Phoney War

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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...

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