View source for Franco-Polish alliance

{{Short description|1921 alliance between France and Poland}}
{{this|the 1921 Franco-Polish alliance|the 1524 Franco-Polish alliance|Franco-Polish Alliance (1524)}}
{{Foreign alliances of France}}
{{Events leading to World War II}}
The '''Franco-Polish Alliance''' was the [[military alliance]] between [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]] and [[French Third Republic|France]] that was active between the early 1920s and the outbreak of the [[Second World War]]. The initial agreements were signed in February 1921 and formally took effect in 1923. During the [[interwar period]] the alliance with Poland was one of the cornerstones of [[French foreign policy]].

==Background==
{{See also|Franco–Polish alliance (1524)}}
During the [[France-Habsburg rivalry]], which began in the 16th century, France tried to find allies to the east of [[Austria]], hoping to ally with Poland. Polish King [[Jan III Sobieski]] also had the intention to ally with France against the threat of Austria, but the greater threat posed by the Muslim-led [[Ottoman Empire]] made him fight along with Austria for the Christian cause in the [[Battle of Vienna]]. In the 18th century, [[Partitions of Poland|Poland was partitioned]] by [[Russia]], [[Prussia]] and [[Austria]], but [[Napoleon]] recreated the Polish state in the [[Duchy of Warsaw]]. With the rise of a united [[German Empire]] in the 19th century, France and Poland found a new common enemy.

==Interwar period==
During the [[Polish–Soviet War]] of 1920, France, one of the most active supporters of Poland, sent the [[French Military Mission to Poland]] to aid the Polish army. In early February in Paris, three pacts were discussed by [[Naczelnik Państwa|Polish Chief of State]] [[Józef Piłsudski]] and [[French President]] [[Alexandre Millerand]]: political, military and economic.

The political alliance was signed there on February 19, 1921 by [[Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs]] Count [[Eustachy Sapieha]] and [[French Minister of Foreign Affairs]] [[Aristide Briand]], in the background of the negotiations that ended the Polish–Soviet War by the [[Treaty of Riga]]. The agreement assumed a common foreign policy, the promotion of bilateral economical contacts, the consultation of new pacts concerning Central and Eastern Europe and assistance in case one of the signatories became a victim of an "unprovoked" attack. As such, it was a [[defensive alliance]].<ref>Umowa polityczna francusko–polska, podpisana w Paryżu 19 lutego 1921 r. ([http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU19220630563 Dz.U. 1922 nr 63 poz. 563]), registration July 2, 1923: France and Poland - Political Agreement, signed at Paris, February 19, 1921 ([http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/treaties/LNTSer/1923/87.html 1923 LNTSer 87; 18 LNTS 11])</ref> The secret military pact was signed two days later, on February 21, 1921, and clarified that the agreement was aimed at possible threats from both [[Germany]] and the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>Accord militaire franco–polonais Paris, 19 février 1921: [https://books.google.com/books?id=HXP7vIKfHmsC&dq=En+ex%C3%A9cution+de+l%27accord+du+19+f%C3%A9vrier+1921%2C+il+est+convenu+entre+les+repr%C3%A9sentants+militaires+soussign%C3%A9s&pg=PA217 ''Documents Diplomatiques Francais: 1921 - Tome I (16 Janvier - 30 Juin)''], [http://www.accordingtophillips.com/uploads/8/1/8/3/81833274/1921_-_political_agreement_between_france_and_poland.pdf Secret Milit Convention between France and Poland]</ref> An attack on Poland would make France keep lines of communication free and Germany in check but not require it to send troops or to declare war.<ref name="Wandycz1962">{{cite book|author=Piotr Stefan Wandycz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NNMIo36qQXwC&pg=PA217|title=France and Her Eastern Allies, 1919–1925: French–Czechoslovak–Polish Relations from the Paris Peace Conference to Locarno|date=1 January 1962|publisher=U of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-0-8166-5886-2|pages=217–}}</ref> Both political and military pacts were legally not in force until the economic pact was ratified,<ref name="Wandycz1962" /> which occurred on August 2, 1923.<ref>[http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/DetailsServlet?id=WDU19231060833 Dz.U. 1923 nr 106 poz. 833]</ref>

The alliance was further extended by the Franco–Polish Warrant Agreement, signed on October 16, 1925 in [[Locarno]], as part of the [[Locarno Treaties]]. The new treaty subscribed all previously-signed Polish–French agreements to the system of mutual pacts of the [[League of Nations]].<ref>Traktat Gwarancyjny pomiędzy Polską a Francją, podpisany w Londynie 1 grudnia 1925 r. ([http://prawo.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU19261140660 Dz.U. 1926 nr 114 poz. 660]), registration September 14, 1926: France and Poland - Treaty of Mutual Guarantee, done at Locarno, October 16, 1925 ([http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/treaties/LNTSer/1926/250.html 1926 LNTSer 250; 54 LNTS 353])</ref>

The alliance was closely tied with the Franco-Czechoslovakian Alliance. France's alliances with Poland and [[Czechoslovakia]] were aimed at deterring Germany from the use of force to achieve a revision of the postwar settlement and ensuring that German forces would be confronted with significant combined strength of its neighbours. Although Czechoslovakia had a significant economy and industry and Poland had a strong army, the French–Polish–Czechoslovakian triangle never reached its full potential. Czechoslovakian foreign policy, under [[Edvard Beneš]], avoided signing a formal alliance with Poland, which would force Czechoslovakia to take sides in [[Oder–Neisse line|Polish–German territorial disputes]]. Czechoslovakia's influence was weakened by the doubts of its allies as to the trustworthiness of its army, and Poland's influence was undermined by fighting between supporters and opponents of [[Józef Piłsudski]]. France's reluctance to invest in its allies' industry (especially Poland's), improve trade relations by buying their agricultural products and share military expertise further weakened the alliance.<ref>This paragraph is based on a review of Zandycz book by Detlef Brandes, from ''Slavic Review'', Fall 1990 issue</ref>

In the 1930s, the alliance remained mostly inactive and its only effect was to keep the [[French Military Mission to Poland]], which had worked with the Polish General Staff ever since the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1920. However, with the German threat becoming increasingly visible in the latter part of the decade, both countries started to seek a new pact to guarantee the independence of all contracting parties and military co-operation in case of a [[Polish Defence War|war with Germany]].

==1939==
Finally, a new alliance started to be formed in 1939. The Kasprzycki–Gamelin Convention was signed May 19, 1939 in [[Paris]]. It was named after [[Polish Minister of War Affairs]] General [[Tadeusz Kasprzycki]] and Commander of the [[French Army]] [[Maurice Gamelin]].<ref>Protocole Franco–Polonais 1939 Gamelin-Kasprzycki : [https://books.google.com/books?id=KROBGfPmS0YC&dq=Protocole+Gamelin-Kasprzycki+Tr%C3%A8s+secret.+Protocole+r%C3%A9sumant+les+conversations+tenues+les+15%2C+16+et+17+mai+1939+%C3%A0+Paris%2C+entre&pg=PA832 ''Contre-témoignage sur une catastrophe''], [https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Protok%C3%B3%C5%82_ko%C5%84cowy_francusko-polskich_rozm%C3%B3w_sztabowych_15-17_maja_1939 Protokół końcowy francusko–polskich rozmów sztabowych 15–17 maja 1939]</ref> The military convention was army-to-army, not state-to-state, and was not in force legally, as it was dependent on signing and [[ratification]] of the political convention.<ref name="Prazmowska2004">{{cite book|author=Anita J. Prazmowska|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HVNzUthwDf0C&pg=PA103|title=Britain, Poland and the Eastern Front, 1939|date=12 February 2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-52938-9|pages=103–}}</ref> It obliged both armies to provide help to each other in case of a war with Germany. In May, Gamelin promised a "bold relief offensive" within three weeks of a German attack.<ref name="Jordan2002">{{cite book|author=Nicole Jordan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4iQQrESpA48C&pg=PA294|title=The Popular Front and Central Europe: The Dilemmas of French Impotence 1918–1940|date=22 August 2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-52242-7|pages=294–}}</ref>

The treaty was ratified by France on September 4, 1939, on the fourth day of [[invasion of Poland|German offensive on Poland]].

However, France provided only token help to Poland during the war in the form of the [[Saar Offensive]], which has often been considered an example of [[Western betrayal]]. However, the political convention was the basis of the recreation of the [[Polish Army in France (1939–1940)|Polish Army in France]].

Piotr Zychowicz quoted the memoirs of the [[List of Ambassadors of France to Poland|French ambassador to Poland]], [[Léon Noël]], who wrote as early as October 1938, "It is of utmost importance that we remove from our obligations everything that would deprive French government the freedom of decision on the day when Poland finds itself in war with Germany". Foreign Minister [[Georges Bonnet]] reassured Noel by writing that "our agreement with Poland is full of gaps, needed to keep our country away from war".<ref>pages 279-280{{Full citation needed|date=August 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Anglo-Polish alliance]]
* [[Cordon sanitaire (international relations)|Cordon sanitaire]]
* [[Diplomatic history of World War II]]
* [[Foreign alliances of France]]
* [[International relations (1919–1939)]]
* [[Phoney War]]
* [[Polish Army in France (1939–40)]]
* [[Western betrayal]]
* [[Why Die for Danzig?]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/ylbka1.asp Franco–Polish Treaties of 1921 and 1925]
==Further reading==
* {{cite book|author=Jan Ciałowicz|title=Polsko-francuski sojusz wojskowy 1921–1939|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1hwBAAAAMAAJ|year=1970|publisher=Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe|language=Polish}}
{{Polish truces and peace treaties}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franco-Polish Alliance (1921)}}
[[Category:Treaties concluded in 1921]]
[[Category:Treaties entered into force in 1921]]
[[Category:Foreign relations of the Second Polish Republic]]
[[Category:World War II treaties]]
[[Category:France–Poland military relations]]
[[Category:20th century in France]]
[[Category:20th-century military alliances]]
[[Category:Interwar-period treaties]]
[[Category:Treaties of the French Third Republic]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Second Polish Republic]]
[[Category:Military alliances involving France]]
[[Category:Military alliances involving Poland]]