Challenge: Is That the Best They Could Do: Poland

yourworstnightmare

Banned
Donor
Problems with Poland joining the Little Entente;
a) Czechoslovakia is in that alliance, relations with Poland: very bad.
b) It's aimed towards Hungary. Poland and Hungary had very good relations.
 

Lokari

Banned
Have Pilsudski faction beaten by Endecja and Peasant Party PSL
They viewed Germans as bigger threat , and during Munich criticised behaviour towards Czechs.
Downside is that Endecja was quite radical and could lead to problems with Britain. So the end result would be Poland-Czechoslovakia-Yugoslavia against Germany, perhaps Italy if Polish diplomacy fails to keep it out of war. If the conflict would take some time, then France could intervene, without Britain in the conflict.

I don't see the irrelevance. Poland was steadfastly opposed to including the USSR in any security agreement.
USSR didn't turn to Poland in its security proposals. It proposed an alliance of Britain, France and USSR over Europe providing security; those proposals touched upon Polish question but didn't adressed Poland as sovereign state. Perhaps Stalin overplayed himself, and viewed French and British relations through his own behaviour, and thought Poland was just a puppet that could be ordered by Britain and France ?
 
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1) The Depression is raging. If Poland can find the money then the sellers of armaments will be found.

2) Cancel the resources wasted on the cavalry and divert it into armor. Over a four year period that could surely amount to a brigade or two of tanks and probably more.

3) Settle the problems caused by Poland's creative approach to weapons patents, ie, theft, and pay damages. It's impossible to check out a single sample when the manufacturers expect you to try and copy/steal the design. When Poland wanted a single Vickers tank to study the British manufacturer informed London that this was not going to happen. Even France, Poland's closest ally, finally had to force the issue and get some kind of damages for French businesses harmed by this practice.

4) Don't bother with Vilnius. Lithuania doesn't bring enough either way and the Poles won't accept the concession of Vilnius.

5) Hurricanes are not going to available but there must be some aircraft which can be acquired 1935-39 of some use. And didn't Poland actually sell a squadron or two of viable fighters just before the invasion?

6) Settle with Czechoslovakia over Teschen. If anything can stop or even deter Hitler it would be that alliance with Poland perhaps able to get some tanks or artillery gratis in return for some divisions in Czechoslovakia.


If in summer 1938 Prague and Warsaw are partners and Poland has another 200 tanks and a few squadrons of aircraft added Germany might be unable to win a showdown.
 
I agree on previous posters ideas about trying to gain an alliance with the Czechs and the little Entente, but I also think that it would be wise to back anybody who has issues with Hitler--even Mussolini in the Austrian crisis and the French during the re-militarization of the Rhineland. The earlier the war starts the better, so I'd try and start the war earlier while, obviously, not being seen as the aggressor, since getting France into the war is also important. Defending the Czechs is an absolute must---I think that even a unilateral declaration that Poland will defend the Czechs is not out of the question. Hopefully, between France, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania, and the rest of the little Entente, you can find some allies.
 

The Sandman

Banned
Use the remilitarization of the Rhineland and the non-existent Western response to it as the pretext for the diplomatic realignment I'm going to undertake.

Offer recognition of their possession of Zaolzie to the Czechs in exchange for two things: an alliance against potential German aggression, and greater military and industrial coordination to prepare for that event.

Forge closer ties with the Romanians as well.

Forge closer ties with Moscow. Keep enough of a distance to not be blacklisted by the Western powers, but privately make it clear that Poland is not and will not be an enemy to the Soviet Union in the future. Also sell the idea to Stalin of making Poland a dumping ground for Soviet dissidents and people he would otherwise have purged; the real prize here would be getting, say, Tukhachevsky to run my armored divisions when the Great Officer Purge begins.

Invest in a better transportation network. Primarily railways, but the road net as well. To as great an extent as possible, decentralize the system to make it harder to cripple it simply by taking out one junction point. Increased telephone and radio penetration would also be useful.

Improve agricultural production by organizing and incentivizing farming cooperatives. Allowing farmers to pool their resources a la the grange movement in the US would help immensely, and would also provide a good excuse for the militarily-useful decentralized rail and telephone net.

Similarly, establish a number of regional airports throughout the country. In the event of war, these can all be rapidly converted to military airfields. Emphasize reliability and ruggedness in aircraft development; ground crew training and a proper ground control network are also essential to the task of giving the air force the information and rapid turn-around time essential to surviving the German onslaught. Priorities are to develop an interceptor, a fighter-bomber, and a reasonably accurate medium bomber. The interceptor is meant to obtain air superiority, the fighter-bomber can either repel enemy aircraft or strafe enemy troops (and will be built with anti-tank grade machine cannon for that purpose), and the medium bomber would hit enemy concentrations, airfields, and supply dumps.

The navy gets two rowboats and a rubber ducky.

The army itself is to be motorized to the greatest degree possible. In particular, the artillery and logistics train must be motorized. The basic philosophy around which the army is to be designed is mobility; static defense is implausible at best given the geography of Poland, especially in relation to the most likely German attack vectors. The army must be well-trained and well-equipped; the necessary reduction in size to be able to afford such only reinforces the need to keep the troops mobile. Development of a capable dual-purpose anti-tank and anti-air gun is paramount; furthermore, use of the gun in this manner is to be explicitly included in training of its operators.

Part of the reason for ties with Romania (and the Soviet Union, for that matter) will be to ensure a steady flow of oil to keep the fuel situation in hand. Refining, however, will be done in Poland itself. Aside from the immediate value of having a local source of gasoline for the military, and the secondary value of being able to sell refined fuel back to the Soviet Union, having a refinery will encourage the development of local industry that uses oil byproducts. Artificial rubber would be of particular value, but many other useful possibilities exist.
 
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