Is this the end of an old adventure or is it the
beginning of a new? Is this the last attack upon
a small state or is it to be followed by others?
Is this, in effect, a step in the direction of an
attempt to dominate the world by force?
In London, the Cabinet insisted on steps to create
a deterrent alliance to save the peace if it could still
be saved. They believed that only the threat of
force might stop Hitler. Rumours of an impending
German ultimatum to Romania, false as it turned
out, served as the initial impetus which led to a
unilateral Anglo-French guarantee, announced on
31 March 1939, to defend Romania and Poland
against German aggression. Although Chamber-
lain continued to place faith in conciliating Hitler,
he too was converted to the need for a deterrent
alliance. Halifax and the Cabinet also urged that
the alliance of the Soviet Union, too, should be
sought. A sceptical Chamberlain had to give way.
The long and weary Anglo-French–Soviet negoti-
ations which followed lasted until 23 August 1939
when Stalin decided that Soviet interests were best
served by concluding a non-aggression treaty with
Nazi Germany instead.
If Britain’s negotiations with Russia and its
guarantee (and later alliance) with Poland prove
anything, it is that the British never sought to
embroil the Germans in a war with Russia while
they, themselves, stood aside. Hitler could have
invaded Russia on a broad front only by way of
Poland or Romania, and Britain’s policy had put
up a barrier which could not be breached without
involving Britain and France in war as well. It was
ironic that the Western democracies should now
be aligned with authoritarian Poland, having sac-
rificed democratic Czechoslovakia.
It has been argued that Britain and France were
unnecessarily dragged into war by the March 1939
guarantees to Poland. Hitler, so this reasoning
1
THE OUTBREAK OF WAR IN EUROPE, 1937–9 233
On his return from Munich, Chamberlain waves the Anglo-German Agreement promising peace before the
cameras. A world media event, note the number of microphones. © Underwood & Underwood Corbis
