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England stood by Poland even though it was ill-prepared for war. On September 3,1939, in response to Hitler's September 1 invasion of Poland, Britain and France, both allies of the overrun nation declared war on Germany.

The first casualty of that declaration was not German—but the British ocean liner Athenia, which was sunk by a German U-30 submarine that had assumed the liner was armed and belligerent. There were more than 1,100 passengers on board, 112 of whom lost their lives. Of those, 28 were Americans, but President Roosevelt was unfazed by the tragedy, declaring that no one was to "thoughtlessly or falsely talk of America sending its armies to European fields." The United States would remain neutral.

As for Britain's response, it was initially no more than the dropping of anti-Nazi propaganda leaflets—13 tons of them—over Germany. They would begin bombing German ships on September 4, suffering significant losses. They were also working under orders not to harm German civilians. The German military, of course, had no such restrictions. France would begin an offensive against Germany's western border two weeks later. Their effort was weakened by a narrow 90-mile window leading to the German front, enclosed by the borders of Luxembourg and Belgium—both neutral countries. The Germans mined the passage, stalling the French offensive.

The containment of the Soviet Union depended upon the credibility of NATO and its forces. The Soviet Union imploded as our containment policy worked. If the Russians don't believe that NATO's commitment is real, then there is a real danger of war. And unlike 1939, both sides have nuclear weapons.

“Yeah, well, how did that alliance with England and France work out in 1939?”

Not very well. They declared war to Germany, but French army sat on Maginot line without firing a shot, and England try to get in Europe ended with the catastrophe at Dunkirk. One year later, France was occupied and Germans launched the blitzkrieg against England. Not a single Brit or French soldier ever reached Poland territory.

<, how did that alliance with England and France work out in 1939?

That's what the Poles I meet keep saying. Poland is setting up it's own alliance with the Baltic states that will probably now draw in Romania and Hungary.

They're all small on their own, but combined they are half the population of Russia and able to pretty much match the Russians militarily (except for nuclear weapons)

Also, economically, they are moving away from dependency on Russia -- this movement by Putin is only accelerating that.