The thing I love about Little Hawk's analogies is that they are so selective.

Let's take the first one, he mentions Al Capone - LH have a good look at the man's CV (Figuratively speaking, he was once the neighbourhood hubcap thief that people in his line of work didn't bother worrying about - he ended up as America's most notorious ganster, having eliminated most of those rivals who had considered him not worth bothering with) - Large Oaks from small acorns grow.

And the second one. Yes by all means lets take a look at Poland in 1939 LH. Lets take a look at what Hitler actually wanted to achieve, match that to the prevailing conditions in Europe at that time and what options were open to Nazi Germany.

1) What he wanted to do was to renunited East Prussia with his greater Germany. In effect recover the territory ceded to the newly formed state of Poland at the end of the First World War. He couldn't have given a toss about the rest of Poland, that was something circumstance forced on him.

2) Having written his book, both the Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia knew that ultimately they would end up fighting one another. Germany's greatest fear was having to fight a war on two fronts. Hitler had tried to goad France and Britain into a war in 1938 when he annexed the Sudatenland. Hitlers planners gave him two key dates for war, 1938 and 1944, fight in the West in 1938 and you will win, fight Russia later than 1944 and you will lose. Having not got his war in 1938, he had to cover himself against attack from the East should Britain and France stand by their promise to Poland.

3) Any move against the Danzig corridor would be viewed as an attack on Poland. This results in a war with Britain and France. An attack on Poland could be viewed by Soviet Russia as a precursor for an invasion of Russia. Therefore Russia had to be kept sweet. The solution was the Non-Aggression Pact with Soviet Russia. They cooked the deal up so that each could grab one half of Poland thereby creating a buffer zone between their respective countries.

Did he have to tell lies to sell it to the German people - No, they were, on the face of it, totally behind him. By this stage the Nazi's were in total control and open opposition to the regime would have been ineffectual as well as suicidal for those participating.

Did he have to sow lies about Polish aggression to stave off reaction and create some degree of doubt with the appeasement factions in Britain and France - Yes, because the Russians might not have stopped as agreed.

After all Britain and France had sat back and done nothing (much along the lines of what you and others advocate on this forum wrt Iraq) for six years - he came damn close to pulling it off. Had he been fronted in 1936, or earlier, had his rearmament programme been challenged - he would have been stopped in his tracks. Unfortunately, the memory of the Great War, and its cost, was too vivid in everyones mind and a tin-pot Dictator was allowed to set the world ablaze.