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(Friday, September 1, 1939, 4:45 a.m. Central European Time; during the Invasion of Poland in the European theatre of World War II) — World War II, the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, began this morning as Nazi Germany invaded Poland.
The invasion officially began at 4:45 a.m. Central European Time when the old German pre-dreadnought battleship SMS Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish military transit depot at Westerplatte in the Free City of Danzig on the Baltic Sea.
However, in many places German units crossed the Polish border even before 4:45 a.m. and the Luftwaffe attack on Wielun started around 4:40 a.m.
The Battle of the Border began around 5:00 a.m. as German troops started crossing into Polish border in numerous places, including near the Polish village of Mokra at 8:00 a.m.
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Later in the day, the Germans attacked on Poland’s western, southern and northern borders, while German aircraft began raids on Polish cities.
Adolf Hitler broadcast his declaration of war to the Wehrmacht at 5:40 a.m. “The Polish state has refused the peaceful settlement of relations which I desired and appealed to arms”, Hitler declared. “… In order to put an end to this lunacy I have no other choice than to meet force with force from now on. The German Army will fight the battle for the honor and the vital rights of a newborn Germany with hard determination.”
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Hitler appeared before the Reichstag soon after 10:00 in the morning to explain his decision. Those in the audience who didn’t notice that Hitler was wearing a field-gray uniform instead of his usual brown jacket would have done so after he declared toward the end: “From now on I am just the 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 assured, or I will not survive the outcome.”
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said at a press conference that “every effort” would be made by his administration to stay out of the war.
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British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain appeared before the House of Commons shortly after 6:00 in the evening.
“It now only remains for us to set our teeth and to enter upon this struggle, which we ourselves earnestly endeavored to avoid, with determination to see it through to the end”, Chamberlain declared. “We shall enter it with a clear conscience, with the support of the Dominions and the British Empire, and the moral approval of the greater part of the world.”
At 9 p.m., British Ambassador to Germany Sir Nevile Henderson handed an ultimatum to Joachim von Ribbentrop. It declared that unless the British government received “satisfactory assurances” that Germany was prepared to withdraw from Polish territory, “His Majesty’s Government will without hesitation fulfill their obligation to Poland.”
One hour later, the French ambassador delivered an identical note.
