French corsairs French corsairs Corsairs () were privateers, authorized to conduct raids on shipping of a nation at war with France, on behalf of the French crown. Seized vessels and cargo were sold at auction, with the corsair captain entitled to a portion of the proceeds. Although not French Navy personnel, corsairs were considered legitimate combatants in France (and allied nations), provided the commanding officer of the vessel was in possession of a valid letter of marque ( or , the latter giving "corsairs" their name), and the officers and crew conducted themselves according to contemporary admiralty law. By acting on behalf
British and French declaration of war on Germany which was soon defeated, that in its early stages the war declared by Britain and France was described as a "Phoney War". Further, neither the British Empire, nor the French, ever declared war upon the Soviet Union, which invaded Poland on 17 September 1939 (17 days after Nazi Germany invaded from the West) and held sway over the former-Polish territory at the war's conclusion, having become a part of the Allied front in the course of World War II. At the insistence of Joseph Stalin, the post-war Yalta Conference in 1945 sanctioned the formation of a new provisional pro-Communist coalition