3. The View From a Soviet Perspective
During the run-up to Hitler’s invasion of Poland, the Western Powers had demonstrated their unreliability during the Munich Crisis, exhibiting greater distaste for dealing with Stalin than with Hitler. The Soviets made solid offers to defend Czechoslovakia, but the Poles refused them permission to march through Poland to reach Czechoslovakia. To be fair to the Poles, their stance was not wholly irrational.
The Soviets were still smarting from their defeat in the 1919 – 1921 Polish-Soviet War, and they claimed the western third of Poland. The Poles thus feared that if the Red Army entered Poland, it might never leave. So the Poles were faced with two evils, but as things turned out, they ended up choosing the greater evil. In the meantime, Britain and France negotiated halfheartedly and ended up appeasing Hitler.
