The German Question, Part One Hundred Thirty-Four

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/B
"Foreign Policy & The German Question" Part Ten
"Last Grasp At Peace"

The British and French wanted Poland and Germany to negotiate directly over Danzig, but Poland was reluctant, and Hitler had said he would not do so after the Polish government had rejected his offer in the spring of 1939. Public opinion in both Britain and France had hardened against Hitler, but in spite of this, the French and British governments still did not believe Danzig was worth war. Hitler finally told the British ambassador to Germany that he would be willing to negotiate directly with a Polish representative who had full power to come to an agreement, and that his basic demands were the return of Danzig to German rule, and a plebiscite (referendum) in the Polish Corridor to determine, which, if any, territory there would return to Germany. The problem now became how to get the Polish government to send such a representative, or to even listen to Hitler's terms.* Finally the Polish ambassador to Germany met with the German Foreign Minister, von Ribbentrop, but the ambassador was not empowered to negotiate an agreement. The talks ended and so did peace. Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland to go forward, as it did on September 1, 1939.

Though Hitler was a son-of-a-bitch, his unification of so many Germans had been quite a remarkable matter, but now he was to rely on war, not diplomacy.**

* While I still believe that by this time Hitler was aiming for war against Poland, some of his actions suggest that he may have been willing to accept another "Munich" type agreement, without war. It is very difficult to tell. He may well have supposed that British and French pressure on the Polish government would force the Poles to send a representative to negotiations, but that the tough Polish position on the matter would remain unchanged, and that the negotiations would therefore break down, leaving little sympathy for Poland in Britain and France, and thus allowing him (Hitler) to invade Poland without serious consequences. Understand, that's just a theory, not fact.

** I say "remarkable," because if you have been following this series, you know how divided the Germans had been for centuries.

WORD HISTORY:
Wehrmacht-This compound word was borrowed into English from German during the World War Two era, as it was the name then used for the German Armed Forces; that is, the combined army, air force and navy, although popular usage made it the term for the Germany Army (ground forces), which technically was "Deutsches Heer;" "Heer" being closely related to English "harry" and "harrow." German "Wehr" means "defense/resistance." For those studying German, in this case it is feminine; thus "die Wehr," but when used to mean "dam" (something that "protects you from water"), as in the now archaic, but closely related English word, "weir," it is neuter; thus "das Wehr." Like English "weir,"^ it goes back to Indo European "wer," which meant "to cover, to shut." The notion of "cover" gave Old Germanic "warjanan," which meant "protection, defense." This same meaning continued in the various Germanic dialects, including Old English, but in both English and German it also took on the meaning of "dam up;" that is, "protect from water," in the Old English verb form "werian," and also the noun "wer," which meant "dam, enclosed area of water." Dutch has "weer," Danish and Norwegian have "forsvar," Swedish "försvar," Icelandic has "varnir," Frisian has "ferwar," "some" Low German has "wäare," all of these versions with the general meaning "defense." The second part of the compound, "Macht," is the same as English "might," as in "power, force." For the history of "might," and therefore, German "Macht," see the "Word History" here: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/07/german-question-part-one-hundred_15.html

^ For the history of the word "weir" in English, here is the link to the article:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2019/06/danish-sandwich-with-egg-shrimp.html