on this day in 1939, in response to hitlerâs invasion of poland, britain and france, both allies of the overrun nation declare war on germany.
the first casualty of that declaration was not germanâbut the british ocean liner athenia, which was sunk by a german u-30 submarine that had assumed the liner was armed and belligerent. there were more than 1,100 passengers on board, 112 of whom lost their lives. of those, 28 were americans, but president roosevelt was unfazed by the tragedy, declaring that no one was to âthoughtlessly or falsely talk of america sending its armies to european fields.â the united states would remain neutral.
as for britainâs response, it was initially no more than the dropping of anti-nazi propaganda leafletsâ13 tons of themâover germany. they would begin bombing german ships on september 4, suffering significant losses. they were also working under orders not to harm german civilians. the german military, of course, had no such restrictions. france would begin an offensive against germanyâs western border two weeks later. their effort was weakened by a narrow 90-mile window leading to the german front, enclosed by the borders of luxembourg and belgiumâboth neutral countries. the germans mined the passage, stalling the french offensive.
hope this : d
