France and Her Eastern Allies, 1919-1925: French-Czechoslovak-Polish Relations from the Paris Peace Conference to Locarno

464 Pages·1962·8.791 MB·English

by  Piotr Stefan Wandycz

France and Her Eastern Allies
1919-1925
French-Czechoslovak-Polish
Relations from the Paris Peace Conference
to Locarno
BY PIOTR S’. WANDYCZ
The University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis
© Copyright 1962 by the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AT
THE LUND PRESS, MINNEAPOLIS
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 62-62512
PUBLISHED IN GREAT BRITAIN, INDIA, AND PAKISTAN BY THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON, BOMBAY, AND KARACHI, AND IN CANADA BY THOMAS ALLEN, LTD., TORONTO
To my Mother

PREFACE
D üring the interwar period the relations between France,
Czechoslovakia, and Poland occupied a most important position in Eu­
ropean diplomacy. Beginning with the breakdown during the First
World War of the old political, social, and economic order on the Conti­
nent, these relations went through many different phases. This book
deals with the crucial period from the Paris Peace Conference of 1919
to Locarno in 1925, when Franco-Polish-Czechoslovak relations were
marked by attempts to establish an eastern barrier, a barrière de Vest —
which by keeping Germany and Bolshevik Russia apart would guaran­
tee European peace and security. Poland and Czechoslovakia, the only
two states in East Central Europe with which France at this time had
formal alliances, naturally became the pivot of the scheme. While an ef­
fective eastern barrier never materialized, and after Locarno even the
term itself lost most of its meaning, the attempt to create one was a
worthy and in many ways an important undertaking.
Although the history of the efforts to set up an Eastern barrier pro­
vides the theme of this study, one cannot ignore the whole complex of re­
lations between France and the two western Slav states. Thus the barrier
theme, despite its importance, may at times recede into the background,
just as it did in the everyday diplomatic intercourse between the three
states.
In analyzing the complexities of French-Czechoslovak-Polish rela­
tions during the first six years after the Peace Conference the student of
course encounters certain difficulties. I am aware that this book often
raises questions which cannot as yet be fully answered. The opening of
the French archives, unrestricted use of Polish and Czechoslovak archi­
val material, and the possibility of using confidential documents of other
European powers would have enhanced the value of this study. At the
same time no one can tell when these archives will be accessible to schol­
ars and when a fully documented history could appear.
In my long and painstaking research I was, however, able to discover
a surprising variety and richness of sources, including archival collec­
tions which had never been used, and this material threw new light on
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Preface
many events in European diplomatic history in general, and Polish,
French, and Czechoslovak foreign policy in particular. While this vol­
ume is in a sense a pioneering study in a field where much remains to be
done, it may yet — I hope — provide exhaustive treatment of some
questions where additional material could only add details and fill in
minor gaps.
This study could never have been written without the generous help
of numerous institutions and individuals. A grant from the Social Sci­
ence Research Council enabled me to spend several months in the ar­
chives in Washington, the Hoover Institution, and several collections in
western Europe. I was able to travel to Europe for two consecutive sum­
mers, thanks to faculty summer research grants from the Graduate
School of Indiana University. Other financial assistance by the Gradu­
ate School provided for typing of the manuscript and covered the ex­
penses incurred in writing.
I am vastly indebted to my friend and colleague Professor Robert H.
Ferrell, who with untiring patience and understanding read the entire
manuscript and improved it greatly stylistically and in numerous other
ways. His cooperation as well as that of his wife, Lila E. Ferrell, which
went well beyond the call of ordinary friendship, was immensely valu­
able and I want to thank them both for their kindness.
In the course of my work many scholars generously assisted me with
their advice. I am particularly grateful to General Marian Kukiel, who
read my manuscript and offered valuable suggestions; to Professors
Pierre Renouvin and Maurice Baumont of the Sorbonne, who talked to
me about the problems connected with my research; to Professors Oscar
Halecki and Tytus Komarnicki, who encouraged me in my work; to
Professor Norman J. G. Pounds, who most kindly drew the maps for this
book; and to the successive chairmen of the department of history at
Indiana University, Professors Harold J. Grimm and Robert F. Byrnes,
who always showed appreciation and understanding of my research
work. I should like to thank my colleagues in the department, Professors
H. Trevor Colbourn, Robert E. Quirk, John W. Snyder, and Leo F. Soit,
who read the concluding chapter of this book and offered helpful sugges­
tions. Finally I want to thank my friend and colleague Professor Vaclav
Benes, with whom I discussed many a time — agreeing and disagree­
ing— various problems of Czechoslovak-Polish relations. Professor
Benes kindly read my conclusions and gave his candid view on their
merits and shortcomings.
During my research in libraries, archives, and private collections I
was fortunate to receive generous help and cooperation from many per­
sons. I would like to thank Mr. Oktawian Jastrzembski, whose help and
hospitality I enjoyed in Montreal; Mr. Jerzy Giedroyc, the editor of the
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Preface
Paris Kultura; Professor Witold Sworakowski and his wife, who guided
me in the labyrinth of the Hoover Institution; Dr. Czeslaw Chowaniec
and Miss Wanda Borkowska of the Bibliothèque Polonaise in Paris;
Dr. Robert F. Brockmann, who helped me in research in Washington;
Mr. Zbigniew Rapacki in Paris; Colonel Adam Koc of the Jözef Pilsud-
ski Institute of America in New York; and the staffs of the General
Sikorski Historical Institute in London, the National Archives in Wash­
ington, and the Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale Con­
temporaine in Paris.
I am grateful to several French, Czechoslovak, and Polish diplomats
and statesmen who were active in the 1920s and who contributed their
personal recollections and interpretations of the events discussed in this
volume. Among them were the two French ambassadors, the late
M. Jules Laroche and M. Léon Noël; the Czechoslovak ministers,
Mr. Stefan Osuskÿ and Mr. Juraj Slavik; and the Polish ambassadors
and ministers, the late Mr. Jözef Lipski, Mr. Kajetan Morawski, Mr. Jan
Starzewski, and Mr. Jan Librach. They were all kind enough to discuss
with me various aspects of Franco-Polish-Czechoslovak relations and
indicate their opinions. In this respect I am especially indebted to Gen­
eral Kazimierz Sosnkowski, who commented at my request on the Franco-
Polish alliance of 1921 and helped me to understand its background.
Lastly I would like to thank members of my family — my father,
Damian Wandycz, who in 1918 carried Pilsudski’s letter to Masaryk
and who has always remained interested in Polish-Czech problems, and
my sister, Dr. Anna Maria Mars, and my brother, Witold Mars, who in
the past influenced me in the direction of historical studies. Their con­
stant interest in the progress of my work, which they read in various
drafts and commented on, brought encouragement and served as a great
stimulus.
In view of all the excellent assistance and advice which I received
while writing this book it is only fair to say that I alone bear the respon­
sibility for any error or misinterpretation which may be found here. The
conclusions which I draw in this volume are also mine alone.
P.S.W .
November 1961

