Franco-Polish alliance

The Franco-Polish Alliance was the military alliance between Poland and France that was active between the early 1920s and the outbreak of the Second World War. The initial agreements were signed in February 1921 and formally took effect in 1923. During the interwar period the alliance with Poland was one of the cornerstones of French foreign policy.

This article is about the 1921 Franco-Polish alliance. For the 1524 Franco-Polish alliance, see Franco-Polish Alliance (1524).
Foreign alliances of France
Frankish–Abbasid alliance 777–800s
Franco-Mongol alliance 1220–1316
Franco-Scottish alliance 1295–1560
Franco-Polish alliance 1524–1526
Franco-Hungarian alliance 1528–1552
Franco-Ottoman alliance 1536–1798
Franco-English alliance 1657–1660
Franco-Indian alliance 1603–1763
Franco-British alliance 1716–1731
Franco-Spanish alliance 1733–1792
Franco-Prussian alliance 1741–1756
Franco-Austrian Alliance 1756–1792
Franco-Indian Alliances 1700s
Franco-Vietnamese
alliance		 1777–1820
Franco-American alliance 1778–1794
Franco-Persian alliance 1807–1809
Franco-Prussian alliance 1812–1813
Franco-Austrian alliance 1812–1813
Franco-Russian alliance 1892–1917
Entente Cordiale 1904–present
Franco-Polish alliance 1921–1940
Franco-Italian alliance 1935
Franco-Soviet alliance 1936–1939
Western Union 1948–1954
North Atlantic Alliance 1949–present
Western European Union 1954–2011
European Defence Union 1993–present
Regional relations
Events leading to World War II
  1. Revolutions of 1917–1923
  2. Aftermath of World War I 1918–1939
  3. Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War 1918–1925
  4. Province of the Sudetenland 1918–1920
  5. 1918–1920 unrest in Split
  6. Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919
  7. Heimosodat 1918–1922
  8. Austro-Slovene conflict in Carinthia 1918–1919
  9. Hungarian–Romanian War 1918–1919
  10. Hungarian–Czechoslovak War 1918–1919
  11. 1919 Egyptian Revolution
  12. Christmas Uprising 1919
  13. Irish War of Independence 1919
  14. Comintern World Congresses 1919–1935
  15. Treaty of Versailles 1919
  16. Shandong Problem 1919–1922
  17. Polish–Soviet War 1919–1921
  18. Polish–Czechoslovak War 1919
  19. Polish–Lithuanian War 1919–1920
  20. Silesian Uprisings 1919–1921
  21. Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye 1919
  22. Turkish War of Independence 1919–1923
  23. Venizelos–Tittoni agreement 1919
  24. Italian Regency of Carnaro 1919–1920
  25. Iraqi Revolt 1920
  26. Treaty of Trianon 1920
  27. Vlora War 1920
  28. Treaty of Rapallo 1920
  29. Little Entente 1920–1938
  30. Treaty of Tartu (Finland–Russia) 1920–1938
  31. Mongolian Revolution of 1921
  32. Soviet intervention in Mongolia 1921–1924
  33. Uprising in West Hungary 1921–1922
  34. Franco-Polish alliance 1921–1940
  35. Polish–Romanian alliance 1921–1939
  36. Genoa Conference (1922)
  37. Treaty of Rapallo (1922)
  38. March on Rome 1922
  39. Sun–Joffe Manifesto 1923
  40. Corfu incident 1923
  41. Occupation of the Ruhr 1923–1925
  42. Treaty of Lausanne 1923–1924
  43. Mein Kampf 1925
  44. Second Italo-Senussi War 1923–1932
  45. First United Front 1923–1927
  46. Dawes Plan 1924
  47. Treaty of Rome (1924)
  48. Soviet–Japanese Basic Convention 1925
  49. German–Polish customs war 1925–1934
  50. Treaty of Nettuno 1925
  51. Locarno Treaties 1925
  52. Anti-Fengtian War 1925–1926
  53. Treaty of Berlin (1926)
  54. May Coup (Poland) 1926
  55. Northern Expedition 1926–1928
  56. Nanking incident of 1927
  57. Chinese Civil War 1927–1937
  58. Jinan incident 1928
  59. Huanggutun incident 1928
  60. Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928
  61. Chinese reunification 1928
  62. Lateran Treaty 1928
  63. Central Plains War 1929–1930
  64. Young Plan 1929
  65. Sino-Soviet conflict (1929)
  66. Great Depression 1929
  67. London Naval Treaty 1930
  68. Kumul Rebellion 1931–1934
  69. Japanese invasion of Manchuria 1931
  70. Pacification of Manchukuo 1931–1942
  71. January 28 incident 1932
  72. Soviet–Japanese border conflicts 1932–1939
  73. Geneva Conference 1932–1934
  74. May 15 incident 1932
  75. Lausanne Conference of 1932
  76. Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact 1932
  77. Soviet–Finnish Non-Aggression Pact 1932
  78. Proclamation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 1932
  79. Defense of the Great Wall 1933
  80. Battle of Rehe 1933
  81. Nazis' rise to power in Germany 1933
  82. Reichskonkordat 1933
  83. Tanggu Truce 1933
  84. Italo-Soviet Pact 1933
  85. Inner Mongolian Campaign 1933–1936
  86. Austrian Civil War 1934
  87. Balkan Pact 1934–1940
  88. July Putsch 1934
  89. German–Polish declaration of non-aggression 1934–1939
  90. Baltic Entente 1934–1939
  91. 1934 Montreux Fascist conference
  92. Stresa Front 1935
  93. Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance 1935
  94. Soviet–Czechoslovakia Treaty of Mutual Assistance 1935
  95. He–Umezu Agreement 1935
  96. Anglo-German Naval Agreement 1935
  97. December 9th Movement
  98. Second Italo-Ethiopian War 1935–1936
  99. February 26 incident 1936
  100. Remilitarization of the Rhineland 1936
  101. Soviet-Mongolian alliance 1936
  102. Arab revolt in Palestine 1936–1939
  103. Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
  104. Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936
  105. Italo-German "Axis" protocol 1936
  106. Anti-Comintern Pact 1936
  107. Suiyuan campaign 1936
  108. Xi'an Incident 1936
  109. Second Sino-Japanese War 1937–1945
  110. USS Panay incident 1937
  111. Anschluss Mar. 1938
  112. 1938 Polish ultimatum to Lithuania Mar. 1938
  113. Easter Accords April 1938
  114. May Crisis May 1938
  115. Battle of Lake Khasan July–Aug. 1938
  116. Salonika Agreement July 1938
  117. Bled Agreement Aug. 1938
  118. Undeclared German–Czechoslovak War Sep. 1938
  119. Munich Agreement Sep. 1938
  120. First Vienna Award Nov. 1938
  121. German occupation of Czechoslovakia Mar. 1939
  122. Hungarian invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine Mar. 1939
  123. German ultimatum to Lithuania Mar. 1939
  124. Slovak–Hungarian War Mar. 1939
  125. Final offensive of the Spanish Civil War Mar.–Apr. 1939
  126. Danzig crisis Mar.–Aug. 1939
  127. British guarantee to Poland Mar. 1939
  128. Italian invasion of Albania Apr. 1939
  129. Soviet–British–French Moscow negotiations Apr.–Aug. 1939
  130. Pact of Steel May 1939
  131. Battles of Khalkhin Gol May–Sep. 1939
  132. Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact Aug. 1939
  133. Invasion of Poland Sep. 1939

