Stryyewka or Strievka ( Belarusian : Стрыеўка , romanized : Stryjeŭka ; Russian : Стриевка , romanized : Striyevka ; Polish : Stryjówka ) is a village in Grodno District , Grodno Region , Belarus .
164-884: In the interwar period , the village was within Poland , in the Białystok Voivodeship , in Grodno County , in Aziory Commune. After the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, the village became part of the BSSR . On September 20, 1943, German military police smashed the VIII Strike Cadre Battalion of the Home Army commanded by Lieutenant Zbigniew Czarnocki pseudonym "Czarny" near the village - 32 partisans died, while 3 survived. As
328-454: A 1917 speech called for the immediate end of the war on the basis of the restoration of pre-1914 status quo , Wilson in a letter to the pontiff on 27 August 1917 rejected the pope's call for peace as he wrote: "Our response must be based on stern facts and upon nothing else...America wanted not a mere cessation of arms, but a stable and enduring peace". Wilson argued that he was rejecting the pope's peace message on moral grounds as he argued that
492-572: A bloc of neutral nations in Eastern Europe collapsed after 1933 with the advent of Hitler's expansionism and the obvious warning of France's desire to resist Germany's expansion. Piłsudski retained the French connection but had progressively less faith in its usefulness. Hitler's long-term goals included annexing Polish territories and subordinating the remaining parts of Poland, an idea that he revealed to his closest circle already in 1933 Poland's solution
656-644: A capitulation of the Polish public because of the industrialization projects such as Central Industrial Region (Poland) , nearly finished by early 1939, and the projects that were to follow it. After the death of Piłsudski in May 1935, policies in Poland were set by five senior officials, including President Ignacy Mościcki ; Vice-President Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski ; the Premier, Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski ; and Marshal Edward Smigly-Rydz ,
820-560: A compromise peace treaty at Riga in early 1921 that divided the disputed territories of Belarus and Ukraine between the two combatants. These acquisitions were recognized by the international agreement with the Entente . The treaty gave Poland an eastern border well beyond what the peacemakers in Paris had envisioned and added 4,000,000 Ukrainians, 2,000,000 Jews, and 1,000,000 Belarusians to Poland's minority population. In Soviet historiography ,
984-620: A distinction between Germany's "criminal" government and the German people. At least part of the distinction was due to his knowledge of the political crisis in Germany. In 1914, the majority of the Social Democrats (SPD) – the largest party in the Reichstag – supported the war, believing the government's statements that Russia was about to attack Germany. The SPD joined the other Reichstag parties in
1148-450: A dizzying turnover of cabinets caused confusion and distrust. At a deeper level there was profound disagreement about inclusiveness in the new state. Roman Dmowski envisioned an ethnically-homogeneous Polish nation, and a pro-Western, anti-German path to modernization; he also espoused strong anti-Semitic attitudes, and emphasized that Poland should be a Catholic and hierarchical state. Piłsudski, however, rooted his ideal in notions about
1312-422: A farm manager combined with socialist, "single-tax," and Slavic communal ideas shaped his worldview. He proposed a form of agrarian socialism with large state farms to counteract the inefficiency of very smallholdings. In independent Poland, he advocated expropriation of gentry estates. His observation of peasant individualism convinced him that Poland should combine voluntary collectivism and individual possession of
1476-524: A great power. In Foch's viewpoint, France's need for sécurité took precedence over the rights of the Rhinelanders for self-determination. As the Rhineland was overwhelmingly German in population and its people did not wish to be severed from Germany, both Wilson and Lloyd George were completely opposed to Clemenceau's plans for the Rhineland, which they claimed would create "an Alsace-Lorraine in reverse" with
1640-416: A lasting peace would require "saving the free peoples of the world from the menace and the actual power of a vast military establishment controlled by an irresponsible government" that wanted to "dominate the world". Notably, Wilson was vague about what he considered to be a "stable and enduring peace" other than it required the defeat of Germany. Wilson in his speeches and letters was always careful to make
1804-617: A major public statement of war aims, it became the basis for the terms of the German surrender at the end of the First World War . After the speech, House worked to secure the acceptance of the Fourteen Points by Entente leaders. On October 16, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson and Sir William Wiseman , the head of British intelligence in America, had an interview. This interview was one reason why
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#17330852563861968-404: A monarchy, and although the great Polish noble families continued to have their names mentioned in newspapers, it was mostly in the society pages. The chief parties were the left-wing Polish Peasant Party (PSL) and on the right National Democracy party (ND) led by Dmowski. The new, inexperienced government faced serious problems; already there was rampant corruption among government officials;
2132-522: A national saviour who was above partisan politics and gained more popular support by distancing himself from the Polish Socialist Party . In 1935 a new Polish Constitution was adopted, but Piłsudski soon died and his protégé successors drifted toward open authoritarianism . Opposition voices were increasingly harassed or jailed, a situation that was not surprising in view of the government's growing fears over national security. In many respects,
2296-721: A plan to protect the Armenians after the hoped for Allied victory, even though the United States was not at war with the Ottoman Empire. The parts of the 14 Points relating to the Near East where the emphasis was upon protecting minority rights were at least in part designed to rebut the criticism that the Wilson administration was indifferent to the genocide being waged in Anatolia. The purpose of
2460-441: A plebiscite to determine the ownership of the " Polish corridor ". Only those living in the corridor prior to 1918 would be allowed to vote. The proposal called for a subsequent population exchange that would move all Germans, then in Poland, out of the final region declared to be "Poland". The same would occur for all Poles living in what was declared, after the vote, to be "Germany". Danzig was to become part of Germany regardless of
2624-459: A position which conceded as much to the Allies as it could, but took away the poison.... It was all keyed upon the secret treaties." In the speech, Wilson directly addressed what he perceived as the causes for the world war by calling for the abolition of secret treaties, a reduction in armaments , an adjustment in colonial claims in the interests of both native peoples and colonists, and freedom of
2788-497: A preemptive military strike to overthrow Hitler in 1933. Most historians do not believe this happened, pointing out that Piłsudski's war plans were focused on Russia and he made no preparations for any sort of war with Germany. Furthermore, no one in France reported any such inquiry from Poland. Piłsudski made demands regarding Danzig that Hitler immediately approved; relations between Poland and Nazi Germany became friendly and they signed
2952-521: A result of the denunciation of a village resident, the Polish unit was surrounded when stopped for the night. Earlier, it fought skirmishes on the crossing over the Niemen , near Wiercielishki and in the Gluche Bagno wilderness. In Stryjewka an obelisk commemorating the soldiers of the "Czarny" was erected. Cadet Bohdan Smolarski (born 1924) - son of Mieczysław - a writer (1888-1967), was posthumously awarded
3116-488: A result of the shortage of jobs and of the economic situation, rather than rabid racism as was in Nazi Germany Seven out of ten of the people worked on farms as peasants. Polish agriculture suffered from the usual handicaps of Eastern European nations: technological backwardness, low productivity, and lack of capital and access to markets. The former German areas in the west had better rainfall and soil quality and were
3280-626: A short-lived Polish government in Lublin from November 6 but Piłsudski had overwhelming prestige at this point. Daszyński and the other Polish leaders acknowledged him as head of the army and in effect head of what became the Republic of Poland . Germany, now defeated, followed the terms of the Armistice and withdrew its forces. Jędrzej Moraczewski became the first prime minister (in November 1918) and Dmowski headed
