Fall of the Polish Policy of Balance
The Eve of the Second World War : International Relations in Summer, 1939
1982 Volume 1982 Issue 72 Pages 71-84,L9
Details
1982 Volume 1982 Issue 72 Pages 71-84,L9
The author intended to make clear the reason Poland was defenceless during the years prior to the Second World War.
The then Minister of Foreign Affairs Beck believed that total war would never break out, because he regarded Hitler's territorial and political demands vis à vis Poland as only a bluff. Beck's policies to settle the disputes with Germany were as follows; 1) to reply to Hitler with the same bluff, 2) to maintain closer contact with Britain in order to restrain Hitler, 3) to control Polish public opinion in order to carry out 1) and 2).
But Beck's plan turned out to be ineffective by the end of April, 1939, because his above-mentioned fundamental intentions from 1) to 3) all turned out to be false. Still remaining in office, he stirred up Poland to make better preparation for the War, though it seems that for Poland not many choices remained.
