Second world war

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On 3 September France and Britain, followed by the fully independent Dominions[51] of the British Commonwealth,[52] – Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa – declared war on Germany, but provided little support to Poland other than a small French attack into the Saarland.[53]

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Britain and France also began a naval blockade of Germany on 3 September which aimed to damage the country's economy and war effort.Germany responded by ordering U-boat warfare against Allied merchant and war ships (Battle of the Atlantic).

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On 17 September 1939, after signing a cease-fire with Japan, the Soviets also invaded Poland.[56] The Polish army was defeated and Warsaw surrendered to the Germans on 27 September, with final pockets of resistance surrendering on 6 October. Poland's territory was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union, with Lithuania and Slovakia also receiving small shares.

The Poles did not surrender; they established a Polish Underground State and an underground Home Army, and continued to fight with the Allies on all fronts outside Poland.

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About 100,000 Polish military personnel were evacuated to Romania and the Baltic countries; many of these soldiers later fought against the Germans in other theatres of the war.

Poland's Enigma codebreakers were also evacuated to France.

During this time, Japan launched its first attack against Changsha, a strategically important Chinese city, but was repulsed by late September.

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On 6 October Hitler made a public peace overture to Britain and France, but said that the future of Poland was to be determined exclusively by Germany and the Soviet Union. Chamberlain rejected this on 12 October, saying "Past experience has shown that no reliance can be placed upon the promises of the present German Government.“

After this rejection Hitler ordered an immediate offensive against France, but his generals persuaded him to wait until May of next year.

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In December 1939 Britain won a naval victory over Germany in the south Atlantic during the Battle of the River Plate.

Following the invasion of Poland and a German-Soviet treaty governing Lithuania, the Soviet Union forced the Baltic countries to allow it to station Soviet troops in their countries under pacts of "mutual assistance.“

Finland rejected territorial demands and was invaded by the Soviet Union in November 1939.

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