UK Citizenship Practice Test

The invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939 marked the beginning of World War II. On September 1, 1939, German forces launched a swift attack on Poland, utilizing their military strategy called Blitzkrieg, which emphasized quick, concentrated assaults to overwhelm the enemy. This invasion prompted Britain and France to declare war on Germany shortly thereafter, thus starting the global conflict. Poland was strategically important for Germany as it provided a gateway to Eastern Europe. The invasion also demonstrated the failure of the policy of appeasement that had been used towards Germany in the preceding years and was a clear indication of its expansionist ambitions. The other choices refer to countries that were invaded later in the war; for instance, Belgium was invaded in 1940 during the Battle of France, and Czechoslovakia was dismembered in stages starting in 1938 with the Munich Agreement, but these actions did not occur in the same context as the initial invasion that triggered the war.