3444-449: A sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy. VII. Belgium,
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#17330852563863608-550: A speech setting out the UK's war aims which bore some similarity to Wilson's speech but which proposed reparations be paid by the Central Powers and which was more vague in its promises to the non-Turkish subjects of the Ottoman Empire. The Fourteen Points in the speech were based on the research of the Inquiry , a team of about 150 advisers led by foreign-policy adviser Edward M. House , into
3772-522: A topic of debate among historians. The German-born American historian Gerhard Weinberg noted that the entire question of the "justice" of the Treaty of Versailles as a source of European discord is irrelevant. Weinberg noted that the vast majority of Germans in the interwar period believed that their country had actually won World War One with the Reich only being defeated by the alleged " stab-in-the-back " that
3936-465: A war goal in his Fourteen Points , and this goal was endorsed by the Allies in spring 1918. As part of the Armistice terms imposed on Germany, all German forces had to stand down in Poland and other occupied areas. So as the war ended, the Germans sent Piłsudski, then under arrest, back to Warsaw. On November 11, 1918, he took control of the puppet government the Germans had set up. Ignacy Daszyński headed
4100-644: A war with the USSR looming and refused to support the policy. As the Great Depression worsened in the 1930s, antisemitism began to rise even though Poland was home to over three million Jews (10 percent of Poland's population), the largest Jewish population in Europe at the time. The impoverished Jewish families relied on their own local charities, which by 1929 had reached unprecedented proportions, providing services such as religion, education, health and other services to
4264-481: A waste of American resources. Wilson argued that Germany was an advanced, industrial nation while the Ottoman Empire was a backward nation with almost no modern industries, and as such the defeat of Germany would automatically lead to the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. Both Roosevelt and Cabot Lodge argued in various speeches and columns that the United States had a moral duty to stop the Armenian genocide by declaring war on
4428-522: Is forever impaired. VIII. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine , which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all. IX. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality . X. The people of Austria-Hungary , whose place among
4592-514: The Burgfrieden ("peace-within-a-castle-under-siege") in which the parties agreed not criticize the government in its handling of the war. The SPD made it clear, however, that their support was for a defensive war only and that they opposed a war of conquest. From the beginning, the left wing of the Social Democrats opposed the war on the grounds that the German working class had no quarrel with
4756-519: The 1898 U.S. annexation of the Philippines whilst condemning the rebellion of the Philippine nationalist Emilio Aguinaldo , and strongly believed that the U.S. was morally obliged to impose Western ways of life and governance on such countries, so that eventually they could govern independently. In Germany, the 14 Points became a symbol of the promised basis of the peace after the war and, throughout
4920-478: The American Revolution ) would be sympathetic towards the goals and aspirations they held. A common belief among anti-colonial nationalist leaders was the U.S., once it had assisted them in gaining independence from colonial rule or foreign influence, would establish new relationships which would be more favorable and equitable than what had existed beforehand. However, the nationalist interpretations of both
5084-526: The Central Powers to surrender in the expectation of a just settlement. The German government rejected the 14 Points as the basis of a peace settlement. The duumvirate that ruled Germany that consisted of Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and General Erich Ludendorff were supremely confident that the offensive planned for March 1918 code-named Operation Michael would win the war. The German spring offensive of 1918 did make gains, but fell far short of being
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5248-674: The Cross of Valour in 1966 by the then Minister of National Defense , Marshal of Poland Marian Spychalski . From 1941-1944 it was under German occupation. After the war the village returned to the BSSR. After 1991 it became part of the Republic of Belarus. The monument on the grave of the Home Army soldiers was erected in 1992 thanks to the efforts of the World Association of Home Army Soldiers with
5412-601: The Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees. XIII. An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations , which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea , and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant. XIV. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for
5576-595: The German , and the Russian Empires . Its independence was confirmed by the victorious powers through the Treaty of Versailles of June 1919, and most of the territory won in a series of border wars fought from 1918 to 1921. Poland's frontiers were settled in 1922 and internationally recognized in 1923. The Polish political scene was democratic but chaotic until Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935) seized power in May 1926 and democracy ended. The policy of agrarianism led to
5740-692: The German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact in January 1934. At the same time, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia were allied in the Little Entente with French support. Polish membership there could have provided additional security; however, relations with Prague were unfriendly due to border disputes, so they never reached an agreement. France was an ally of both Poland and Czechoslovakia and tried repeatedly to get them to resolve their border disputes and become allies, and also collaborate with
5904-589: The Munich Agreement , with British and French approval, allowed Germany to take over areas of Czechoslovakia with a significant German minority, the so-called Sudetenland . Poland had long been hostile to Czechoslovakia and now sided with Germany. Poland demanded that Czechoslovakia give up the Teschen , where Poles made about 70% of inhabitants, or otherwise Poland threatened to take it by force. Faced with an ultimatum from both Poland and Germany, Czechoslovakia gave up
6068-640: The Red Army . Poland was driven out of Ukraine and back into the Polish heartland. Most observers at the time marked Poland for extinction and Bolshevization, However at the Battle of Warsaw Piłsudski organized a stunning counterattack that won a famous victory. This "Miracle on the Vistula" became an iconic victory in Polish memory. Piłsudski resumed the offensive, pushing the Red forces east. Eventually, both sides, exhausted, signed
6232-587: The Reich . As a consolation prize, Clemenceau was offered a military alliance with the British empire and the United States, under which Anglo-American forces would come to France's aid in the event of German aggression. However, the British acceptance of the alliance was made conditional upon the American acceptance of the alliance, and the United States Senate voted against the alliance with France, thus rendering
6396-517: The United Kingdom , and Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy ) were skeptical of the applicability of Wilsonian idealism . The United States had joined the Triple Entente in fighting the Central Powers on April 6, 1917. Its entry into the war had in part been due to Germany's resumption of submarine warfare against merchant ships trading with France and Britain and also the interception of
6560-606: The Zimmermann Telegram . However, Wilson wanted to avoid the United States' involvement in the long-standing European tensions between the great powers ; if America was going to fight, he wanted to try to separate that participation in the war from nationalistic disputes or ambitions. The need for moral aims was made more important when, after the fall of the Russian government , the Bolsheviks disclosed secret treaties made between
6724-536: The "harshness" of the Treaty of Versailles has been vastly exaggerated, noting that Germany lost far more land to Poland under the Oder-Neisse line , imposed in 1945, than the Reich had lost to Poland under the Treaty of Versailles, yet the Oder-Neisse line did not cause another war. In 1991, Germany signed a treaty with Poland under which the Oder-Neisse line was accepted as the permanent German-Polish frontier, despite
