declarattion of war against Germany, Nuremberg trials

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at6
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Location: vienna austria

declarattion of war against Germany, Nuremberg trials

#1

Post by at6 » 03 Dec 2006, 22:20

Has an official reason ever been given why the UK and France declared war on Germany but not on the Soviet Union after the invasion of Poland?

Seems this rolls over to Nuremberg as well, with crimes against peace

David Thompson
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#2

Post by David Thompson » 04 Dec 2006, 00:16

at6 -- You asked:
Has an official reason ever been given why the UK and France declared war on Germany but not on the Soviet Union after the invasion of Poland?
Yes. The short version is that both the UK and France had signed treaties with Poland pledging assistance in the event that Poland was attacked by Germany (in the case of the UK, by "a European power"). Neither the UK nor France guaranteed Poland against an attack by the USSR. See the terms of the treaties here:

Treaty of Locarno Between France and Poland (October 16, 1925)
http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/fyb/append.html
Agreement of Mutual Assistance between the United Kingdom and Poland (August 25, 1939)
http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/bb/bb-078.html#19

The documents leading to the Anglo-French declaration of war on Germany are collected here:

The British War Blue Book
http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/bb/bb-preface.html
The French Yellow Book
http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/fyb/fyb-preface.html

You also remarked:
Seems this rolls over to Nuremberg as well, with crimes against peace
A crime against peace is a war waged in violation of a pre-existing international treaty or guarantee, and neither France nor the UK had signed a non-aggression pact with Germany. That's why the charges of crimes against peace against the German IMT defendants were upheld only where the Germans had pledged themselves not to attack a specific country, but did anyway without renouncing the treaty first, See the discussion of the elements of a crime against peace in the IMT judgment at:

Crimes Against Peace (Waging Aggressive War)
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=21755


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