The 1 September 1939 Reichstag speech is a speech made by Adolf Hitler at an Extraordinary Session of the German Reichstag on the day of the German invasion of Poland. The speech served as public declaration of war against Poland and thus of the commencement of World War II (Germany did not submit a formal declaration of war to Poland).
The first shots of the invasion had been fired at around 4:48 am of 1 September, by the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein . At 5:40 am, Hitler issued a declaration to the armed forces: "The Polish state has refused the peaceful settlement of relations which I desired, and appealed to arms... In order to put an end to this lunacy I have no other choice than to meet force with force from now on."[ citation needed ] This was followed by his speech to the Reichstag, meeting at the Kroll Opera House, [1] at about 11:00 AM. [2]
Preparations were made – barricades and police – for an expected spontaneous and enthusiastic crowd along Hitler's route to the Opera House. But only a handful of people showed up, and Berliners were largely apathetic, even grim, and showed no enthusiasm for the war. [3]
The speech followed Hitler's usual pattern, starting out slowly and even haltingly, then proceeding in stages to a crescendo of shouted vituperation. [3] Although some statements in the speech were true, overall it was an "astonishing catalog of lies". [4] Hitler misrepresented in detail the course of diplomatic events preceding the invasion:
I have also tried to solve the problem of Danzig, the Corridor, etc., by proposing a peaceful discussion... In my talks with Polish statesmen I discussed the ideas which you recognise from my last speech to the Reichstag... there is nothing more modest or loyal than these proposals... These proposals have been refused. Not only were they answered first with mobilisation, but with increased terror and pressure against our German compatriots... Poland was not prepared to settle the Corridor question in a reasonable way... I made one more final effort to accept a proposal for mediation... For two whole days I sat with my Government and waited to see whether it was convenient for the Polish Government to send a plenipotentiary or not... Deputies, if the German Government and its Leader patiently endured such treatment Germany would deserve only to disappear from the political stage. But I am wrongly judged if my love of peace and my patience are mistaken for weakness or even cowardice... These proposals for mediation have failed...
Hitler then spoke of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which had been signed just ten days before, on August 23. Although news of the pact had been published in the Soviet Union and had by then widely spread throughout the world, this speech included Hitler's first formal declaration of the Pact:
I am happy particularly to be able to tell you of one event... I no longer see any reason why [Germany and Russia] should still oppose one another... We have, therefore, resolved to conclude a pact which rules out for ever any use of violence between us... Russia and Germany fought against one another in the World War. That shall and will not happen a second time.
Hitler justified the German attack by claiming Polish culpability based on (invented) Polish atrocities at Pitschen and other places, including Gleiwitz and Hochlinden, [3] both of these being part of the culmination of Operation Himmler, a false flag operation intended to demonstrate that the Poles had attacked first, the Gleiwitz incident being the most notable.
This night for the first time Polish regular soldiers fired on our territory. Since 5:45 a.m. we have been returning the fire, and from now on bombs will be met by bombs.
Hitler then declared himself as the "First soldier of the German Reich" (Erster Soldat des Deutschen Reiches), a self-claimed rank, effectively equivalent of Generalissimo . This was a further step in cementing Hitler's position as supreme commander of the German Armed Forces (Oberbefehlshaber der Deutschen Wehrmacht):
I am from now on just first soldier of the German Reich. I have once more put on that coat that was the most sacred and dear to me. I will not take it off again until victory is secured, or I will not survive the outcome.
William L. Shirer observed that "Only once that day did Hitler utter the truth. In the end, this once, he would prove as good as his word. But no German I met in Berlin that day noticed that what the Leader was saying quite bluntly was that he could not face, or take, defeat should it come". [5]
First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt wrote, "At 5:00 o’clock this morning, our telephone rang, and it was the President in Washington to tell me the sad news that Germany had invaded Poland and that her planes were bombing Polish cities. He told me that Hitler was about to address the Reichstag, so we turned on the radio and listened until 6:00 o’clock... As I listened to Hitler's speech, this letter kept returning to my mind... how can you say that you do not intend to make war on women and children and then send planes to bomb cities?" [2] (In the speech, Hitler promised "I will not war against women and children. I have ordered my air force to restrict itself to attacks on military objectives" (Ich will nicht den Kampf gegen Frauen und Kinder führen. Ich habe meiner Luftwaffe den Auftrag gegeben, sich auf militärische Objekte bei ihren Angriffen zu beschränken.)) [6] [7]
The New York Times headline for its front-page report of the speech, after leading with quotes that "Bomb Will Be Met by Bomb" and Hitler's vow to "Fight Until Resolution" of the Polish situation, focused on the order of succession decree. [8] In the speech, Hitler had declared that the order of his succession would be Hermann Göring, then Rudolf Hess, then a successor to be chosen by "the Senate" (den Senat) [6] (although there was no Senate, the Reichsrat inherited from the Weimar Republic having been abolished on 14 February 1934.) [9] This was the first announcement of this order of succession.[ citation needed ] (This designation of Göring as Hitler's successor remained in effect (re-affirmed by a decree of 29 June 1941) until the Göring telegram of 23 April 1945, in which Göring attempted to use it to justify seizing control of Germany.)
