While the Romanians are looking for talents in Germany and Austria, a discussion on Poland's external situation is also going on in Warsaw.
After Poland established the Second Republic, its diplomatic relations with its surrounding neighbors were relatively bad. Mainly because Poland had territorial disputes with the newly born Lithuania, Belarus, the Czech Republic, the defeated Germany, and Galicia occupied by Romania.
Among them, the territorial dispute with Germany was supported by Britain and France in the Treaty of Versailles. Poland took the opportunity to obtain parts of West Prussia, Posen and Silesia.
The territorial dispute with the Czech Republic was also resolved in the Polish-Czech War at the beginning of the year (the one with the big fist had the final say). What is different from the original history is that this time Poland won the Polish-Czech War. Cieszyn Silesia
The disputed territory is currently firmly in the hands of the Warsaw government.
Cieszyn Silesia is located in a territory where Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia intersect. It covers an area of 2,004 square kilometers and has a population of 435,000 people. The main ethnic groups are Polish 48.2%, Czech 21.7%, and Slovak 23.8%.
Moreover, the area is rich in coal resources. More importantly, the area has a railway connecting the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which is very important to the Czech Republic. Therefore, both parties insist on not letting go of this disputed territory. However, it seems that Poland currently occupies
Advantages, as to whether it will be necessary to do another one in the future, that is unknown.
In addition, Poland has made no secret of its intention to merge with Lithuania to form the United Republic of Lithuania and Poland. However, in February 1919, Lithuania and Belarus jointly formed the Lithuanian-Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. This made the Polish army quite dissatisfied.
And invaded Lithuania in April, and in August the Lithuanian bourgeoisie came to power and declared independence. Poland couldn't wait to merge with it to become a federal country. After all, the United Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania was Poland's most glorious period. Just because
Poland's domestic discussions on the merger have been unable to reach a conclusion, leaving this goal stuck in mid-air.
As for the Belarusian Soviet government, Poland has different thoughts. In the eyes of Piłsudski, the actual ruler of Poland, Poland's most important issue at present is the restoration of its past territories. After the Russo-Soviet War, he established the "Inter-Sea Federation"
"(Baltic Sea to Black Sea) idea was thrown into the trash can.
Moreover, in this war, we not only saw the strength of the Romanian army, but also saw the strong assistance from Britain, France and other countries.
And Poland can learn too much from this war, such as the disputed territorial issue of Belarus and how to face the conflict with Soviet Russia. He can learn how to deal with it.
In fact, after Poland became independent, it was deeply involved in the Russian Civil War. But what is interesting is that the Poles were not only fighting the Soviet Red Army, but also the White Guards.
Because as the founder of the Polish army, Piłsudski has always believed that the Russians will be the main threat to Poland in the future. Both White Russia and Red Russia will be hostile to the new Poland. At present, they must take advantage of their civil war.
, only by greatly weakening Russia's strength in the future can Poland's security be ensured. Therefore, the Polish army, under the command of Piłsudski, intervened in the Russian Civil War.
At this time, the White Army, which had the upper hand in the civil war, was advancing on Moscow. Facing the aggressive Polish army, Soviet Russia was devastated by internal and external wars. For this reason, Lenin once again resorted to the trick of dealing with the Germans - "strategic compromise."
, proposed to transfer the Minsk and Khmelnytsky regions to Poland.
Of course the Poles were happy. They thought the proposal was better than what they expected. In December, the two sides sat down at the negotiating table and a marathon negotiation began. Four months later, the Poles suddenly realized that Soviet Russia was "
Use negotiations to buy time to restore strength and prepare for war."
In the Belvedere Palace, the official residence of the Polish head of state, discussions on seizing territory by force are underway.
"I think it's time to completely resolve the territorial dispute between us and Belarus. We should restore Poland's territory before 1772, and the negotiations with Soviet Russia cannot continue. Lenin is a liar. He misled our negotiations.
This is just a delaying tactic. We cannot wait for them to calm down before intervening in territorial disputes with us. We must immediately march into Belarus and take back the territory that belongs to us."
As Piłsudski's comrade-in-arms, Prime Minister Moraczewski was the first to speak out about his plan.
