Post by Bonobo on Jan 20, 2013 19:07:38 GMT 1
There was time when British politicians were openly antiPolish. It happened around 1918 when Poland was reborn as an independent state after 123 years of partitions. For Brits Poland meant nothing at the time:
The British were by and large unconcerned with eastern problems. Not unlike Clemenceau, David Lloyd George stated that the struggle was "not a war of liberation for oppressed races". In 1914, London was bent on destroying German militarism and erasing its threat to European balance and stability. It regarded Polish issues - which were little known in any case - as "totally irrelevant" [12].
www.electronicmuseum.ca/Poland_between_Wars/paris_peace_conference/wandycz_2.html
After the victory, border issues were discussed by allies and British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, objected to granting Poland lands in Silesia and Gdañsk regions. For him, strengthening Poland at the expense of Germany was a bad idea so he did his best to hinder it.
After World War I British Prime Minister Lloyd George was credited with saying at the Paris Peace Conference that awarding Silesia (¦l±sk) to Poland was like giving a watch to a monkey.Particularly he is known for saying regarding the Upper Silesia, that it would be a great pity to stuff the Polish goose so full of German food that it died of indigestion.
What could be British prime minister`s reasons?
In his politics, British Prime Minister Lloyd George wanted to rebuild German empire. English sympathy resulted not only from the fear of strengthening the position of France, but also from the fear that decreased Germany would not be able to repay compensations. British authorities knew that by taking Silesia and Greater Poland from Germany, they would introduce a permanent atmosphere of mutual unrest between Poland and Germany. Therefore, a method of opinion polls was developed with the cooperation of France. Those opinion polls were used, for instance, in Silesia or Warmia and Masuria. Great Britain wanted to avoid a situation in which France together with the countries of Central Europe were able to dominate the continent. R. Dansing wrote that the Parish Peace Conference was “a farce in some way, but in other – a tragedy.” A democrat Lloyd George “demanded that great superpowers did not allow small countries to have their poor ambitions”.
www.pon.uj.edu.pl/?p=2634&lang=en
So, the plebiscites were organised:
The borders drawn under the Treaty of Versailles (June 1919) roughly corresponded to Polish-German frontiers before the partitions, except that Gdañsk became the free city of Danzig, and plebiscites were held in parts of East Prussia and Upper Silesia to determine which nation these regions wished to join. The East Prussian plebiscite of July 1920 (at the height of the Russo-Polish War) was won by Germany. In the Silesian plebiscite of March 1921—preceded and followed by three Polish uprisings—682 communes voted for Poland and 792 for Germany. The region was formally divided in October 1921.
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/466681/Poland/28213/From-the-Treaty-of-Versailles-to-the-Treaty-of-Riga#ref396997
But Germans won most of them:
The German side made the most of the Polish delegation’s idea of granting voting rights to nonresidents. The Deutscher Schutzbund was responsible for finding and transporting people born in the plebiscite area, but not living there. In Olsztyn the Germans counted 157,740 emigrants on their lists – the Polish side protested at least half of them, but without any effects.
No wonder Poles were angered by Lloyd`s anti Polish actions
One of the opponents to the Polish demands was British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. “There can be few countries in which Lloyd George was more heartily vilified than Poland” – wrote a British historian. Concerned about the continental balance of power he was trying to balance France and the Soviet Union and opted for the strengthening of Germany at Polish expense. His actions at the Peace Conference were deplored; his supposed opinions about the Poles being ‘children who gave trouble,’ his confession that he had never heard of Cieszyn, the lèse-majesté of his remarks about Paderewski, were widely reported in Poland, where, it is no exaggeration to say, Lloyd George was in 1919-20 usually regarded as a public enemy. A number of his advisers held the country in no high regard, and talk among British ministers on the subject of Poland was often antipathetic.
scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1834&context=etd&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.pl%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dlloyd%2520george%2520division%2520of%2520silesia.%253B%2520strengthening%2520of%2520poland%2520at%2520the%2520expense%2520of%2520germany.%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D10%26ved%3D0CG4QFjAJ%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fscholarcommons.usf.edu%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1834%2526context%253Detd%26ei%3Dlzn0UM3GLoX6sgbv4YDIBA%26usg%3DAFQjCNGAwdJqgv2j-zIGDLaJo52F7Stnpw#search=%22lloyd%20george%20division%20silesia.%3B%20strengthening%20poland%20expense%20germany.%22
The British were by and large unconcerned with eastern problems. Not unlike Clemenceau, David Lloyd George stated that the struggle was "not a war of liberation for oppressed races". In 1914, London was bent on destroying German militarism and erasing its threat to European balance and stability. It regarded Polish issues - which were little known in any case - as "totally irrelevant" [12].
