Anglo-Polish military alliance

The Anglo-Polish military alliance refers to agreements reached between the United Kingdom and the Polish Second Republic for mutual assistance in case of military invasion by a third party.

British Guarantee to Poland

On March 31, 1939, in response to Nazi Germany's defiance of the Munich Agreement and occupation of Czechoslovakia, [Martin Collier, Philip Pedley. "Germany, 1919-45"] the United Kingdom pledged the support of itself and France to guarantee Polish independence.

On April 6, during a visit to London by the Polish foreign minister, it was agreed to formalize the guarantee as an Anglo-Polish military alliance, pending negotiations. [Andrew J. Crozier. "The Causes of the Second World War", pg. 151]

This guarantee was extended on April 13th to Greece and Romania following Italy's invasion of Albania. [Michael G. Fry, Erik Goldstein, Richard Langhorne. "Guide to International Relations and Diplomacy"]

Polish-British Common Defence Pact

On August 25th, two days after the Nazi-Soviet Pact, the Polish-British Common Defence Pact was signed. The treaty contained promises of mutual military assistance between the nations in the event either was attacked by another European country. The United Kingdom, sensing a dangerous trend of German expansionism, sought to prevent German aggression by this show of solidarity. In a secret protocol of the pact, the United Kingdom only actually offered assistance in the case of an attack on Poland specifically by Germany, though both the United Kingdom and Poland were bound not to enter agreements with any other third countries which were a threat to the other. [Jerzy Jan Lerski. "Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966-1945", pg. 49]

Because of the pact's signing, Hitler postponed his planned invasion of Poland from August 26 until September 1. [Frank McDonough. "Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War", pg. 86]

Analysis

At the time Adolf Hitler was demanding cession of the port of Danzig, military access to the Polish Corridor, and special privileges for the German minority within Poland. By the terms of the military alliance, each party was free to decide whether to oppose with force any territorial encroachment, as the pact did not include any statement of either party's commitment to the defense of the other party's territorial integrity."On 31 March 1939 the British government guaranteed the independence (though not the territorial integrity) of Poland, in which they were joined by France."
Paul M. Hayes, 'Themes in Modern European History, 1890-1945', Routledge (1992), ISBN 0415079055] The Pact did contain provisions regarding "indirect threats" and attempts to undermine either party's independence by means of "economic penetration", a clear reference to the peculiar status of Danzig. Fearing all-out German invasion no matter what, the Poles rejected the German demands.

The British and French governments had plans other than fulfilling their treaties with Poland. On May 4, a meeting was held in Paris at which it was decided that "the fate of Poland depends on the final outcome of the war, which will depend on our ability to defeat Germany rather than to aid Poland at the beginning."Fact|date=February 2007 Poland's government was not notified of this decision, and the Polish-British talks in London were continued. Also in May 1939, Poland signed a secret protocol to the 1921 Franco-Polish Military Alliance.

On September 17 the Red Army forces invaded Poland through the eastern Polish border. The Polish government ordered its troops to withdraw and not to fight against the Soviet Union. Both the initial unilateral British guarantee, and the bilateral Pact, required the attacked party to decide to engage the aggressor "in hostilities", "with its national armed forces". Since Poland did not do that, Great Britain came under no obligation to declare war on the Soviet Union.

ee also

* Franco-Polish Military Alliance
* Western betrayal

References

* [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/wwii/bluebook/blbk19.htm Agreement of Mutual Assistance Between the United Kingdom and Poland.-London, August 25, 1939.]
* cite book | author =Count Edward Raczyński | coauthors = | title =The British-Polish Alliance; Its Origin and Meaning | year =1948 | editor = | pages = | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher =Mellville Press | location =London | isbn= | url = | format = | accessdate =

Further reading

* Anita J. Prazmowska, "Britain, Poland and the Eastern Front, 1939", Cambridge University Press, 1987, ISBN 0-521-33148-X