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6888-596: The 1930s and a 'fifth column' when Poland was attacked in September 1939." Relations with the much larger Ukrainian minority, who formed 15% or so of the national population and were in the majority in several eastern provinces, were even more strained. The Ukrainians were poor peasants who resented their Polish landlords and the government's policy of polonizing them. The schools after 1924 were bilingual (students had to learn Polish), and government offices were not allowed to use Ukrainian. Some Ukrainians tried to sabotage, and
7052-652: The Allied leaders were only self-interested. The publication was especially embarrassing for the Allies as the former government of Russia had signed no secret treaties with Germany, the Austrian empire, and the Ottoman Empire, and thus the war aims of the Central powers remained secret. Lenin accused the Allied leaders of being selfish while presenting himself as an idealist who sought the betterment of ordinary people by rejecting imperialism. Wilson, similar to other world leaders, feared
7216-465: The Allies to divide up the German-Polish border in a manner consistent with the principles of the 14 points as inevitably some people ended up being struck on the "wrong" side of the frontier. Before 1914, Germany had 1 million Poles living within its borders; after 1918 Poland had 1 million Germans living within its borders. Before 1914, Eastern Europe had dominated by the three great empires, namely
7380-463: The Allies. Wilson's speech also responded to Vladimir Lenin's Decree on Peace of November 1917, immediately after the October Revolution in 1917. The speech made by Wilson took many domestic progressive ideas and translated them into foreign policy ( free trade , open agreements , democracy and self-determination ). Three days earlier United Kingdom Prime Minister Lloyd George had made
7544-624: The Armenian genocide together with the related genocides against the Pontic Greeks and the Assyrians was to achieve the "homogenization" of Asia Minor. Colonel House advised Wilson that the genocidal "homogenization" of Anatolia required an American response, writing to the president: "It is necessary to free the subject races of the Turkish empire from oppression and misrule. This implies at very least autonomy for Armenia". House wrote in his diary: "After
7708-512: The Austrian, Russian and German empires with the first two being supra-national states where the focal point in the state ideologies was loyalty to the ruling families, namely the House of Habsburg and the House of Romanov. The German-speaking element formed the dominant group in the Austrian empire while the way that the Russian empire defined loyalty to the House of Romanov as the main criterion had allowed
7872-543: The Baltics: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia). The Polish leadership did not aim to restore the nation to its 17th-century boundaries. Opinions varied among Polish politicians as to how much of the territory a new, Polish-led state should contain and what form it should take. Józef Piłsudski advocated a democratic, Polish-led federation of independent states — while Roman Dmowski leader of the Endecja movement represented by
8036-661: The Catholic Centre Party and various left-liberal parties in July 1917 for the Reichstag Peace Resolution , which called for a negotiated peace without annexations. The resolution was only symbolic with no binding power over the government, but it was an important step towards the Reichstag developing a voice for peace and for parliamentarization. President Wilson subsequently initiated a secret series of studies named
8200-536: The Commander-in-Chief of the army. Foreign policy was the exclusive domain of the Foreign Minister, Colonel Józef Beck . Elections were held but there was no democracy and the Sejm was merely a rubber stamp. Watt notes that these men had emerged victorious from their struggles for independence and had never known conquest. "Courage, flair, heroism, devouring ambition, all these they had in abundance; realism and worst-case analysis, let alone defeatism or appeasement, were alien to them entirely." Poland's dream of leading
8364-487: The Fourteen Points and Wilson's views regarding colonialism proved to be misguided. In actuality, Wilson had never established a goal of opposing European colonial powers and breaking up their empires, nor was he trying to fuel anti-colonial nationalist independence movements. It was not Wilson's objective or desire to confront European colonial powers over such matters, as Wilson had no intention of supporting any demands for self-determination and sovereignty that conflicted with
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#17330852563868528-417: The Fourteen Points as the basis for negotiating the Treaty of Versailles , which ended the war. In his speech to Congress, President Wilson declared fourteen points which he regarded as the only possible basis of an enduring peace: I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in
8692-451: The Fourteen Points, he also had more practical objectives in mind. He hoped to keep Russia in the war by convincing the Bolsheviks that they would receive a better peace from the Allies, to bolster Allied morale, and to undermine German war support. The address was well received in the United States and Allied nations and even by Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin , as a landmark of enlightenment in international relations. Wilson subsequently used
8856-409: The Fourteen Points. The speech was delivered 10 months before the Armistice with Germany and became the basis for the terms of the German surrender, as negotiated at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The speech was widely disseminated as an instrument of Allied propaganda and was translated into many languages for global dissemination. Copies were also dropped behind German lines, to encourage
9020-399: The French soldiers while waving about tricolores . At the Paris peace conference, both Wilson and Lloyd George supported Clemenceau's demand for the reunion of Alsace-Lorraine with France. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France. Under the terms of the Treaty of Locarno in 1925, Germany accepted as permanent the Franco-German border established by
9184-434: The German government accepted the Fourteen Points and the stated principles for peace negotiations. The report was made as negotiation points, and the Fourteen Points were later accepted by France and Italy on November 1, 1918. Britain later signed off on all of the points except the freedom of the seas . The United Kingdom also wanted Germany to make reparation payments for the war, and thought that should be added to
9348-416: The German-Polish borders in the Baltic region . The port city of Danzig ( Polish : Gdańsk ), with a majority German population and Polish minority was declared a free city independent of Germany , and became a bone of contention for decades. Allied arbitration divided the ethnically mixed and highly coveted industrial and mining district of Upper Silesia between Germany and Poland, with Poland receiving
9512-539: The Inquiry , primarily focused on Europe, and carried out by a group in New York which included geographers, historians and political scientists; the group was directed by Edward M. House . Their job was to study Allied and American policy in virtually every region of the globe and analyze economic, social, and political facts likely to come up in discussions during the peace conference. The group produced and collected nearly 2,000 separate reports and documents plus at least 1,200 maps. Walter Lippmann of "the Inquiry" defined
9676-503: The Inquiry's general secretary, Walter Lippmann , and his colleagues, Isaiah Bowman , Sidney Mezes , and David Hunter Miller . Lippmann's draft territorial points were a direct response to the secret treaties of the European Allies, which Lippmann had been shown by Secretary of War Newton D. Baker . Lippmann's task, according to House, was "to take the secret treaties, analyze the parts which were tolerable, and separate them from those which were regarded as intolerable, and then develop
9840-431: The Jews from all spheres of social, economic, and cultural life in Poland". The government in response organized the Camp of National Unity (OZON); OZON advocated mass emigration of Jews from Poland, boycott of Jews, numerus clausus (see also Ghetto benches ), and other limitation on Jewish rights. At the same time the Polish government supported the Zionist Irgun , training its members in Tatra Mountains and in 1937
10004-475: The Kaiser to bring about democratic reforms as a way to ensure the responsibility for the defeat fell on the shoulders of others. Ludendorff in particular gave a somewhat distorted version of the 14 points as a way to entice Prince Max of Baden to form a new government that would seek an armistice. Indeed, in a note sent to Wilson, Prince Maximilian of Baden , the German imperial chancellor , in October 1918 requested an immediate armistice and peace negotiations on
