On this day 75 years ago, at 04.45, (02:45 GMT) the German cruiser Schleswig-Holstein, which was docked on a friendship visit in the free city of Danzig, now Gdansk, opened fire on the small Polish garrison on the Westerplatte peninsula. Simultaneously thousands of German troops crossed over the Polish border. The Second World War had begun. Nazi Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, shelling a Polish garrison at Gdansk. Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. Today is neither the time for beautiful speeches nor simple optimism Europeans must learn the lesson of World War Two, which is, there is no place for naive optimism
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 08:13:40 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015