Phoney War

The Phoney War was an eight-month period at the outset of World War II, lasting from September 1939 to May 1940, during which there were virtually no major Allied military land operations on the Western Front. World War II began on 1 September 1939 with Germany's invasion of Poland. This was followed on 3 September by the United Kingdom's and France's declarations of war on Germany, which marked the beginning of the Phoney War period. Although the Western Allies did not conduct major military actions during the Phoney War, they did implement economic warfare, particularly a naval blockade of Germany, shut down German surface raiders, and formulated elaborate plans for large-scale operations designed to cripple the German war effort. These plans included opening an Anglo-French front in the Balkans, invading Norway to seize control of Germany's main source of iron ore, and imposing an embargo against the Soviet Union, which was Germany's primary oil supplier. The Phoney War was punctuated by a few isolated Allied military actions. The French invasion of German Saarland on 7 September 1939 was intended to assist Poland by diverting German troops from the Polish front. Only six German divisions were diverted from the Polish front, and France withdrew following a German counteroffensive in October. In November 1939, the Soviets attacked Finland in the Winter War, eliciting much debate in France and Britain about mounting an offensive to help Finland. However, the necessary forces for this Allied offensive were not assembled until after the Winter War concluded, to neither sides' advantage in March. The Allied discussions about a Scandinavian campaign triggered concern in Germany and resulted in the invasion of Denmark and Norway in April 1940. This then caused the Allies to redirect their troops to Norway, but by April the execution of the Norway plan...