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#173308525638610168-436: The National Democratic Party, set his mind on a more compact Poland composed of ethnic Polish or ' polonizable' territories. To the southwest, Poland and Czechoslovakia contested boundary disputes (see: Trans-Olza ). More ominously, an embittered Germany begrudged any territorial loss to its new eastern neighbor. The December 27, 1918 Great Poland Uprising liberated Greater Poland . The 1919 Treaty of Versailles settled
10332-423: The Ottoman Empire. Roosevelt in his popular newspaper column in the Kansas City Star that was nationally syndicated accused Wilson of crying "crocodile tears" over the Armenian genocide as he maintained that if he was still president the United States would have already ended the genocide. In response to such criticism, Wilson had asked Colonel House and the authors of "the Inquiry" such as Lippmann to come up with
10496-500: The Paris Peace Conference, included the incorporation of East Prussia and the German city of Königsberg being placed in a customs union with Poland. At the same time, the exact boundaries of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were not desired, though mentioned as an opening gambit by Roman Dmowski . Much of this land had been controlled by the Russian Empire since the Partitions of Poland and its inhabitants were struggling to create their own states (such as Ukraine , Belarus , and
10660-421: The Polish armed forces and the fear of the Polish military might be shown by Lithuania's acceptance of the 1938 Polish ultimatum to Lithuania ; Poland's military strength made the Polish government's propaganda believable to the public. The Polish government had no choice, but to claim that an attack either by the Germans or by the Soviets would have been successfully repelled. The Polish government could not afford
10824-425: The Polish authorities began to deliver large amounts of weapons to the Jewish underground in Palestine, capable of arming up to 10,000 men. On international arena Poland supported the creation of Jewish state in Palestine hoping gradual emigration over next 30 years will lower Jewish population in Poland to 500,000 and cooperated with the leader of Revisionist Zionism , Ze'ev Jabotinsky who hoped Poland would inherit
10988-426: The Polish claim to Danzig, but Lloyd George was stoutly opposed as he argued that it would be unjust to force a city whose population was 90% German unwillingly into Poland. An impasse emerged at the Paris peace conference with Clemenceau and Wilson supporting the Polish claim to Danzig while Lloyd-George maintained that the city should remain within Germany. James Headlam-Morley of the British delegation came up with
11152-402: The Polish military can easily be ranked in the top 10 strongest national militaries as of 1939; not because the Polish military was so great, but because other national military forces were so weak and backward. Zaloga and Madej point out, in "The Polish Campaign 1939" that Poland had one of the largest tank forces on Earth, as of 1939 bigger than the tank force of the US. The relative strength of
11316-529: The Polish population had become Hitler's main objective. He wanted the agricultural land to resettle German farmers. Fourteen Points The Fourteen Points was a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I . The principles were outlined in a January 8, 1918 speech on war aims and peace terms to the United States Congress by President Woodrow Wilson . However, his main Allied colleagues ( Georges Clemenceau of France , David Lloyd George of
11480-433: The Polish-Soviet War was also referred to as a "war against White Poles", with the epithet belopoliaki ("White Poles" ) smearing the Poles as " counter-revolutionaries " akin to the White Russians . In 1922, in the aftermath of the Polish-Soviet War and Polish-Lithuanian War , Poland officially annexed Central Lithuania following a plebiscite , which was never recognized by Lithuania. The Riga arrangement influenced
11644-473: The Rhineland until 1935, through in fact the French occupation ended early in June 1930. One of the thorniest issues at the Paris peace conference was the status of Danzig (modern Gdańsk , Poland). Point 13 called for a reborn Polish state that would have "free and secure access to the sea". Danzig was a deep water port located where the Vistula river flows into the Baltic sea, making it the principal port where goods both came in and out of Poland. Roman Dmowski
11808-406: The Rhinelanders being placed unhappily under French rule. Wilson in particular was strongly for the Rhineland remaining part of Germany and he threatened several times to have the American delegation walk out of the peace conference if Clemenceau persisted with his plans for the Rhineland. Under strong Anglo-American pressure, the French were forced to accept that the Rhineland would remain part of
11972-542: The Russian-owned Chinese Eastern Railroad. This won the new Bolshevik regime much prestige in China, to the discomfort of the other powers that held extraterritorial rights there. The publication of the secret treaties relating to Europe, Africa, China and the Near East caused the governments of Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan much embarrassment at the time as the secret treaties made it appear that
12136-611: The Second Republic fell short of the high expectations of 1918. As happened elsewhere in Central Europe , with the exception of Czechoslovakia , the attempt to implant democracy did not succeed. Governments polarized between right- and left-wing factions, neither of which was prepared to honor the actions taken by the other. Serious difficulties arose in dealing with foreign assets and internal minorities. The government nationalized foreign-owned assets and operated them because there
12300-697: The Soviet Union and Germany that would unite to fend them off. However, Poland ran into so many disputes with its smaller neighbors that it was never able to build a bloc. At first, France favored Poland, because France wanted an ally against Germany; if Germany faced a two-front war, it would be less likely to attack France. France was especially helpful at the 1919 Paris conference and in the 1920s when it resisted British efforts to weaken Poland. After 1935, however, France distrusted Beck and lost interest in Eastern Europe and Poland stood increasingly alone. In 1925 , Berlin formally recognized its post-1918 boundaries in
12464-491: The Soviet Union. There was no success, not just because of the border issues but also because Prague's willingness to work with Moscow clashed with the firm resolve of Warsaw to keep its distance from Moscow. Czechoslovakian President Edvard Beneš warned that military or even strong political ties with Poland could prove dangerous for Czechoslovakia and rebuffed Beck's proposal to establish anti-German cooperation. The failure to establish any alliances in Eastern Europe meant
12628-433: The Treaty of Versailles and renounced its claim upon Alsace-Lorraine. At the Paris peace conference in 1919, Clemenceau wanted to see the Rhineland severed from Germany. The Rhineland with its steep hills and the broad Rhine river formed a natural defensive barrier and Clemenceau insisted that France needed the Rhineland to have sécurité after the war. Ideally, Clemenceau wanted to see the Rhineland annexed to France, but
12792-547: The Treaty of Versailles was really the monstrous "unjust" peace treaty that Germans had claimed it to be. Under the terms of the armistice of 11 November 1918, the French occupied Alsace–Lorraine . The French wasted no time in promptly proclaiming the reunion of Alsace-Lorraine with France. Many of the Alsatians had been unhappy under German rule, and the French troops who marched into Alsace-Lorraine in November 1918 were greeted as liberators with large crowds coming out to cheer
12956-527: The Turkish paragraph had been written, the President thought it might be more specific and that Armenia, Mesopotamia and other parts be mentioned by name. I disagreed with this, believing that what was said was sufficient to indicate this, and it finally stood as framed". Though the genocidal policies of the Committee of Union and Progress regime were not referenced by name in the 14 Points, the emphasis on protecting
13120-446: The United States in 1918, and that Nazi Germany would do the same. Weinberg noted that for German elites, not just Hitler, it was the alleged "stab-in-the-back" of 1918 that explained the German defeat, and it was taken for granted that the German military was invincible and could never be defeated provided the alleged "internal" enemies such as the Jews were dispatched first. Weinberg wrote
13284-539: The United States' objective was " to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the world ." In several speeches earlier in the year, Wilson sketched out his vision of an end to the war that would bring a "just and secure peace," not merely "a new balance of power." Congress had declared war on Germany on 9 April 1917 and until the 14 Points, Wilson's statements about American war aims had been rather vague, mostly limited to statements about being for democracy and against aggression. When Pope Benedict XV in
