The Treaty of Versailles was an act ending the Paris Peace Conference and one that constituted to shape the balance of power after the Great War of 1914-1918, for the next two decades. The most important parts of the deal were to significantly weaken German military potential and to create new, independent states such as Poland, Hungary, Romania and Czechoslovakia.
The most important players in the Conference were the representatives of the so-called „big four” – British Prime Minister Lloyd George, Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, and US President Woodrow Wilson. The Conference gave birth to the international organisation – the League of Nations, which was dedicated to protecting world order and preventing cataclysms such as the just-ended World War I.
At the Paris Peace Conference, Poland was represented by Ignacy Paderewski and Roman Dmowski. The former’s world-class pianistic fame and the latter’s diplomatic skills were to help achieve most goals of the highest importance for Poland. The Versailles peace treaty sanctioned the rebirth of Poland, outlining its western, northern and southern borders.
“There was no time to think about what would happen after the war, after Poland was rebuilt, what its constitution would be, who would rule it. Now it was about Poland, having proper borders and a favourable international position,” Roman Dmowski recalled in his memoirs.
The treaty finally restored Poland’s independence. However, regaining the lands once seized by the partitioning powers was not easy. The questions of Poland’s access to the sea and the rights to Silesia within the borders of the country were among the most heated debate topics.
Roman Dmowski did not expect that he would ever speak before the Council of Ten. Despite this, he easily managed to delight his listeners by presenting his concepts in all conference official languages. Dmowski showed his diplomatic skills and highlighted problems that were particularly important for Western countries – the aggressive behaviour of the recently defeated Germany towards its neighbours and the need to create countries in Central Europe that would be governed according to the principles of democracy, balancing any future German threat.
Disarmed Germany, with only a defence force limited to 100,000 soldiers, was to give back Alsace and Lorraine to France, the Eupen and Malmédy districts to Belgium, Greater Poland and Gdańsk Pomerania to Poland, and Hulczyński Krai to Czechoslovakia. The Rhineland was demilitarised, and Klaipėda and the Saar district were placed under international supervision. The German colonies became the possession of the victors. Germany was obliged to pay war compensation in the amount of 132 billion gold marks.
The British delegation at the Peace Conference was headed by Prime Minister Lloyd George – not a strong supporter of Polish independence, especially concerning the access to the rich coal resources of Silesia. He focused on his main principle of trying to avoid any possibility of another world war. After the bloodbath of the 1st World War, he was strongly opposed to ideas of f.e. sending British soldiers to aid Poland (calling it „a country we know nothing about„) to fight the Bolsheviks.
Despite the position of the UK Prime Minister, the Polish delegation managed to convince the US and French leaders to support the full restoration of the country and gain international support in efforts to recover the disputed lands of Zaolzie, Warmia and Silesia. Sometimes the support, motivated by anti-German sentiment, helped to maximise Poland’s demands even in a time of a massive confrontation with the Bolsheviks in the East and costly efforts to fight back German revisionism in the West.
For sure the anniversary of 28 June needs more attention from the public as it is the actual date of the restoration of an independent Polish state after the 123 years of partitions in the context of international relations. The deeds and accomplishments of the Polish delegation remain one of the greatest examples of patriotism and diplomatic excellence. For more than a century Poland used its window of opportunity with the best possible outcome.
Tomasz Modrzejewski
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
