Why did Japan refuse Poland's declaration of war in WW2? (Short Animated Documentary)

When Poland declared war on Japan with the rest of the allies in World War 2, Japan refused the declaration. It didn't ignore it. It responded saying no, there was no war. And that Poland was wrong to think so. To find out why watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

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[bighillraft]

Remember guys, if somebody declares war on you, just reject it. They cannot invade you without consent

[Arrowkill]

I can't believe how close Poland and Japan were. I would have thought I would have read about this somewhere before now.

[theprofessional]

Japan supported Polish uprisings against the Russian empire in 1905 during the Russo Japanese war . Many Poles celebrated the Russian defeat because eastern Poland was under Russian control. The Japanese also took in hundreds of Polish kids that were imprisoned in Siberia during the Siberian intervention in the 1920s. These were Polish families that were deported to Siberia by the Russian empire and stranded there during the civil war . The Japanese described Poland as an honorable nation . However though it’s important to note even though the Japanese empire was kind to Poles they were very cruel to other peoples . The Japanese committed horrible atrocities against many nations in east Asia and POWs. I think the relationship between Poland and Japan wasn’t necessarily that they liked each other but that they both had hostile relations with the Russian Empire and Soviet Union like you said.

[matthewbrandin]

I've always been fascinated by Japan and Poland's strange friendship. Fun note, Nitobe Inazo, dedicated his famous book "Bushido: the Soul of Japan, " to the Polish people, whom he considered a "Samurai Nation."

[matthewboyle]

Poland: We're at war
Japan: No we're not
Poland: Can...can he do that?
US and allies: I don't know, this has never really happened before

[singami]

Also worth noting that before Poland gained independence after WW1, Polish revolutionaries were seeking to create a Polish army in Japan, in exchange for intelligence related to Russia. However two different parties (Nationalists and Socialists) appeared in Japan at the same time, both trying to persuade the government to NOT support the other one, so nothing came out of it. They did exchange intelligence though, which was how the spying alliance between both countries begun.

[cyanide]

There was a single Polish pilot (Witold Urbanowicz) who volunteered to serve in China, and he actually did score some kills against the Japanese. This was pretty much the only case of Poles and Japanese fighting each other (excluding a number of Polish migrants in the US forces, of course)

[Negitorodondesu]

I am Japanese, but I did not know that Japan and Poland had such a close relationship. Thank you for the good video!

[MasterBomer]

That obvious Polish and Japanese spy pointing out a Soviet officer as a spy and Stalin actually believing it got me laughing so hard

[fenderski]

As for the spying - when Wehrmacht took Warsaw, and wanted to intercept Poland’s Military Intelligence documents, Japanese diplomats from the Embassy were first on the spot and took them, later on returning them to the Polish Government in exile. Poland’s history is crazy!

[JanKowalski-nnfk]

It's worth mentioning that the Poles were allowed to settle Manchuria by Japan, while there was no Poland on the maps and the city of Harbin which has a population of almost 5 million was created by a Pole in 1898 (Adam Szydłowski) who was the city's first president.

[anthonyfarrell]

Dad: "Son, what did you learn today?"
Son: "Japan declared peace on Poland in 1957."
Dad: "I think that's enough internet for today son."

[AmethystTheFoxx]

I didn't even know Poland and Japan were friends, there's so much to learn in such short videos!

[Swat_Dennis]

I never knew that you could say "no" to a declaration of war

[txs]

Poland declared war because of the alliance treaties and the response of Japenese prime minister was “We do not accept Poland’s challenge. The Poles, fighting for their freedom, only declared war on us under pressure from the United Kingdom.” which was true and on paper state of war that existed 16 years since 1957

[jordengg]

I can only imagine how it happened


“Hey we declare war on you”

“Nah we’re good”

“Oh…. Umm, ok then”

[galatheumbreon]

I found it charming that Japan still cared a lot about Poland, and even protested when Germany conquered it

[antonimichera]

Interesting fact: Bronisław Piłsudski was a renown anthropologist who studied Ainu people in Japan and he was also a brother of Józef Piłsudski - a Polish independence leader and dictator in the years 1926-1935.

[Xoruam]

Another thing is that Poland has been training Japanese radiooperators and cryptologists.
If you look into Jan Kowalewski, he was the person responsible for breaking Soviet cyphers back during the Polish-Bolshevik war of 1919-1920. Japan found some cyphered messages in the USSR, which they couldn't break, and though initially they were _vehemently_ against it - believing that their grand empire wasn't about to rely on a country that was "created" a few years prior - eventually they gave into the proposition made by Japanese ambassador in Warsaw, who was friends with Kowalewski.

Polish cryptologists dealt with the cypher in like a week or so, which spurred Japan to invite Kowalewski to Tokyo, and later Poland started sending their officers to teach Japanese cryptologists how to deal with Russian cyphers.

[CosmicCreeper]

Wow! I feel like literally nobody knows the facts that Japan and Poland of all countries had good relations and Germany’s invasion of Poland could’ve really soured relations with Japan!