13448-605: The adoption of a constitution that designed Poland as a republic modeled after the French Third Republic , vesting most authority in the legislature, the Sejm. This was mainly to prevent Piłsudski from establishing himself as a dictator. A multitude of political parties emerged, of which there were four major and dozens of minor ones. All had very different ideologies and voter bases, and could scarcely agree on any major issue. There had been no serious consideration of re-establishing
13612-514: The area, which was annexed by Poland on October 2, 1938. In early 1939, Germany invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia , which, in March 1939, then ceased to exist. Germany had demanded that Poland join the Anti-Comintern Pact as a satellite state of Germany. Germany demanded an extraterritorial highway connecting Germany proper with Danzig and then East Prussia , which would cut off Poland from
13776-596: The basis of the Fourteen Points. In Asia Minor, the 14 Points caused some confusion as the Muslim peoples living there defined themselves in terms of religion rather than language and ethnicity. Almost all of the Kurdish population of Anatolia at the time defined themselves as Muslims rather than as Kurds, and were loyal to the Sublime Porte under the grounds that Sultan-Caliph was the supreme leader of all Muslims worldwide. There
13940-471: The borders of the region for the next two decades. The Polish-Soviet war , began in 1919, was the most important of the regional wars. Piłsudski first carried out a major military thrust into Ukraine in 1920 and in May Polish-Ukrainian forces reached Kiev. Just a few weeks later, however, the Polish offensive was met with a Soviet counter-offensive, and Polish forces were forced into a retreat by
14104-407: The chief the Polish delegation, argued that allowing Danzig to remain with Germany would give the Reich economic control of Poland and that for Poland to be truly independent required that Danzig go to Poland. At the peace conference, Wilson explained that what he meant by Poland having "free and secure access to the sea" in point 13 was that Danzig should go to Poland. Clemenceau likewise supported
14268-481: The compromise of making Danzig into a Free City that would belong to neither Poland nor Germany. The Treaty of Versailles imposed the compromise solution of severing Danzig from Germany to become the Free City of Danzig , a city-state in which Poland had certain special rights. German public opinion did not accept the loss of Danzig along with the loss of the so-called Polish Corridor and Upper Silesia to Poland, and for
14432-418: The constitution was adopted, Piłsudski resigned from office, unhappy with the limited role of the executive branch. But he continued to keep a close eye on political developments. The ineffectiveness of the Sejm led some of his inner circle to suggest that he launch a military coup and regain power; he said no. By 1926 he was persuaded and launched the coup of May 1926, which succeeded with little violence. For
14596-525: The decisive victory that Hindenburg and Ludendorff had expected. By the summer of 1918, the Allies were winning the war and on 28 September 1918 Ludendorff advised the Emperor Wilhelm II that the Reich was defeated and the best that the Germany can now hope to achieve would be an armistice that preserved Germany as a great power. Neither Hindenburg nor Ludendorff intended to take any responsibility for their failures as generals and rather cynically forced
14760-559: The diplomatic waste paper basket. Most of these fourteen points... would be interpreted... to mean anything or nothing." Senator William Borah after 1918 wished "this treacherous and treasonable scheme" of the League of Nations to be "buried in hell" and promised that if he had his way it would be " 20,000 leagues under the sea ". Wilson's speech regarding the Fourteen Points led to unintentional but important consequences in regards to countries which were under European colonial rule or under
14924-454: The districts were gerrymandered to minimize minority representation. The BMN helped elect Gabriel Narutowicz as president on the PSL ticket in 1922, but he came under nasty attacks from the right and was assassinated after five days in office. The BMN coalition declined in significance and shut down in 1930 as the different groups cut their own deals with the government on isolated issues. After
15088-409: The end of secret diplomacy. Lenin repudiated the foreign policy of Imperial Russia, and published the secret treaties that the former regime had signed with the Allies under which the Allies had envisioned extensive territorial changes and divided much of the world up into spheres of influence. Lenin surrendered all Russian extraterritorial rights and concessions in China with the notable exception of
15252-518: The entirety of the interwar period, it was common for Germans to speak of the "open wound in the East". The eastern borders the Treaty of Versailles imposed on Germany, especially the Polish Corridor, were universally viewed in Germany as "unjust" and a "national humiliation". The way that different peoples in Eastern Europe were mixed together in a patch-work of different pockets made it very difficult for
15416-420: The ethnic issue in interwar Poland and summarizes the consensus of historians, he writes: Stachura himself thinks that historians have been too harsh in their negative judgment. He notes that Poland had to contend with "an obstreperous and fundamentally disloyal German minority" that was incited by "fanatical" German nationalists next door. Poles talked of forced assimilation and seizure of industrial assets, but
15580-462: The expense of the country's ethnic minorities who felt alienated by the process. Reborn Poland faced a host of daunting challenges: extensive war damage, a ravaged economy, a population one-third composed of wary national minorities , an economy largely under the control of German industrial interests, and a need to reintegrate the three zones that had been forcibly kept apart during the era of partition. Poland's formal political life began in 1921 with
15744-563: The fate of the entire region for the years to come. Ukrainians and Belarusians found themselves without a country or province of their own, and some Polish speakers also found themselves within the borders of the Soviet Union . The latter experienced forced collectivistion , state terror, suppression of religion, purges , labor camps and famine. The newly formed Second Polish Republic , one-third of whose citizens were non-ethnic Poles, engaged in promoting Polish identity, culture and language at
15908-533: The former president Theodore Roosevelt and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge for his unwillingness to ask Congress to declare war on the Ottoman Empire. In a foreshadowing of the "Germany First" strategy of World War Two, Wilson and other senior figures in his administration argued that the United States should commit its power to defeat the German Empire first and that any operations against the Sublime Porte would be
16072-508: The government cracked down with mass arrests; it tolerated the Polish arson of Ukrainian community centers. Orthodox churches were closed, especially in Volhynia province. Some men went underground and tried to assassinate Ukrainians who collaborated with the government, as well as top Polish officials. A compromise was reached in 1935 that somewhat quieted the situation, but the Polish Army saw
16236-495: The governments before 1926 were too weak to carry them out. After 1926 Piłsudski had no interest in so doing. The Germans in Poland had above-average incomes, had a full panoply of civic organizations and German-language schools, and were represented in the Sejm. A stalemate resulted. Their status became a major threat after Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, because "the overwhelming majority of these Germans became ardent Nazis in
16400-426: The influence of European countries. In many of the Fourteen Points, specifically points X, XI, XII and XIII, Wilson had focused on adjusting colonial disputes and the importance of allowing autonomous development and self-determination . This drew significant attention from anti-colonial nationalist leaders and movements, who saw Wilson's swift adoption of the term "self-determination" (although he did not actually use
16564-443: The interests of the victorious Allies. In reality, Wilson's calls for greater autonomous development and sovereignty had been aimed solely at European countries under the rule of the German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires. He did not explicitly outline this, although it is clear that his calls for greater sovereignty in these regions was in an effort to try and destabilise those enemies' empires. President Wilson's ambitions for