Background
See also: Franco–Polish alliance (1524)

During the France-Habsburg rivalry, which began in the 16th century, France tried to find allies to the east of Austria, hoping to ally with Poland. Polish King Jan III Sobieski also had the intention to ally with France against the threat of Austria, but the greater threat posed by the Muslim-led Ottoman Empire made him fight for the Christian cause in the Battle of Vienna. In the 18th century, Poland was partitioned by Russia, Prussia and Austria, but Napoleon recreated the Polish state in the Duchy of Warsaw. With the rise of a united German Empire in the 19th century, France and Poland found a new common enemy.

Interwar period

During the Polish–Soviet War of 1920, France, one of the most active supporters of Poland, sent the French Military Mission to Poland to aid the Polish army. In early February in Paris, three pacts were discussed by Polish Chief of State Józef Piłsudski and French President Alexandre Millerand: political, military and economic.

The political alliance was signed there on February 19, 1921 by Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Count Eustachy Sapieha and French Minister of Foreign Affairs Aristide Briand, in the background of the negotiations that ended the Polish–Soviet War by the Treaty of Riga. The agreement assumed a common foreign policy, the promotion of bilateral economical contacts, the consultation of new pacts concerning Central and Eastern Europe and assistance in case one of the signatories became a victim of an "unprovoked" attack. As such, it was a defensive alliance.[1] The secret military pact was signed two days later, on February 21, 1921, and clarified that the agreement was aimed at possible threats from both Germany and the Soviet Union.[2] An attack on Poland would make France keep lines of communication free and Germany in check but not require it to send troops or to declare war.[3] Both political and military pacts were legally not in force until the economic pact was ratified,[3] which occurred on August 2, 1923.[4]

