If the UK declared war on Germany in 1939 due to the invasion of Poland why did we not declare it on the USSR.

Answer 1

This is something that has irritated me for some time. I think we have to go back to anti German hysteria drummed into British population by politicians & media prior to ww1. Germany was a threat to the Great British Empire, so we declared war, barely 100 years after the Prussian army saved Wellingtons *** at Waterloo. Not to mention the royal family and any true Anglo Saxon is of good German stock.
The anti German hysteria reached ludicrous hights of hypocrisy when the royal family changed it's name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor!
So in 1939 Britain saw Germany as a threat to empire again and we couldn't tollerate that, even though in Mein Kampf Hitler stated that "If even one jewel should fall from the crown of the British Empire it would be a catastrophe for the world". Once again we declared war on Germany. Maybe declaring war on Russia would have been futile but what did declaring war on Germany do to help the Polish, which, if we believe, is wot it was all about? Absolutely nothing!
Someone said that Russia was too far away to fight, pathetic excuse. Wasn't Poland too far away to defend.
South Africa wasn't too far away when gold was discovered, Afghanistan, Crimea etc, etc. Im English and proud of it, I just hate lies & hypocrisy...well lets just say politicians.

Answer 2

The British and French came very close to declaring war on the USSR in 1939 and 1940, one of the reasons was the USSR was checking the Japanese at the time in Asia. Also cooler heads prevailed.
Imagine the idea of the Germans, Italians and Soviets all allied during 1940. There would have been some serious problems protecting the Middle East oil fields especially once the French had surrendered and Syria became Vichy.
Also in 1941 what would have happened when Germany attacked the USSR, would the Soviets apologised for any territory attacked or soldiers killed? Would there have been an Armistace and a change of camp?
And by the time of the Tripartite pack and Japan coming into the fold of powers, the full release of Japanese forces to the southern front or island campaign with the assistance of the Pacific Red Fleet could have also changed the Northern Pacific campaign.

Answer 3

Contrary to what some previous Answers have said, the UK was NOT allied with the USSR in 1939. That did not happen until after Hitler invaded the USSR in mid-1941.

Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939; and the Soviets invaded Poland on September 17, 1939. This was in accordance with the secret clauses of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, but in violation of both the Riga Peace Treaty and the Soviet-Polish Non-Aggression Pact.

Under the terms of the British guarantee to the Poles (March 1939), the British would have been within their rights to declare war on the Soviets for their invasion of Poland. But, in the immediate aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Poland, the British confined themselves to a Foreign Office note delivered to the Soviets condemning the invasion and making it clear that a permanent partition of the country was unacceptable.

In practical terms, there was nothing else that the British COULD do. The British army was, in September 1939, unprepared to undertake any offensive action against Germany, let alone to engage in such action against the Soviets in a region as distant as Poland. The RAF was similarly incapable of mounting any anti-Soviet activity, at least in Europe. Britain’s only available weapon in any military confrontation with the Soviets was the Royal Navy. But the only region in which the RN might have been able to act against the Soviets was the Baltic: and that land-locked sea would have been a deathtrap for British ships in the face of combined German and Soviet air power.

In fact, the only operation which the British might immediately have launched against the Soviets would have been an air attack into the USSR across Caucasus Mountains; but there was only one RAF bomber squadron (in Iraq) stationed within striking distance of the area.

Moscow's cynical partition of Poland with Hitler provoked both anger and despair in Britain. But there was nothing that Britain could do about it.

Answer 4

Because the British were allied with the Russians. Russia's justification for invading Poland from the east was to "protect" as many Poles as they could from the Germans. In reality, all they were doing was trying to keep the Germans as far away from their country as possible.
At the time, Britain was in no position to do anything about it anyway, so they had to accept the Russian explanation at face value, even though I'm sure no one actually believed them.

Answer 5

At the end of WWII we were financially screwed and did not have the capability to take on the might of the USSR on our own. Plus the UK was war weary and more concerned with rebuilding at home than what was going on in eastern europe.

Prior to that Russia had been our ally.

Answer 6

I don't think on September 3 1939 that any one realised that Russia was invading from the east.
When they did they probably thought it best to deal with Hitler first and then worry about Stalin later.

Answer 7

militarily,in that time,we had a military rated at number 18 in the world,we were very weak and in no position to fight anyone.america and the u.s.s.r. both had their hands full with a very tough germany, most veterans of ww2 saw germany as tough as the cold war era soviet union and besides, u.s.s.r. was willing to loose a hundred million people in the fight as premier j. stalin wanted hitler's head in his hands at any cost

Answer 8

because it was the british who actually caved in to stalins demands for a protective zone for the ussr

Answer 9

because Germany was fighting the Russians. we in a sense were on the Russians side that time...sort of.

Answer 10

They were allies.