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The Franco-Polish Alliance and the Remilitarization of the Rhineland*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2009
Extract
The reoccupation of the Rhineland, on 7 March 1936, conventionally referred to as its remilitarization, was one of the few real turning points in modern history. It marked the end of the last vestiges of the ‘Versailles System’ and it has been considered a missed opportunity for calling a halt to Hitler's aggressive designs. It was also a problem which affected the very foundations of the Franco-Polish alliance, a relationship which had a chequered history in the interwar period. For France and Poland, Germany's neighbours, most of all, the reoccupation of the Rhineland would on the surface appear to have been the last occasion on which they might have collaborated to contain Hitler's Germany. This article will attempt to show how much more complex the question was in reality. It examines the degree of mutual consultation and encouragement between France and Poland prior to the reoccupation, and their reactions to it. This episode provides an excellent case-study of how the alliance worked in practice and also throws some interesting sidelights on the European diplomatic scene in this period.
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References
1 Cf. Knapp, F. W., ‘The Rhineland crisis of March 1936’ in St Anthony's Papers, no. 5 (London, 1959),Google ScholarJoll, J. (ed.), p. 67; Debicki, Roman, ‘The remilitarization of the Rhineland and the Franco-Polish alliance’, Polish Review, XIV, 4 (New York, Autumn, 1969), 45–55.Google Scholar This article, in spite of its title, deals only somewhat cursorily with the remilitarization itself. It provides, however, an interesting outline of the development of the Franco-Polish alliance. The standard English language account of the origins and early years of the alliance is Wandycz, Piotr S., France and her Eastern Allies 1919–25 (Minneapolis, 1962).Google ScholarThe most exhaustively documented study is Józef Kukutka, Francja a Polska po Traktacie Wersalskim 1919–22 (Warsaw, 1970).Google Scholar
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11 Assemblée Nationale, Rapport fait au nom de la commission chargie d'enquêter sur les événements survenus en France de 1933 ` 1945 (Paris, 1951), IV, 899–920, testimony by General Maurin. (Hereafter referred to as Evénemcnts survenus.)
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14 Kennard to Eden, I Jan. 1936, ‘Poland. Annual Report 1935’. F.O. 371/19957.
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20 Ibid. p. 106.
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23 DDF, 2me, vol. 1, Doc. 62.
24 Cabinet meeting of 29 Jan. 1936, Cab. 23/83, P.R.O.
25 Ibid.
26 Cabinet meeting of 12 Feb. 1936, Cab. 23/83, P.R.O.
27 DDF, 2me, vol. I, Doc. 53, 78, 105.
28 DDF, 2me, vol. I, Doc. 143.
29 DDF, 2me, vol. I, Docs. 196, 202.
30 Ibid. Doc. 170.
31 ibid. Doc. 203.
32 Szembek, op. cit. p. 95.
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35 Szembek, op. cit. p. 94.
36 Wojchiechowski, op. cit. pp. 264–5.
37 DDF, 2me, vol. 1, Docs. 128, 131.
38 Szembek, op. cit. p. 81.
39 See footnote 13 for source.
40 Szembek, op. cit. pp. 94 and 110.
41 Flandin had already mentioned this theme to Chlapowski on 4 Feb. Chlapowski to M.S.Z., no. VIII of 5 Feb. 1936, M.S.Z.-A.A.N.
42 D(ocuments on) G(erman) F(oreign) P(olicy), ser. c, vol. v, Doc. 189; a memorandum of 23 Mar. 1936 by Reich War Minister, Blomberg, shows how relatively limited the German occupation was to be in terms of troops moved.
43 Beck to Chlapowski, 10 Mar. 1936, Sikorski Institute, London. Although sent after the reoccupation this document had already been prepared well before the event.
44 Szembek, op. cit. p. 97.
45 DDF, 2me, vol. 1, Doc. 268.
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47 See Bullock, Alan, Hitler: A Study in Tyranny (Penguin, London, 1962), p. 343.Google Scholar
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49 Beck's visit to Brussels on 3–4 Mar. was interpreted by some sections of the French press as an attempt to encourage Belgian neutrality. Cf. Le Temps (29 Feb. 1936), p. 8. It was in fact little more than a widening of the field of Polish diplomatic activity. See DDF, 2me, vol. 1, Docs. 263, 282; Szembek, op. cit. p. 109; Józef Beck, Dernier Rapport: Politique Polonaise 1926–39 (La Baconniére, Neuchątel, 1951), pp. 110–12. It was also an expression of Beck's penchant for foreign travel which gained him the soubriquets of the ‘Postman of Europe’ and the ‘Flying Dutchman of European diplomacy’.
