POLAND AND THE TREATY OF LOCARNO This research

Under the Treaty of Locarno, the principal European powers guaranteed the western borders of Germany which were determined by the Treaty of Versailles. They did not, however, guarantee Germany's eastern borders, which became the principal focus of Polish dissatisfaction. To most Poles, the Locarno arrangements undermined Polish security vis-a-vis its resurgent German neighbor and weakened its alliance with France. Although the Polish government participated in the negotiations which led up to the signing of the treaty, its terms were presented to it as a fait accompli. The failure of the western Entente to pay closer heed to Polish security concerns helped produce the successful coup d'etat of May 11-15, 1926 mounted by Marshall Jozef Pilsudski (1867-1935). His authoritarian regime (1926-1935) pursued an even more nationalistic and independent foreign policy than had its predecessors, partly in reaction to Locarno.

Goals of Polish foreign policy in the early 1920s

In 1772, 1793 and 1795, Poland was partitioned among its Germanic (German and Austrian) and Russian neighbors. Davies noted that "the overwhelming experience for all Poles for five long generations was one of foreign rule, and political oppression" (158). Poland's post-1918 independence was the result

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o Jacobson, "Stresemann . . . expected much of the territory lost by Germany in Eastern Europe would be regained" (374). Korbel said "although he struggled incessantly for the revision of her [Germany's] eastern boundaries, he was at least reconciled to her [Poland's] existence" (144). As a centrist politician, he had, however, to take into account irredentist sentiment among German nationalists who wished German foreign policy to emphasize drang nach osten, a drive to achieve German hegemony in the East. In the notes and drafts which were exchanged during the spring and fall of 1925, the French tried to have included in the forthcoming treaty multipower guarantees of Germany's eastern borders, which became known as an 'Eastern Locarno.' However, Korbel said that Stresemann "made it clear that Germany would not guarantee the present boundary with Poland and Czechoslovakia" (160). Korbel said that "Britain steadfastly refused even to consider such a guarantee for Poland" (167-168). Foreign Secretary Austen Chamberlain told the British cabinet that summer that Poland's western frontier would have to change. According to Challener, "the British . . . would never agree to an 'Eastern Locarno' or permit themselves to be drawn in as eve
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Approximate Word count = 2669
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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