 Complete the following phrase:  On 30 August 1939, immediately prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, Hess was appointed by Hitler to the six-person Council of Ministers for Defense of the Reich which was set up to operate as a war cabinet. After the Invasion of Poland and the start of the war on 1 September 1939, Hitler made Hess second in line to succeed him, after Hermann Göring. Around the same time, Hitler appointed Hesss chief of staff, Martin Bormann, as his personal secretary, a post formerly held by Hess. On 8 October 1939, Hess co-signed the law that annexed the Free City of Danzig, the Polish Corridor, and the 