Leaders of other Polish political factions in the discussion spoke in low voices when faced with Moraczewski's words.
"I have a question."
At this time, a voice came out, and everyone saw that it was Dmowski, the leader of the National Democratic Party. He is also the author of the book "Thoughts of a Modern Pole" that influenced the later thinking of Poles. In this book
Shuridmovsky regarded all ethnic minorities as insiders who weakened the country and believed that they should be liquidated.
For example, regarding the views of the Jewish minority, Dmovsky described his views in detail in the book.
"... Among the characteristics of this racial Jew, quite a number of values that are different from our moral roots and harmful to our lives have increasingly been reflected. If we are assimilated by a large number of Jews, we will be destroyed, and the Jews will take advantage of the fallen
The foundation replaces us, rather than leveraging the young, creative foundation we need to create the future."
The delay in merging with Lithuania was due to him.
This is a nationalist in a rather narrow sense who believes that all ethnic minorities must be like the Polish people in terms of living habits and cognition. On the contrary, Piłsudski is a multi-ethnic federal nationalist.
As long as they identify with Poland as a country or a federation, all nationalities can live in peace. Therefore, their views are completely left-leaning, which has also caused Dmowski to have always been Piłsudski's mortal enemy. And in January 1919
In August, some of Dmovsky's supporters tried to launch a coup against Piłsudski and Prime Minister Moraczewski, but failed.
Seeing that Dmovsky wanted to express his opinion, Prime Minister Morachevsky could only let him speak. "Please tell me your opinion, Mr. Dmovsky."
After receiving permission, Dmovsky immediately said: "As for the recovery of our territory, of course I support it. However, we cannot but pay attention to the actions of the Germans in our territory. You must know that in West Prussia, Posen and Silesia
There are too many Germans, and we must take precautions against them. In addition, we can continue to talk to the Soviet Union, as long as we set a time limit."
Yes, Dmowski was not only opposite to Piłsudski on national issues, but also had opposite views on who was the threat to Poland. In his view, Germany was the main threat to Poland. Even because of this he
He was also disappointed with the Treaty of Versailles, which he considered an "international Jewish conspiracy". British Prime Minister David Lloyd George was bribed by a German-Jewish financial syndicate to make the border between Poland and Germany (in Dmowski's eyes)
) has become so unfavorable to Poland. In his opinion, the German-Polish border should be pushed further west.
This also laid the groundwork for Poland to be divided up again in the future. After all, after Piłsudski's death, after fighting the Soviet Union and Germany, no one could really save Poland.
In fact, Dmovsky was very much in favor of seizing some of the former Polish territories of Belarus and Soviet Russia. Of course, it would be best if he could get them back through negotiation.
Demovsky's words also caused other people to discuss quietly, and it was seen that many people were very interested in it. At this time, Prime Minister Morachevsky had to speak to interrupt their illusions.
"Lenin is not trustworthy. Take a look at the Brest-Litovsk Treaty he signed with Germany. They abrogated this treaty as soon as Germany lost the war, and we don't have the strength of Germany yet. When Russia ends the civil war, there will be another round.
It’s our turn. And the Soviet Russian government is no different from the previous Russian government. They believe more in force. Only by taking back our territory while they are weak can the safety of Poland be guaranteed."
Having said this, Morachevsky took the opportunity to use Romania as an example. "If you look at the attitude of Soviet Russia after the war with Romania, you can find before making a comparison that the Russians remember to fight but not to eat. Even Bures
The special treaty was signed only after the Germans beat them painfully."
Citing two examples in a row, people from various political parties present also gave up their thoughts on regaining territory through peace talks. In the end, the negotiation ended with the agreement to enter Belarus.
Of course, the Poles were not fighting alone. After they decided to continue marching into Belarus, they immediately approached the British and French ambassadors for assistance. As for the Soviet-Polish conflict that would be triggered by Poland's recovery of territory, the British and French ambassadors were quite supportive. They not only sent reports
Tell Poland's requirements and even personally provide information to Poland.
Among them, Maxime Weigand of the French Military Mission in Poland was the most active.
So with the support of Britain and France, the Poles finally took a solid step towards their great dream. It is unclear whether this step can be stable.
