WI:Poland joins Little Entente

[Krix]

What if Poland manages to solve peacefully the Cieszyn crisis after the War, either due to different circumstances or political leadership and joins the Little Entente, which is reformed to protect its members against potential claims of former German, Russian and Austrian Empires ?
How would it influence the situation in post-war Europe and would WW2 still be possible by joint Italian-German attack on the Little Entente countries ?

 

[yourworstnightmare]

The Little Entente (Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania) was formed to check Hungarian aggression. Poland and Hungary had quite good relations, so I don't think Poland would join even if they didn't have aby problems with the Czechs. (And solving border issues peacefully in Eastern Europe during this era is so ASB!!).

 

[Alexandru H.]

The Little Entente (Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania) was formed to check Hungarian aggression. Poland and Hungary had quite good relations, so I don't think Poland would join even if they didn't have aby problems with the Czechs. (And solving border issues peacefully in Eastern Europe during this era is so ASB!!).

The Little Entente was far from being a simple anti-Hungarian alliance. It was a complicated system of treaties between the three states, France and Poland (which had a treaty with Romania, even though it wasn't part of the greater alliance). Plus you can count here the Balkan Alliance between Yugoslavia, Romania, Greece and Turkey to see the grand design: an intricate way to maintain the post-war status-quo, aimed at Hungary (Romania, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia), Bulgaria (Romania, Greece, Yugoslavia, Turkey), USSR (Poland, Romania)... and here would have to be Germany. It isn't because the logical alliance between Czechoslovakia and Poland didn't happen...

I do think that the entrance of Poland in the Little Entente would have been essential in barring Hitler. In 1938 the Czechs were alone because nobody else felt Hitler would go at their own throats. With Poland there, I think France wouldn't have given up so easily to the demands of Hitler.

 

[yourworstnightmare]

The Little Entente was far from being a simple anti-Hungarian alliance. It was a complicated system of treaties between the three states, France and Poland (which had a treaty with Romania, even though it wasn't part of the greater alliance). Plus you can count here the Balkan Alliance between Yugoslavia, Romania, Greece and Turkey to see the grand design: an intricate way to maintain the post-war status-quo, aimed at Hungary (Romania, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia), Bulgaria (Romania, Greece, Yugoslavia, Turkey), USSR (Poland, Romania)... and here would have to be Germany. It isn't because the logical alliance between Czechoslovakia and Poland didn't happen...

I do think that the entrance of Poland in the Little Entente would have been essential in barring Hitler. In 1938 the Czechs were alone because nobody else felt Hitler would go at their own throats. With Poland there, I think France wouldn't have given up so easily to the demands of Hitler.

The Little Entente was Romania, Yugoslav ia and Czechoslovakia and it was created to restrict Hungary. The Balkan Entente which was aimed towards Bulgaria was Greece, Yugoslavia, Romania and Turkey. The Polish- Romanian treaty towards the USSR was separate from the Little Entente. We're not discussing the Balkans, nor the Polish- Romanian treaty, but the Little Entente, an agreement to check Hungary.

All in all you're right about a Polish- Czech agreement wouldn't change German behaviour. But Poland and Czechoslovakia getting over all their differences, the wouldn't do that on their own. We need a totally different France, a France that is much more worried about the Germans. Then they could work behind the curtains to get the Czechs anc Poles to work together, but it wouldn't be the Little Entente, it would be a separate agreement, probably specifically aimed at Germany. An alliance between France, Poland and Czechoslovakia in 1938 would be very interresting.

 

[Alexandru H.]

The Little Entente was Romania, Yugoslav ia and Czechoslovakia and it was created to restrict Hungary. The Balkan Entente which was aimed towards Bulgaria was Greece, Yugoslavia, Romania and Turkey. The Polish- Romanian treaty towards the USSR was separate from the Little Entente. We're not discussing the Balkans, nor the Polish- Romanian treaty, but the Little Entente, an agreement to check Hungary.

All in all you're right about a Polish- Czech agreement wouldn't change German behaviour. But Poland and Czechoslovakia getting over all their differences, the wouldn't do that on their own. We need a totally different France, a France that is much more worried about the Germans. Then they could work behind the curtains to get the Czechs anc Poles to work together, but it wouldn't be the Little Entente, it would be a separate agreement, probably specifically aimed at Germany. An alliance between France, Poland and Czechoslovakia in 1938 would be very interresting.

The Little Entente, The Balkan Entente and the Polish-Romanian Treaty all had the same purpose: maintaining the post-war status-quo. You had five powers that could have broken it: Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria (for a short time) and USSR. All three understandings managed to place the troublemakers under the watchful eyes of at least two allies... except for Germany. It's no wonder the two decades of peace in the East were broken by Germany...

The way you try to divide these alliances is wrong, to say the least. They had the French fingerprints all over. The little Entente moved rather quickly from an anti-Hungarian alliance to a full-blown union of interests aimed at maintaining the regional status-quo (including the recognition of USSR as a danger). While the Balkan Entente was less important, it nevertheless came into fruition the moment the little Entente became functional as an official body.

Now, I don't say we could turn all these three understandings into some kind of Alliance against Hitler. But they were sufficient for the irredentist countries to forget their struggle in the 20s and 30s. With Poland as a true ally, France might have not agree to Munich...

 

[Krix]

The Little Entente was Romania, Yugoslav ia and Czechoslovakia and it was created to restrict Hungary. The Balkan Entente which was aimed towards Bulgaria was Greece, Yugoslavia, Romania and Turkey. The Polish- Romanian treaty towards the USSR was separate from the Little Entente. We're not discussing the Balkans, nor the Polish- Romanian treaty, but the Little Entente, an agreement to check Hungary.

It wasn't just about Hungary, it was also about preventing of restoration of Habsburg line and any claims to former Austrian Empire. While not a big deal to Poland, this could be a good hook to get it engaged.