How Great Britain entered the Second World War on materials of the Foreign Office's archives)

The article examines diplomatic struggle in Europe on the eve of the Second World War, the diplomacy of Great Britain as chief initiator of the policy of appeasement of the fascist states. The documents of the National Archives in London presented in the article show that the British government of N. Chamberlain did not wish to fulfil their obligations before Poland and preferred search of a compromise with Hitler of Munich type. Secret diplomacy of London is being analysed, which was realized through different channels straight with Germans and by negotiators aiming to secure peace in the West at the expense of others, this time Poland. The author comes to a conclusion that Great Britain and France by guaranteeing the countries of Eastern Europe did not drop the policy of appeasement, it was in force till the 3rd of September 1939, when the Western powers had to declare war on Germany. But there in the West “phony war” started, i.e. war without military actions, and it influenced on the fate of Poland highly negatively. As the author shows, the roots of the “phony war” were in the pre-war policy of Great Britain and France which became known as the policy of appeasement.