Acclaimed historians such as A.J.P Taylor, as far as permitted, resisted political interference in the accurate recording of events. The late professor conceded that the German attack on Poland was in response to British-backed Polish aggression to which Czechoslovakia was already a victim. Since the Polish occupation of Czechoslovakia Germany too suffered repeated Polish attacks on its borders and the occupation of its territory.

Matters were finally brought to a head by Polish Foreign Minister Beck’s inflexibility over the Danzig question as well as daily revelations of murderous atrocities committed against German nationals in Polish occupied territories.