Hermann Wilhelm Göring was a German politician, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which governed Germany from 1933 to 1945.
Ulrich Friedrich-Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was a German politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945.
Hans Michael Frank was a German politician, war criminal, and lawyer who served as head of the General Government in German-occupied Poland during the Second World War.
The Enabling Act of 1933, officially titled Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich, was a law that gave the German Cabinet – most importantly, the Chancellor – the power to make and enforce laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or Weimar President Paul von Hindenburg, leading to the rise of Nazi Germany. Critically, the Enabling Act allowed the Chancellor to bypass the system of checks and balances in the government.
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, War of Poland of 1939, and Polish Defensive War of 1939, was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet Union, which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, and one day after the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union had approved the pact. One of the aims of the invasion was to divide Polish territory at the end of the operation; Poland was to cease to exist as a country and all Poles were to be exterminated. The Soviets invaded Poland on 17 September. The campaign ended on 6 October with Germany and the Soviet Union dividing and annexing the whole of Poland under the terms of the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty. The invasion is also known in Poland as the September campaign or 1939 defensive war and known in Germany as the Poland campaign.
The Gleiwitz incident was a false flag attack on the radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz staged by Nazi Germany on the night of 31 August 1939. Along with some two dozen similar incidents, the attack was manufactured by Germany as a casus belli to justify the invasion of Poland. Prior to the invasion, Adolf Hitler gave a radio address condemning the acts and announcing German plans to attack Poland, which began the next morning. Despite the German government using the attack as a justification to go to war with Poland, the Gleiwitz assailants were not Polish but were German SS officers wearing Polish uniforms.
This timeline of events preceding World War II covers the events that affected or led to World War II.
Operation Himmler, also called Operation Konserve, consisted of a group of 1939 false flag undertakings planned by Nazi Germany to give the appearance of Polish aggression against Germany. The Germans then used propaganda reports of the events to justify their invasion of Poland, which started on 1 September 1939. Operation Himmler included the Germans staging false attacks on themselves—directed at innocent people, such as civilians and concentration camp prisoners. The operation arguably became the first act of the Second World War in Europe.
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. His invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 marked the start of the Second World War. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.
Hitler: Speeches and Proclamations 1932–1945: The Chronicle of a Dictatorship is a 3,400-page book series edited by Max Domarus presenting the day-to-day activities of Adolf Hitler between 1932 and 1945, along with the text of significant speeches.
The German–Polish declaration of non-aggression, also known as the German–Polish non-aggression pact, was an agreement between Nazi Germany and the Second Polish Republic that was signed on 26 January 1934 in Berlin. Both countries pledged to resolve their problems by bilateral negotiations and to forgo armed conflict for a period of 10 years. The agreement effectively normalised relations between Poland and Germany, which had been strained by border disputes arising from the territorial settlement in the Treaty of Versailles. The declaration marked an end to an economically damaging customs war between the two countries that had taken place over the previous decade.
Johan Birger Essen Dahlerus was a Swedish businessman, amateur diplomat and friend of Hermann Göring. He attempted through diplomatic channels to prevent the Second World War.
The Göring telegram was a message sent by Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe and Adolf Hitler's designated successor as leader of Nazi Germany, that asked for permission to assume leadership of the crumbling regime on 23 April 1945. The telegram caused an infuriated Hitler to immediately strip Göring of power and to appoint new successors, Joseph Goebbels and Karl Dönitz, as chancellor and head of state, respectively.
The Reichstag, officially the Greater German Reichstag after 1938, was the national parliament of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. Following the Nazi seizure of power and the enactment of the Enabling Act of 1933, it functioned purely as a rubber stamp for the actions of Adolf Hitler's dictatorship — always by unanimous consent — and as a forum to listen to Hitler's speeches. In this purely ceremonial role, the Reichstag convened only 20 times, the last on 26 April 1942. The President of the Reichstag throughout this period was Hermann Göring.
On 3 September 1939, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany—two days after the German invasion of Poland. France also declared war on Germany later the same day.
The following events occurred in August 1939:
World War II was the biggest and deadliest war in history, involving more than 30 countries. Sparked by the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, the war dragged on for six bloody years until the Allies defeated the Axis powers of Nazi Germany, Japan and Italy in 1945. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies—China, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and France.
During a speech at the Reichstag on 30 January 1939, German Führer Adolf Hitler threatened "the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe" in the event of war:
If international finance Jewry inside and outside Europe should succeed in plunging the nations once more into a world war, the result will be not the Bolshevization of the earth and thereby the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe.
Hitler's 6 October 1939 Reichstag speech was a speech given by Adolf Hitler shortly after the Invasion of Poland. It featured Hitler's penultimate offer of peace to the Western Allies.
HYDE PARK, Friday—At 5:00 o'clock this morning 11:00 AM Berlin time - ed our telephone rang and it was the President in Washington to tell me the sad news that Germany had invaded Poland and that her planes were bombing Polish cities. He told me that Hitler was about to address the Reichstag, so we turned on the radio and listened until 6:00 o'clock. 12 noon Berlin time - ed