The alliance was further extended by the Franco–Polish Warrant Agreement, signed on October 16, 1925 in Locarno, as part of the Locarno Treaties. The new treaty subscribed all previously-signed Polish–French agreements to the system of mutual pacts of the League of Nations.[5]

The alliance was closely tied with the Franco-Czechoslovakian Alliance. France's alliances with Poland and Czechoslovakia were aimed at deterring Germany from the use of force to achieve a revision of the postwar settlement and ensuring that German forces would be confronted with significant combined strength of its neighbours. Although Czechoslovakia had a significant economy and industry and Poland had a strong army, the French–Polish–Czechoslovakian triangle never reached its full potential. Czechoslovakian foreign policy, under Edvard Beneš, avoided signing a formal alliance with Poland, which would force Czechoslovakia to take sides in Polish–German territorial disputes. Czechoslovakia's influence was weakened by the doubts of its allies as to the trustworthiness of its army, and Poland's influence was undermined by fighting between supporters and opponents of Józef Piłsudski. France's reluctance to invest in its allies' industry (especially Poland's), improve trade relations by buying their agricultural products and share military expertise further weakened the alliance.[6]

In the 1930s, the alliance remained mostly inactive and its only effect was to keep the French Military Mission to Poland, which had worked with the Polish General Staff ever since the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1920. However, with the German threat becoming increasingly visible in the latter part of the decade, both countries started to seek a new pact to guarantee the independence of all contracting parties and military co-operation in case of a war with Germany.

1939

Finally, a new alliance started to be formed in 1939. The Kasprzycki–Gamelin Convention was signed May 19, 1939 in Paris. It was named after Polish Minister of War Affairs General Tadeusz Kasprzycki and Commander of the French Army Maurice Gamelin.[7] The military convention was army-to-army, not state-to-state, and was not in force legally, as it was dependent on signing and ratification of the political convention.[8] It obliged both armies to provide help to each other in case of a war with Germany. In May, Gamelin promised a "bold relief offensive" within three weeks of a German attack.[9]

The treaty was ratified by France on September 4, 1939, on the fourth day of German offensive on Poland.

However, France provided only token help to Poland during the war in the form of the Saar Offensive, which has often been considered an example of Western betrayal. However, the political convention was the basis of the recreation of the Polish Army in France.

Piotr Zychowicz quoted the memoirs of the French ambassador to Poland, Léon Noël, who wrote as early as October 1938, "It is of utmost importance that we remove from our obligations everything that would deprive French government the freedom of decision on the day when Poland finds itself in war with Germany". Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet reassured Noel by writing that "our agreement with Poland is full of gaps, needed to keep our country away from war".[10]

See also

References
  1. Umowa polityczna francusko–polska, podpisana w Paryżu 19 lutego 1921 r. (Dz.U. 1922 nr 63 poz. 563), registration July 2, 1923: France and Poland - Political Agreement, signed at Paris, February 19, 1921 (1923 LNTSer 87; 18 LNTS 11)
  2. Accord militaire franco–polonais Paris, 19 février 1921: Documents Diplomatiques Francais: 1921 - Tome I (16 Janvier - 30 Juin), Secret Milit Convention between France and Poland
  3. Piotr Stefan Wandycz (1 January 1962). France and Her Eastern Allies, 1919–1925: French–Czechoslovak–Polish Relations from the Paris Peace Conference to Locarno. U of Minnesota Press. pp. 217–. ISBN 978-0-8166-5886-2.
  4. Dz.U. 1923 nr 106 poz. 833
  5. Traktat Gwarancyjny pomiędzy Polską a Francją, podpisany w Londynie 1 grudnia 1925 r. (Dz.U. 1926 nr 114 poz. 660), registration September 14, 1926: France and Poland - Treaty of Mutual Guarantee, done at Locarno, October 16, 1925 (1926 LNTSer 250; 54 LNTS 353)
  6. This paragraph is based on a review of Zandycz book by Detlef Brandes, from Slavic Review, Fall 1990 issue
  7. Protocole Franco–Polonais 1939 Gamelin-Kasprzycki : Contre-témoignage sur une catastrophe, Protokół końcowy francusko–polskich rozmów sztabowych 15–17 maja 1939
  8. Anita J. Prazmowska (12 February 2004). Britain, Poland and the Eastern Front, 1939. Cambridge University Press. pp. 103–. ISBN 978-0-521-52938-9.
  9. Nicole Jordan (22 August 2002). The Popular Front and Central Europe: The Dilemmas of French Impotence 1918–1940. Cambridge University Press. pp. 294–. ISBN 978-0-521-52242-7.
  10. pages 279-280

Further reading
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