Eighty years ago, Hitler's friends wobble whilst Britain (accidentally) flags its firmness

Hitler’s decision to invade Poland that he had revealed to his military commanders at the Berghof remained concealed, so the rest of Europe could only observe the outward signs of the final crisis: the last, open German demands on Poland, sundry German delaying tactics to keep its opponents guessing, the frantic attempts by other powers – above all Britain - to avoid a conflict and the more-or-less ambiguous moves by countries more usually friendly to Germany to reserve their positions. For outsiders there were still grounds for hope, but not optimism. There was a crumb of comfort for the peace camp from the announcement by General Franco that Spain would remain neutral in any conflict. The German-Soviet pact was given as a pretext, but the ravages of the Civil War which had ended only a few months before, left Spain in no position to pose any threat to France or even to defend itself. Italy’s attitude was harder to decode, but here too optimists had something to work o