Why were the UK and France so committed to supporting Poland prior to the kickoff of WW2? It wasn't a democracy like that of the Benelux or Scandinavian countries. What was so valuable about Poland that the UK and France were so committed to defend in a war?

by KevTravels
bbplayer10

The reason why the invasion of Poland caused the UK and France to declare war had little to do with Poland itself. In fact, the UK and France did nothing in all practical terms to defend it. Beyond this, there was hardly any fighting between the Allies and Germany until Germany invaded the Benelux. Both France and the UK were expecting the war to go similarly to WWI, and while they did mobilize their military, they dug in for a defensive trench war rather than go on the offensive, let alone do anything to try and 'save' Poland. (For what it's worth: recall that the USSR was also invading Poland at the time. Given geographical restrictions, as well as militaristic comparisons, it's reasonable to say that there was little the allies could do to save Poland without invading Germany)

To specifically answer your question, the reason why Poland's invasion instigated declarations of war is more that it could be seen as 'the straw the broke the camel's back' in a long list of promises Hitler had broken. Since the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler had broken its regulations in several ways:

  1. Recruited a larger army than allowed
  2. Built tanks
  3. Built aircraft
  4. Re-militarized the Rhineland
  5. Annexed Austria
  6. Annexed the Sudetenland
  7. Installed a puppet government in what was to become Slovakia

Keep in mind that after each of these steps, Hitler was in consistent communication with the leaders of the allies promising he would stop further transgressions.