The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany

By September 17, 1939—little more than two weeks after the German invasion—all Polish forces were either defeated or hopelessly surrounded. Ribbentrop now pressed Molotov to provide a definitive date for Soviet military intervention as provided for by the secret protocol attached to the August 23 Nazi-Soviet Pact. On September 28, Stalin and Hitler agreed to a partition that wiped Poland off the map. As the price of continued neutrality, the Soviet dictator received generous concessions in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Having conquered Poland in a matter of weeks, and having divided the spoils with an accommodating Stalin, Hitler turned his attention to the West. In public, and in the presence of unofficial diplomats, Hitler spoke of peace. According to Field Marshal Walther Brauchitsch, however, Hitler planned to attack France as early as November 12. This date was repeatedly pushed back throughout the winter and early spring, when the Fuehrer temporarily changed his strategy, but he never wavered in his belief that he could knock France out of the war as quickly as he had vanquished Poland.

Convinced that an attack on France would bring certain defeat, the anti-Hitler conspirators, Army and civilian, once again discussed removing the Fuehrer by force if necessary.