50 DGFP, ser. c, vol. v, Docs. 12, 13, 17; DDF, 2me, vol. 1, Docs. 298, 299, 300.
51 DGFP, ser. c, vol. v, Doc. 19; Szembek, op. cit. p. 110.
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54 Noël, in his memoirs, claims that Beck was in agreement with the military leaders on France's reaction. Noël, op. cit. p. 129. This would seem to be, however, an aspect of his wider criticism of the Quai d'orsay for indecision and lack of coherent policy. His immediate impression was the contrary. DDF, 2me, vol. 11, Doc. 71. A good account of the Italian role is Robertson, E., Hitler's pre-war policy (Longmans, 1963), p. 66ff.Google Scholar
55 Szembek, op. cit. p. 110.
56 DDF, 2me, vol. 1, Doc. 303.
57 Noël, op. cit. p. 125.
58 Szembek, op. cit. p. 113. Cf. U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States (Washington, D.C., date) (1936), 1, 239. (Hereafter referred to as FRUS.)Google Scholar
59 DDF, 2me, vol. 1, Doc. 302.
60 Ibid. Doc. 307.
61 See Taylor, A. J. P., The Origins of the Second World War (Penguin, London, 1963), pp. 130 ff.;Google ScholarFlandin, Pierre E., Politique Française 1919–40 (Paris, 1947), Pp. 193 ff.; Gamelin, op. cit. pp. 200 ff.;Google Scholar Paul-Boncour, op. cit. III, 30 ff.; Reynaud, Paul, In the thick of the fight (London, 1955), pp. 118–26; Evinéments survenus, iv, 899–920, Maurin testimony. Flandin's and Gamelin's accounts are particularly interesting as exercises in buck-passing. Paul-Boncour's is more accurate but very much a post facto appraisal.Google Scholar
62 Chlapowski to M.S.Z., report IX/I of 18 Mar. 1936, M.S.Z.-A.A.N.
63 Pierre Bressy, the Counsellor of the French Embassy in Warsaw, expressed this view. Szembek, op. cit. pp. 117–18. Gamelin does likewise in his memoirs but limits the blame to Britain and Belgium, Gamelin, op. cit. p. 213. It might be interesting to compare this view with Reynaud's expert demolition of the thesis; Reynaud, op. cit. pp. 124–6.Google Scholar
64 Wojchiechowski, op. cit. p. 277.
65 Gustaw -Lowczowski, ‘Jeszcze o stosunkach polsko-francuskich przed Drugą, Wojną, Swiatową’, Wojskowy Przegląd Historyczny, 4 (Warsaw, 1965), pp. 437–8.Google Scholar
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67 Gamelin, op. cit. p. 213. Lowczowski is, however, corroborated by the Head of the French Deuxieme Bureau: Gauché, Maurice H., Le Deuxième Bureau au Travail 1935–40 (Paris, 1954), p. 44.Google Scholar
68 Lukasiewicz, Juljusz, ‘Okupacja Nadrenji i Rambouillet’, Wiadomości Polskie (London), xxi (115, 1942).Google Scholar
69 DDF, 2me, vol. 1, Docs. 324, 376.
70 The text is in ibid. Doc. 408.
71 Cf. Wojchiechowski, op. cit. pp. 282 ff.
72 DDF, 2me, vol. 1, Doc. 408.
73 Ibid. Docs. 408, 375.
74 Noël, op. cit. p. 137
75 For a revealing apologia for his role during the remilitarization and the conclusions which he drew from it, see Flandin's speech at his postwar trial for collaboration: Le prcès Flandin devant la Haute Cour de Justice, 23–26 Juillet 1946 (Librairie de Médicis, Paris, 1947), pp. 70–7.
76 Paul-Boncour conversation with Anatole Muhlstein (Counsellor of the Polish Embassy in Paris), Chiapowski to M.S.Z., report of 3 Apr. 1936, M.S.Z.-A.A.N.
77 Szembek, op. cit. p. 113.
78 M.S.Z., Information Bulletin no. 730, 22 Apr. 1936. ‘Londyńska sesja Rady Ligi Narodów’, pp. 212–26, M.S.Z.-A.A.N.
79 Szembek, op. cit. pp. 417–18; Józef Beck, Przemówienie, Deklaracje, Wywiady 1931–39 (Gebethner & Wolff, Warsaw, 1939), pp. 222–4.Google Scholar
80 Flandin to Noël, 23 Mar. 1936. DDF, 2me, vol. I, Doc. 488.
81 Wysocki, op. cit. (1936), 1, 55.
82 DDF, 2me, vol. 1, Doc. 445.
83 See Szembek, op. cit. pp. 145–6, 408; Beck, Dernier Rapport, p. 117; FRUS (1936), 1, 273–4.
84 DDF, 2me, vol. 1, Doc. 445.
85 Ibid. 2me, vol. 1, Docs. 487, 506
86 Ibid. Doc. 497.
87 Chlapowski to M.S.Z., report 49/F/8 of 28 Mar. 1936. Sikorski Institute.
88 DDF, 2me, vol. 11, Docs. 10, 31; compare Noël, op. cit. p. 138.
89 DDF, 2me, vol. 11, Docs. 118, 163. See Bonnet, Georges, La Défense de la Paix, 1936–40, II, Fin d'une Europe (Geneva, 1948), 135–6.Google Scholar
90 M.S.Z. memorandum, 5 May 1936. Sikorski Institute.
91 See George Sakwa, ‘The “ Renewal ” of the Franco-Polish Alliance in 1936 and the Rambouillet Agreement’, Polish Review, XVI, 2 (Spring 1971), 45–66.
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