16728-662: The international arena. In November 1917, the Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin overthrew the Russian Provisional Government in Petrograd . The next day, Lenin issued the Decree On Peace which called for the immediate end to the war on the basis of a "just and democratic peace", which he defined as "a peace without annexations or indemnitees"; national self-determination in place of the traditional power politics; and
16892-403: The international order created by the Treaty of Versailles, and the question of the "injustice" of the Treaty of Versailles was irrelevant as a challenge would have been made even if the Treaty of Versailles had been more favorable to Germany. The Dolchstoßlegende claimed that Germany had decisively defeated the combined forces of France, the British empire and the United States in 1918 and it
17056-590: The interwar period, it was common in Germany to attack the Treaty of Versailles as illegitimate, with the argument being made that it was contrary to the 14 Points. Notably, Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles , which would become known as the War Guilt Clause, was seen by the Germans as assigning full responsibility for the war and its damages on Germany; however, the same clause was included in all peace treaties and historian Sally Marks has noted that only German diplomats saw it as assigning responsibility for
17220-565: The invading Soviets, including one where the Soviet infantry was charging the Polish positions marching shoulder to shoulder, making them into an extremely easy target to the machine guns, and some of the Soviet POW's switched sides to the Polish. Poles broke the early diplomatic version of Enigma cipher and transferred the results to France and the United Kingdom. In spite of its shortcomings,
17384-507: The largest party. From its inception, the Republic fought a series of wars to secure its boundaries. The nation was rural and poor; the richest areas were in the former German areas in the west. Industrialization came very slowly, and was promoted in the mid-1930s with the development of the Central Industrial District . Most Polish leaders of that period wanted to create a larger Polish state; one optimal plan, dating back to
17548-450: The leased land. His pragmatism left the room even for private peasant ownership, despite his Marxism. Foreign minister Józef Beck was in full charge of foreign policy by 1935 but he had a weak hand. Poland with 35 million people had a large population but a thin industrial base; its war plans focused on the Soviet Union instead of Germany. Poland had long borders with two more powerful dictatorships, Hitler's Germany and Stalin's USSR. Poland
17712-463: The main American war aim as "the disestablishment of a Prussian Middle Europe" and to find a way to prevent Germany from being "the master of the continent" after the war. The Armenian genocide that began in April 1915 attracted much media attention in the Allied nations at the time, and throughout the summer and fall of 1917 Wilson had been the subject of fierce criticism by Republican politicians such as
17876-462: The mandate of Palestine from Great Britain ; his "Evacuation Plan" called for the settlement of 1.5 million Jews within 10 years in Palestine, including 750,000 Polish Jews This idea was warmly received by the Polish government which pursued a policy of mass emigration towards its Jewish population and was looking for locations for them to resettle; Jabotinsky on his part viewed antisemitism in Poland as
18040-469: The medical and legal professions, Jews in business associations, etc. While in 1921-22 25% of students were Jews, by 1938-9 the proportion went down to 8%. The far-right National Democracy (Endeks) organized anti-Jewish boycotts. Following the death of Poland's ruler Józef Piłsudski in 1935, the Endeks intensified their efforts. In 1937 the Endeks passed resolutions that "its main aim and duty must be to remove
18204-442: The mobilization, under the pressure from France and Great Britain, and restarting the mobilization less than a week later created confusion. Moreover, not only did the German military and civilian volunteers commit war crimes against the ethnic Poles and Polish Jews, they spread rumors of massive ethnic cleansing which led thousands of people to flee the German advance and made military maneuver difficult. Poland did have PZL ,
18368-499: The moment if he was going to avoid being eclipsed by Lenin's competing program for the postwar world". On 5 January 1918, the British prime minister David Lloyd George gave a speech in London stating that the British war aims were "self-determination" for the subject peoples of the Austrian and Ottoman empires. The speech, known as the Fourteen Points, was developed from a set of diplomatic points by Wilson and territorial points drafted by
18532-444: The most productive, while the former Russian and Austrian areas were below-average. The Polish peasantry believed that it would be so much better if they owned their land and did not pay rents to a landowner. They endorsed agrarianism and called for land redistribution away from large estates to peasants. This was done and also many very small farms were consolidated into viable units. Land reforms were undertaken along ethnic lines. In
18696-450: The multi-ethnic Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . In practice that meant ignoring the minority vote at home and seeking agreements with nearby countries. Universal suffrage gave the minorities a voice, especially when they formed a coalition, the Bloc of National Minorities (BMN) led by the Jews and including the others who together comprised a third of the population and 20% of the vote. However,
18860-463: The nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development . XI. Romania , Serbia , and Montenegro should be evacuated; occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea; and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of
19024-432: The next decade, Piłsudski dominated Polish affairs as strongman of a generally popular centrist government, although he never held a formal title except for minister of defense. He retained the 1921 constitution, and the noisy, ineffective Sejm continued to operate, but it nearly always gave him what he wanted. Critics of the government were occasionally arrested, but most were sued for libel. The marshal portrayed himself as
19188-462: The non-aggression pacts signed by Poland with Germany and the USSR. Following a border incident in March 1938, Poland presented an ultimatum to Lithuania , demanding the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Poland and Lithuania and the previously closed border with Poland to be reopened. Faced with the threat of war, the Lithuanian government accepted the Polish demands. In October 1938,
19352-622: The only ally was France; Piłsudski increasingly doubted the value of that alliance. The Locarno Pact , signed in 1925 by the major West European powers with the aim of guaranteeing peace in the region, contained no guarantee of Poland's western border. In May 1934, the Polish-Soviet non-aggression pact was extended until 31 December 1945. According to Anna M. Cienciala , during the period 1934–1939, Polish-Soviet relations were "correct but cool", while Polish-German relations could be characterized as "normal and at times friendly". The budget for
19516-527: The partition in the late 18th century while some did not have an ethnically Polish majority in the first place they were still viewed by Poles as their historic regions since they envisioned Poland as a multiethnic state. In the end, the negotiations broke down, sinking Piłsudski's idea of Międzymorze federation; instead, wars like the Polish-Lithuanian War or the Polish-Ukrainian War decided
19680-401: The peace and associating themselves for its maintenance. IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety. V. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims , based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of
19844-537: The peasants whose incomes plunged 50% or more. The government had few solutions except to reduce its own spending as tax revenues fell. About a third of the total population were members of minorities, including five or six million Ukrainians , over three million Jews , one and a half million Belarusians , and some 800,000 Germans . These minorities were increasingly alienated, complaining that they were marginalized in politics and denied rights Poland had agreed to in treaties. Historian Peter D. Stachura has examined
20008-586: The period from the revival of the independent Polish state in 1918, until the Invasion of Poland from the West by Nazi Germany in 1939 at the onset of World War II , followed by the Soviet Union from the East two weeks later. The two decades of Poland's independence between the world wars are known as the Interbellum . Poland re-emerged in November 1918 after more than a century of partitions by Austria-Hungary ,