ABBREVIATIONS
AANA Auswärtiges Amt Archives (microfilm), National Archives,
Washington
AGND Akta Adjutantury Generalnej Naczelnego Dowodztwa, Jözef
Pilsudski Institute of America, New York
APGE Archives of the Polish Government-in-Exile (Documents from
the Polish Embassy in London), Montreal
AR Akta Generala Rozwadowskiego, Jözef Pilsudski Institute of
America, New York
BPPP Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, Bulletin périodique de la
presse polonaise (Paris, 1919-1925)
BPPT Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, Bulletin périodique de la
presse tchécoslovaque (Paris, 1919-1925)
CD Ciechanowski Deposit, Archives of the Polish Legation and
Embassy in the United States, 1920-1938, Hoover Institution,
Stanford
CE Comité d’Etudes, Procès-verbaux des réunions, rapports,
1917-1918 (mimeographed), Bibliothèque Polonaise, Paris
DBFP E. L. Woodward and R. Butler, eds., Documents on British
Foreign Policy (London)
DK Dossier Klotz, Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale
Contemporaine, Paris
FR Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States
(Washington)
FRH Francis Deâk and Dezsö Ujvâry, eds., Papers and Documents
Relating to the Foreign Relations of Hungary: I, 1919-1920
(Budapest, 1939)
PCIJ Permanent Court of International Justice, Publications (Ley­
den)
SDN A State Department Archives, National Archives, Washington
SI Documents from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Politi­
cal Department, General Sikorski Historical Institute, London