6
Dec. 45
in
Moscow, and we have heard in Hitler's speech of
that date to his commanders-in-chief how it had
gone down as a shock to the rest of the world.
In fact, the orders to invade Poland were given
immediately after the signing of that treaty,
and the H-hour was actually to be in the early
morning of the 25th of August. Orders were given
to invade Poland in the early hours of the 25th
of August, and that I shall prove in a moment.
On the same day — the 23rd of
August — that the German-Russian agreement
was signed in Moscow, news reached England that
it was being signed. And of course the
significance of it from a military point of view
as to Germany, particularly in the present
circumstances, was obvious; and the British
Government immediately made their position clear
in one last hope — and that one last hope
was that if they did so the German Government
might possibly think better of it. And I refer
to Document TC-72, Number 56; it is the first
document in the next to the last part of the
Tribunal document book, in which the Prime
Minister wrote to Hitler. That document becomes
GB-55:
"Your
Excellency:
"Your
Excellency will have already heard of
certain measures taken by His Majesty's
Government, and announced in the press
and on the wireless this evening.
"These
steps have, in the opinion of His
Majesty's Government, been rendered
necessary by the military movements
which have been reported from Germany
and by the fact that apparently the
announcement of a German-Soviet
agreement is taken in some quarters in
Berlin to indicate that intervention by
Great Britain on behalf of Poland is no
longer a contingency that need be
reckoned with. No greater mistake could
be made. Whatever may prove to be the
nature of the German-Soviet agreement,
it cannot alter Great Britain's
obligation to Poland, which His
Majesty's Government have stated in
public repeatedly and plainly and which
they are determined to fulfill.
"It
has been alleged that, if His Majesty's
Government had made their position more
clear in 1914, the great catastrophe
would have been avoided. Whether or not
there is any force in that allegation,
His Majesty's Government are resolved
that on this occasion there shall be no
such tragic misunderstanding.
"If
the case should arise, they are resolved
and prepared to employ without delay all
the forces at their command; and it is
impossible to foresee the end of
hostilities once engaged. It would be a
dangerous delusion to think that, if war
once starts, it will come to an early
end even if a success on any