However it did turn out to fairly easy and clearly accomplished his goal at the time.

Austria effectively invited hitler in. Czechoslovakia was then extremely weak and Poland even was able to grab a piece.

Poland was no match for the Nazi war machine, but far stronger than Czechoslovakia.

Poland as mentioned up thread take 6 weeks and while no match for the German Army, didn't go down without a fight.

England and France would go to war for the Poles

It was a forgone conclusion German had the ability to defeat Poland, as long as no one interfered. The Pact with the Soviets secured the Eastern side

but I think most of the rest of the world was shocked by how quickly it happened.

This was the first ever instance of "blitzkrieg"--using formations of massed tanks, together with tactical air support--to punch through and overwhelm enemy defenses. I think most military experts in the West, while they didn't think Poland would hold out indefinitely, expected it to take longer.