www.electronicmuseum.ca/Poland_between_Wars/paris_peace_conference/wandycz_2.html
After the victory, border issues were discussed by allies and British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, objected to granting Poland lands in Silesia and Gdañsk regions. For him, strengthening Poland at the expense of Germany was a bad idea so he did his best to hinder it.
After World War I British Prime Minister Lloyd George was credited with saying at the Paris Peace Conference that awarding Silesia (¦l±sk) to Poland was like giving a watch to a monkey.Particularly he is known for saying regarding the Upper Silesia, that it would be a great pity to stuff the Polish goose so full of German food that it died of indigestion.
What could be British prime minister`s reasons?
In his politics, British Prime Minister Lloyd George wanted to rebuild German empire. English sympathy resulted not only from the fear of strengthening the position of France, but also from the fear that decreased Germany would not be able to repay compensations. British authorities knew that by taking Silesia and Greater Poland from Germany, they would introduce a permanent atmosphere of mutual unrest between Poland and Germany. Therefore, a method of opinion polls was developed with the cooperation of France. Those opinion polls were used, for instance, in Silesia or Warmia and Masuria. Great Britain wanted to avoid a situation in which France together with the countries of Central Europe were able to dominate the continent. R. Dansing wrote that the Parish Peace Conference was “a farce in some way, but in other – a tragedy.” A democrat Lloyd George “demanded that great superpowers did not allow small countries to have their poor ambitions”.
www.pon.uj.edu.pl/?p=2634&lang=en
So, the plebiscites were organised:
The borders drawn under the Treaty of Versailles (June 1919) roughly corresponded to Polish-German frontiers before the partitions, except that Gdañsk became the free city of Danzig, and plebiscites were held in parts of East Prussia and Upper Silesia to determine which nation these regions wished to join. The East Prussian plebiscite of July 1920 (at the height of the Russo-Polish War) was won by Germany. In the Silesian plebiscite of March 1921—preceded and followed by three Polish uprisings—682 communes voted for Poland and 792 for Germany. The region was formally divided in October 1921.
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/466681/Poland/28213/From-the-Treaty-of-Versailles-to-the-Treaty-of-Riga#ref396997
But Germans won most of them:
The German side made the most of the Polish delegation’s idea of granting voting rights to nonresidents. The Deutscher Schutzbund was responsible for finding and transporting people born in the plebiscite area, but not living there. In Olsztyn the Germans counted 157,740 emigrants on their lists – the Polish side protested at least half of them, but without any effects.
No wonder Poles were angered by Lloyd`s anti Polish actions
One of the opponents to the Polish demands was British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. “There can be few countries in which Lloyd George was more heartily vilified than Poland” – wrote a British historian. Concerned about the continental balance of power he was trying to balance France and the Soviet Union and opted for the strengthening of Germany at Polish expense. His actions at the Peace Conference were deplored; his supposed opinions about the Poles being ‘children who gave trouble,’ his confession that he had never heard of Cieszyn, the lèse-majesté of his remarks about Paderewski, were widely reported in Poland, where, it is no exaggeration to say, Lloyd George was in 1919-20 usually regarded as a public enemy. A number of his advisers held the country in no high regard, and talk among British ministers on the subject of Poland was often antipathetic.
scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1834&context=etd&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.pl%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dlloyd%2520george%2520division%2520of%2520silesia.%253B%2520strengthening%2520of%2520poland%2520at%2520the%2520expense%2520of%2520germany.%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D10%26ved%3D0CG4QFjAJ%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fscholarcommons.usf.edu%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1834%2526context%253Detd%26ei%3Dlzn0UM3GLoX6sgbv4YDIBA%26usg%3DAFQjCNGAwdJqgv2j-zIGDLaJo52F7Stnpw#search=%22lloyd%20george%20division%20silesia.%3B%20strengthening%20poland%20expense%20germany.%22