All the world could see that Hitler, with West's encouragement and help, was amassing army for the invasion of Soviet Union. British elite, led by Chamberlain, imagined that it would destroy the communist menace Russia, much as Germans had destroyed the regime during World War I.. ..…

But we should not forget that Sept 1 was the last act of drama that started long before 1939, with British and French attempts to appease Nazi Germany, in the hope of directing Hitler against Soviet Union. ..…

Elsewhere, the anti-Axis coalition was at last winning campaigns and liberating territory. The Americans landed in Algeria and, with the British driving victoriously across Libya, threw the Germans out of north Africa. ..…