Poland Between East and West : Soviet and German Diplomacy Toward Poland, 1919-1933

Though Russia and Germany were far apart in their principal goals, their negative attitude toward the Europe of Versailles brought these two "outcasts" together. Poland, a “child” of the Versailles Peace Treaty, was a bar to the Soviet drive toward a revisionist policy. Therefore, in an atmosphere of mutual distrust and deceit, Russia and Germany entered into an intricate series of negotiations designed to destroy Poland either by military action or by diplomatic pressure. Josef Korbel traces the strange course of these negotiations, basing his work on original documents such as the files of the German Foreign Office, the personal papers of General von Seeckt, documents of the Soviet government, the Supreme Soviet, and the Third International, and on original Polish sources. Originally published in 1963. The **Princeton Legacy Library** uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. Though Russia and Germany were far apart in their principal goals, their negative attitude toward the Europe of Versailles brought these two "outcasts" together. Poland, a "child" of the Versailles Peace Treaty, was a bar to the Soviet drive toward a revisionist policy. Therefore, in an atmosphere of mutual distrust and deceit, Russia and Germany entered into an intricate series of negotiations designed to destroy Poland either by military action or by diplomatic pressure. Josef Korbel traces the strange course of these negotiations, basing his work on original documents such as the files of the German Foreign Office, the personal papers of General von Seeckt, documents of the Soviet government, the Supreme Soviet, and the Third International, and on original Polish sources. Originally published in 1963. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905 PREFACE CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS PART I . 1919–1920 YEARS OF MILITARY CAMPAIGNS 1. SETTING THE SCENE—1 2. RUSSIA VERSUS POLAND 3. GERMANY VERSUS POLAND PART II . 1921–1925 YEARS OF DIPLOMATIC CAMPAIGNS 4. SETTING THE SCENE—2 5. CURRENTS AND CROSSCURRENTS 6. THE RUHR CRISIS 7. SHIFTS IN POWER PART III. 1926–1933 YEARS OF PRECARIOUS BALANCE 8. SETTING THE SCENE—8 9. GERMANY ON THE MOVE 10. BETTING ON THE “LITHUANIAN HORSE” 11. INDEPENDENT POLICIES 12. AN EQUILIBRIUM POSTSCRIPT: THE FULL CIRCLE BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX