The years 1918–1921: the recovery of Polish independence in the international context

Abstract

The article highlights Poland’s foreign policy in 1918-1921 and emphasizes that the key role in the restoration of independent Poland was played by Józef Piłsudski, a moderate socialist leader of the independent forces of Poland, and the conservative Polish National Committee in Paris led by Roman Dmowski. At the beginning of 1919, a new Polish government was formed, which included members of both these political parties. The decision on Poland’s western borders was made at the Paris Conference. The new Bolshevik Russia and its imperialism became the most terrible threat to the newly created Polish state, as it was demonstrated in 1920 during the Polish-Bolshevik war. The idea of a friendly Ukrainian independent state in the East was not achieved, despite efforts in this direction. Another threat was associated with German revisionism. However, Poland defended its independence, and new borders of the country were established. Relations with other neighbours, Czechoslovakia and Lithuania, were strained due to border disputes. The exceptions were Romania and Latvia.

Keywords

• poland, independence, polish-bolshevik war, polish foreign policy, polish borders