At 11 o'clock, 73 years ago today, the British ultimatum to Germany, to withdraw its troops from Poland, expired and a state of war thus existed between Britain and its Empire and Nazi Germany.
Australia declared war on Germany along with Britain, France at 5 pm the same day, South Africa followed on 6th September with Canada's declaration coming on the 10th.
Thus began a conflict which echos to this day and from which stemmed directly the rise of Russia and the USA to super-power status, with the concurrent demise of both the French and British Empires as their colonies and dependencies moved towards independence.
It led to the Cold War, the European Convention on Human Rights, the formation of the EU and the founding of the State of Israel.
It also caused the deaths of over 60 million people, more than 2.5% of the world's population.
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