Soviet invasion of Poland - 17th September 1939:-
I hadn’t seen this youtube clip before, includes joint Nazi and Soviet victory parade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFTtuHxxBLo&feature=youtu.be
Why France and England didn´t declare war on the Soviet Union as they did on Germany based on the defense of the polish state independence?
What would have been the point at that point? There was no longer a Polish state nor independence to defend. And the combined Anglo-French militairies were mobilizing to meet the Germans, they certainly didn’t want the Soviets as anything more than the cynical *****s they were…
That answer is a smart one but arguable. Then comes the second question: once Germany was defeated why didn´t GB, the USA and France demand the URSS to return Poland to it´s status prior to 1939 when it was the trigger for a war that devastated Europe and killed millions of soldiers and innocent people on almost every place in that terrible struggle? Not only Poland but eastern Europe lost its freedom as well and a weakened Europe became dependent of the USA protection and eventually lost its independence, 73 years after Macron appears to realize the terrible mistake, I am afraid too late.
Becouse the serious states folows in heir politic by their interest, not by the someone else “independence”. The declare war on both Germany and USSR in 1939 would automatically push the USSR into the axis side , with absolutly no hope for GB , with US or without, to win this monstrouse alliance.
mobilizing for “phony” war?
mobilizing for “phony” war?
Hi Chevan old Friend! How have you been? Hope you’re all well. Everything is fine here in the Mid-West.
Hello Chevan!
Ha! This site has become rather bizarre and doesn’t show me as logged in until I replay to a post!
As for the comment, the short answer is yes indeed, as Britain had a very small professional army and the French were a “peoples’ army” of mainly reservists and were both unable or unwilling to launch a serious offensive with their doctrines, though an invasion of Germany chances of success were an open question with the majority of the German Heer in Poland…
Cheers…
I guess I have to log in four or five times to post anything… 
Try refreshing the page after login, it works for me. Sometimes I have to refresh when moving from section to section. It is a bit weird. Haven’t heard from Procyon lately either.
[RIGHT][/RIGHT]
Off topic, but moving towards a modern vaguely related event.
Chevan, me old mate: Looking at the current situation, do you as a Russian feel that the West is pressing unreasonably against Russia by extending NATO membership into eastern Europe after the collapse of the USSR, given that NATO was formed purely to stop USSR expansion to the west?
There’s been no reason to maintain NATO since the collapse of the USSR about 30 years ago, but the West and some of the eastern European nations on or near Russia’s borders have signed up to NATO after the reason for its existence disappeared.
If I was Russian, and especially Putin and his cohort, I’d have a reasonable concern that the West was still trying to contain and threaten Russia. And that could encourage me to push into Ukraine, which happens to want NATO membership and which happens to be a salient surrounded by post-USSR NATO members.
As an outsider, I’m inclined to think it was a serious strategic mistake by the US dominated NATO to exploit opportunities to expand eastward.
To whatever extent it might have given eastern European nations a sense of security from potential Russian aggression, I suspect it increased the risk of Russian aggression at least as much by a reasonable Russian fear that Russia faced dangerous military and geographical containment by the West and its new eastern European NATO members. Not to mention Turkey in the south.
What is the view of these things in Russia?