20172-404: The political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan states should be entered into. XII. The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Ottoman rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development , and
20336-470: The populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable government whose title is to be determined. VI. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest cooperation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political development and national policy and assure her of
20500-402: The possibility of Communist revolutions inspired by the Russian example breaking out elsewhere, and offered his set of idealistic war aims to challenge Lenin's claims to the moral high ground. When drafting the 14 Points alongside his close adviser and friend, Colonel House, Wilson mostly spoke about Russia. The American historian N. M. Phelps wrote that in January 1918 Wilson "...needed to seize
20664-483: The proposed Anglo-American-French alliance null and void. Clemenceau and the other French leaders always felt that France had been "cheated" as the French made major concessions to the Anglo-American viewpoint in return for alliances that proved to be an illusion. Under the Treaty of Versailles, the Rhineland remained part of Germany, but was made into a permanent demilitarized zone and the French were allowed to occupy
20828-410: The public view. II. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants. III. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to
20992-621: The purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike. Wilson at first considered abandoning his speech after Lloyd George delivered a speech outlining British war aims, many of which were similar to Wilson's aspirations, at Caxton Hall on January 5, 1918. Lloyd George stated that he had consulted leaders of "the Great Dominions overseas" before making his speech, so it would appear that Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Newfoundland were in broad agreement. Wilson
21156-416: The redistribution of lands to peasants and the country achieved significant economic growth between 1921 and 1939. A third of the population consisted of minorities— Ukrainians , Jews, Belarusians, Lithuanians and Germans . The independence of Poland had been successfully promoted to the Allies in Paris by Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Paderewski . U.S. President Woodrow Wilson made the independence of Poland
21320-400: The reserves. A major problem was lack of funds. The limited defense budget allowed minimal mechanization; most weapons were produced in Poland, but the production rate was low ( 7TP tank is a prime example), and foreign exchange was scarce. The fact that Poland was halfway through the rearming process that was to end in 1942 did not help. Ten divisions were never mobilized. The cancellation of
21484-475: The rights of minorities under the Sublime Porte together with what was described with some understatement as the "undoubted security of life" was an implicit response to such policies. The studies culminated in a speech by Wilson to Congress on January 8, 1918, wherein he articulated America's long-term war objectives. The speech was the clearest expression of intention made by any of the belligerent nations, and it projected Wilson's progressive domestic policies into
21648-414: The role of the Soviet Union. Hitler thought Britain and France were bluffing, but he handled the Soviet problem in late August, by a stunning agreement with Stalin in what amounted to a friendly alliance, which included secret provisions to partition Poland—and indeed divide up much of eastern Europe The British and French offer was not a bluff—they declared war on Germany when it invaded Poland, but neither
21812-505: The sea and its main trade route to which Poland refused. Germany also pressed for the incorporation of Danzig, a Nazi ruled city-state with a 90% German population that had been separated from Germany in 1920 and functioning as a Free City in a customs union with Poland ever since. After it rejected German territorial demands regarding Danzig and Gdańsk Pomerania , Poland's position was steadily weakening as other nations such as Hungary and Romania gravitated toward Germany's orbit. Poland
21976-436: The seas . Wilson also made proposals that would ensure world peace in the future. For example, he proposed the removal of economic barriers between nations, the promise of self-determination for national minorities, and a world organization that would guarantee the "political independence and territorial integrity [of] great and small states alike" – a League of Nations . Though Wilson's idealism pervaded
22140-593: The smaller in size, but a more industrialized eastern section in 1922, after series of three Silesian Uprisings . The military conflict with the Soviets proved the determinant of Poland's frontiers in the east, a theater rendered chaotic by the repercussions of the Russian revolutions and subsequent civil war . Piłsudski envisioned creating a federation with the rest of Ukraine (led by the Polish-friendly government in Kiev he
22304-585: The state aviation company that made good planes. In 1931 it developed the PZL P.11 , the most advanced fighter in the world of the early 1930s. In the mid-1930s its successor the P-24 was even better armed and faster, but Poland exported it to earn currency, forcing the use of semi-obsolete PZL P.11 and a couple of dozen old PZL P.7 fighters. They were no match against the German Messerschmitt 109 which could fly higher,
22468-740: The support of the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites . It is maintained by members of the Society of Polish Artists from Grodno operating at the Union of Poles in Belarus . In July 2022, the monument was destroyed by Belarusian authorities. This Belarus location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . History of Poland (1918%E2%80%931939) Timeline of Polish history The history of interwar Poland comprises
22632-429: The term in the speech itself) as an opportunity to gain independence from colonial rule or expel foreign influence. Consequently, Wilson gained support from anti-colonial nationalist leaders in Europe's colonies and countries under European influence around the globe who were hopeful that Wilson would assist them in their goals. Around the world, Wilson was occasionally elevated to a quasi-religious figure; as someone who
22796-511: The territorial losses being far greater than those imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. Weinberg also noted that the Allied leaders at the Paris peace conference of 1919 imposed the Minorities treaty on Poland, intended to protect the rights of Poland's Volksdeutsche (ethnic German) minority whereas, in 1945, all of the Germans living in the lands assigned to Poland were forcibly expelled from their homes forever, leading him to ask rhetorically if
22960-417: The third world were rather to attempt to influence its development in order to transform it from 'backward' to 'sophisticated', the aim being to incorporate it into the commercial world, so that the U.S. could further benefit from trade with the global south. Furthermore, Wilson did not believe the third world was ready for self governance, asserting that a period of trusteeship and tutelage from colonial powers
23124-413: The topics likely to arise in the anticipated peace conference . The immediate cause of the United States' entry into World War I in April 1917 was the German announcement of renewed unrestricted submarine warfare and the subsequent sinking of ships with Americans on board. But President Wilson's war aims went beyond the defense of maritime interests. In his War Message to Congress, Wilson declared that
23288-461: The value of 200 million zlotys a year, thanks in part to Jewish per capita income among the working Jews more than 40% higher than that of Polish non-Jews. From the 1920s the Polish government excluded Jews from receiving government bank credits, public sector employment, and obtaining business licenses. From the 1930s limits were placed on Jewish enrollment in university education, Jewish shops, Jewish export firms, Shechita , Jewish admission to
23452-463: The vote, but if Germany lost, it was still guaranteed access to East Prussia through an autobahn system that it would administer, stretching from Germany proper to Danzig to East Prussia. If Poland lost the vote, the corridor would go to Germany and the seaport of Gdynia would become a Polish exclave with a route connecting Poland with Gdynia. After the British-French guarantee of support for Poland
23616-428: The war. The Allies would initially assess 269 billion marks in reparations . In 1921, this figure was established at 192 billion marks. However, only a fraction of the total had to be paid. The figure was designed to look imposing and show the public that Germany was being punished, but it also recognized what Germany could not realistically pay. Germany's ability and willingness to pay that sum continues to be
23780-516: The west with France, but not in the east with Poland. The same year, Germany slashed coal imports from Poland by half, which triggered the German–Polish trade war . Relations with the Soviet Union remained hostile, but Piłsudski was willing to negotiate, and in 1932 the two countries signed a non-aggression pact . Shortly afterward, Hitler came to power. Rumors circulated to the effect that Piłsudski proposed to France that Poland and France launch
23944-495: The west, Germans who had been made foreigners in 1919 quickly lost their land. In the east, by contrast, Ukrainian and Belarusian peasants tilled for Polish landowners and no serious moves toward land redistribution were taken. No alternative industrial jobs were developed and underemployment was high in rural areas. The socialist politician Bolesław Limanowski thought deeply about Agrarianism and worked out an eclectic program that fit Polish conditions. His practical experience as
24108-446: The whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored , without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law
24272-596: The working classes of France, Britain and Russia. In 1917, the party split over the issue of the war, with the anti-war faction forming the Independent Social Democratic Party . By then, the Majority Social Democrats were also becoming increasingly disenchanted, as discussions about the war often centered on annexations, making it apparent that the allegedly defensive war was in fact a war of conquest. The Majority Social Democrats voted with
24436-513: The year 1934-35 allocated 762 million zlotych for the army, about 32% of the total. It provided for an effective strength of 7,905 officers, 37,000 professional soldiers, and 211,110 militia soldiers. Apart from the army, the budget provided 105 million zlotych for police troops consisting of 774 officers and 28,592 men. By 1939 Poland had a large army, with 283,000 on active duty, in 37 infantry divisions, 11 cavalry brigades, and two armored brigades, plus artillery units. Another 700,000 men served in
24600-400: Was a policy of normal relations with both Germany and the Soviet Union but alliance with neither (also described as "the policy of equal distance" or "equilibrium"). Accordingly, the Polish leadership rejected German proposals of cooperation against Russia. At the same time, Beck's goal was to prevent Poland from entering into an isolated conflict with Germany. The policy rested on two pillars:
24764-482: Was an agent of salvation and a bringer of peace and justice. During this 'Wilsonian moment', there was considerable optimism among anti-colonial nationalist leaders and movements that Wilson and the Fourteen Points were going to be an influential force that would re-shape the long established relationships between the West and the rest of the world. Many of them believed that the United States, given its history (particularly
24928-414: Was announced on April 3, negotiations over Danzig ended. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. The issue of Danzig was not the cause of the German invasion; Hitler told his generals in May 1939: “It is not Danzig that is at stake. For us, it is a matter of expanding our living space in the east and making food supplies secure.” The total destruction of the Polish state, Polish culture, and indeed
25092-409: Was at the time allied with Romania and France. Two critical developments caught Poland by surprise. At the end of March 1939, Britain and France announced that if Germany invaded Poland they would declare war. In terms of helping Poland in an actual war, everyone realized they could do very little. The hope was that the threat of a two-front war would deter Germany, especially since it had to worry about
25256-500: Was better armed, and flew 100 km/h faster. In spite of the shortcomings, at least 110 victories were credited to the P.11 for the loss of about 30 of their own. The PZL.37 Łoś was an excellent twin-engine medium bomber; Poland had 36 ready-to-fight when the war started. In 1939 Poland had 390 combat planes that were mostly obsolescent. Germany had 2800 new fighter planes plus bombers and transports. The Poles, in spite of their desperate situation, managed to win two battles against
25420-605: Was confusion on the part of both the Allies and the Kurds themselves if the Kurds were one of the "non-Turkish" groups promised autonomy in the Ottoman Empire by the 14 points. Theodore Roosevelt , in a January 1919 article titled, "The League of Nations", published in Metropolitan Magazine , warned: "If the League of Nations is built on a document as high-sounding and as meaningless as the speech in which Mr. Wilson laid down his fourteen points, it will simply add one more scrap to
25584-493: Was in a position to provide serious help. Poland itself had a million-man army (and another million in the reserves) but fell far short in terms of training, airpower, artillery, tanks, machine guns, radios, and trucks. The Polish military budget was about 2% of Germany's; its commanding general Marshal Smigly-Rydz was not well prepared for the challenge. The Germans wanted restoration of the pre-Versailles Treaty borders and so they launched new demands on Poland. They insisted on
25748-541: Was increasingly isolated. Overy says that of all the new states in Europe: In February 1921, Poland signed a secret military agreement with France , which obliged each party to mutual aid in the event of German aggression. In March 1921, the Poles signed a treaty of mutual assistance with Romania , directed against the threat from the Soviet Union. Poland sought to be the leader of an independent bloc of nations between
25912-454: Was insufficient domestic capital to buy them and because it was easier than determining who should get what. Overall, Poland had a higher degree of state involvement in the economy and less foreign investment than any other nation in eastern Europe. This emphasis on economic centralization hampered Poland's development. The economy was largely rural, and the worldwide Great Depression that began in 1929 saw hardship in every sector. Worst hit were
26076-568: Was only at the moment of victory that Germany had been "stabbed-in-the-back" by the November revolution . Weinberg noted that pervasiveness of the Dolchstoßlegende was such that it explained the flippant way that Hitler declared war on the United States in 1941 with the full support of the Wehrmacht elite because it was genuinely believed by all of the German elites that Imperial Germany had crushed
26240-413: Was persuaded by his adviser House to go ahead, and Wilson's speech overshadowed Lloyd George's and is better remembered by posterity. The speech was made without prior coordination or consultation with Wilson's counterparts in Europe. Clemenceau , upon hearing of the Fourteen Points, was said to have sarcastically proclaimed, "The good Lord had only ten !" ( Le bon Dieu n'en avait que dix ! ). As
26404-447: Was required to manage such a transition. Wilson viewed this approach as essential to the 'proper development' of colonised countries, reflecting his views about the inferiority of the non-European races. Moreover, Wilson was not by character or background an anti-colonialist or campaigner for rights and freedoms for all people, instead he was also very much a racist, a fundamental believer in white supremacy . For example, he had supported
26568-493: Was the November Revolution of 1918. Weinberg wrote that there was nothing the Allies could have done to reconcile those Germans who believed in the Dolchstoßlegende that Germany had actually won the war in 1918 with the reality of their defeat. Weinberg wrote that given the way that the majority of Germans believed in the Dolchstoßlegende that it was inevitable that Germany would have made some sort of challenge to
26732-473: Was to help to install) and Lithuania , thus forming a Central and East European federation called " Intermarium " (Polish: "Międzymorze", literally "area between seas"). Lenin , leader of the new communist government of Russia, saw Poland as the bridge over which communism would pass into the labor class of a disorganized postwar Germany. And the issue was further complicated as some of the disputed regions had assumed various economic and political identities since
26896-405: Was willing to accept having the Rhineland became a French puppet state under a permanent French military occupation. Marshal Ferdinand Foch , France's most respected and honored general, argued that the French needed control of the Rhineland in order to stand a chance of victory in another war with Germany, which Foch believed to be inevitable as the Allies had defeated, but not destroyed Germany as
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