a war was already underway, it was already a major European war since Southern Balkans, Central France, Benelux, Northern Britain, Denmark, Norway, and Eastern Poland, and Czechoslovakia Europe had experienced brutal forms of combat. The invasion of Russia in '41, which this essay is focused on, was just a continuation of a major European conflict that had broken out long before because of allied and Axis treaty obligations.
In conclusion, the reasons for the invasions of Poland and the USSR, and how they contributed to a large European war by '41, are quite simplistic. Germany, fuelled by ideology, was adamant in committing genocide on Slavs, and they also needed Lebensraum and resources from the Soviets.
