The Phoney War was a phase early in World War II that was marked by a lack of major military operations by the Western Allies against the German Reich. The phase was in the months following Britain and France's declaration of war on Germany (shortly after the German invasion of Poland) in September 1939 and preceding the Battle of France in May 1940. War was declared by each side, but no Western power had committed to launching a significant land offensive, notwithstanding the terms of the Anglo-Polish military alliance and the Franco-Polish military alliance, which obliged the United Kingdom and France to assist Poland.
Contemporaneously, the period had also been referred to as the Twilight War (by Winston Churchill), der Sitzkrieg ("the sitting war": a play on Blitzkrieg), the Bore War (a play on the Boer War), and drôle de guerre ("strange/funny war").
The term "Phoney War" was possibly coined by U.S. Senator William Borah who stated, in September 1939: "There is something phoney about this war."
Read more about Phoney War: Inactivity, Saar Offensive, Winter War, German Invasion of Denmark and Norway, Change of British Government, End of The Phoney War
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“The War was decided in the first twenty days of fighting, and all that happened afterwards consisted in battles which, however formidable and devastating, were but desperate and vain appeals against the decision of Fate.”
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965)