Phoney War

The Phoney War was a name for the eight months during World War II from the invasion of Poland in September 1939 to the invasion of France in May 1940.

People of Warsaw, Poland, celebrate at the British embassy there just after the British declared war on Nazi Germany.

During that time, there were no major military operations in Europe. The United Kingdom and France declared war after Poland was invaded and started blockade against Nazi Germany, which did likewise by declaring war and blockade. The Battle of the Atlantic had begun in which German submarines destroyed many British ships. The British Royal Air Force dropped propaganda leaflets on Germany, and Canadian troops began to arrive in Britain.

In April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway. Both the Allies and the Axis restarted large-scale fighting against each other. Britain and France needed many weapons quickly and so they began to buy them from American weapon companies. The Americans remained neutral but helped Britain and France by selling weapons cheaply and then by the Lend-Lease program of military equipment and supplies.