Originally posted by tallwingedgoat
Originally posted by Comte de Geneve
Polish strategy, as far as foreign policy went, was to keep equal distance to USSR and Germany.
The Soviets might be lesser evil than Nazi Germany but remmeber that until 1933 there was no Nazi Germany - only Weimar Germany, crippled and almost demilitarized. OTOH the Red Army was still a dangerous force, communism was faining followers even in the west, so in 1920s and early 1930s Poland had every reason to consider USSR a bigger threat.Everything about the leading up to WWII was logical and reasonable. I can certainly see why Poland was hostile to the Soviets, but the fact of the matter is the Soviets were always a lesser threat than Nazi Germany, this fact was clouded by traditional Polish-Russian rivalry.
Originally posted by Comte de Geneve
I'd like to point that even not-Nazi conservative/nationalist regime in Germany would be hostile towards Poland because of Danzig, the Corridor, Silesia and Greater Poland (Poznań/Posen). I think almost every German at the time wanted those lands back, with possible exception for Greater Poland.The problem was that the German regime was not a conventional conservative/nationalist regime but Hitler, who considered the utter destruction of Poland and the Polish people a requsite step in his domination of Eastern Europe. As a result, the Poles were, to use a technical term, screwed.
Negotiating a modus vivendi with Germany did not mean an anti-Soviet alliance. Actually Germany offered Poland a place in the anti-Comintern pact in 1938 in exchange for Danzig and extreterritorial passage. They also promised possible gains in the east. Poland refused, affraid of becoming German puppet.The problem with OTL Poland in the late 1930's is that it was another right-wing crypto-fascist military dictatorship. The Colonels clique that succeeded Pilsudski was militantly anti-Soviet and more than willing to negotiate a modus vivendi with Germany. Basically the Smigley-Ridz regime was very similar to the Horthy regime in Hungary and more than willing to work with Germany.
Polish strategy, as far as foreign policy went, was to keep equal distance to USSR and Germany.
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