France followed suit. But that was all they did, and Hitler’s troops continued to roll over Poland. On the 17th, the Soviet Union attacked Poland from the east. Ten days later, divided between Hitler and Stalin, Poland had vanished from the map. After Poland, Hitler remained quiet while building up strength for an assault on the West, and the West remained quiet hoping maybe Mr. Hitler would change his mind and settle down. It was a time of false calm called “the phony war” or “the Sitzkrieg,” and it again encouraged both the European democracies and the United States to think perhaps a
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