Is it known who fired the first shots of World War II?
I mean this in terms of the outbreak in the European theater and not Japan's earlier aggressive expansions into China. Did German or Polish forces fire first?
According to Hitler on September 1st, 1939,
Quote:Polen hat heute Nacht zum ersten Mal auf unserem eigenen Territorium auch mit bereits regulären Soldaten geschossen. Seit 5:45 Uhr wird jetzt zurückgeschossen.
Last night for the first time Poland fired upon regular soldiers on our own territory. Since 5:45 A.M., we've been returning fire.
Of course, it's not really improbable that the great dictator lied.
Did German forces first try to occupy Danzig/Gdańsk and expect a warm welcome? I know Hitler considered the city German even though it no longer belonged to Germany, which may be what he meant by "our own territory." Or did the Polish actually fire on the Germans on German soil?
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