Józef Piłsudski’s Attitude towards Locarno and Collective Guarantee Pacts in the Light of the Polish Raison d’État (1925–1935)
| dc.contributor.author | Gaul, Jerzy | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-01-08T07:55:22Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-01-08T07:55:22Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
| dc.description.abstract-translated | The security of the Polish state occupied an important place in Józef Pilsudski’s concept of raison d’état, who saw its military, political and civilizational dimensions. France and England, signatories of the Treaty of Versailles, guaranteed the western border of the Republic of Poland, and mutual ties were strengthened by belonging to Western civilisation. Germany did not want to come to terms with the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles and sought to revise its eastern borders. In Rapallo, Germany reached an agreement with Soviet Russia, despite its differences in civilisation, political system and ideology. In Locarno, Germany undertook to respect the inviolability of the borders with France and Belgium in the Rhine Pact, leaving the course of the border with Poland open. The different status of Germany’s western and eastern borders disturbed the balance in Central Europe. The restoration of state security became a matter of Polish raison d’état. As the alliance with France loosened, Piłsudski opted for bilateral agreements: with the USSR in 1932 and Germany in 1934, taking care to maintain an equal distance from them. The weakness of the policy of neutrality consisted in considering only ad hoc interests, without the bond of common values, because Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia, destroying civilizational standards, plunged into barbarism. Poland’s security in the long run was at risk because it had no reliable allies and was not a superpower. In 1934, along with Poland’s isolation, the concept of the Eastern Pact was established. The Machiavellian concert of Western powers, with the participation of the USSR, according to Piłsudski the greatest enemy, was to guarantee the security of the eastern border of France at the price of the right to march Soviet troops through Polish territory. Pilsudski’s opposition coincided with the refusal of Nazi Germany, which further weakened the position of Poland, still stuck in the Locarno trap. | en |
| dc.format | 20 s. | cs |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 1804-5480 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11025/64391 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | Západočeská univerzita v Plzni | cs |
| dc.rights | © Západočeská univerzita v Plzni | cs |
| dc.rights.access | openAccess | en |
| dc.subject | Locarno | cs |
| dc.subject | Polsko | cs |
| dc.subject | kolektivní bezpečnost | cs |
| dc.subject | Józef Pilsudski | cs |
| dc.subject.translated | Locarno | en |
| dc.subject.translated | Poland | en |
| dc.subject.translated | collective security | en |
| dc.subject.translated | Józef Pilsudski | en |
| dc.title | Józef Piłsudski’s Attitude towards Locarno and Collective Guarantee Pacts in the Light of the Polish Raison d’État (1925–1935) | en |
| dc.type | článek | cs |
| dc.type | article | en |
| dc.type.status | publishedVersion | en |
| local.files.count | 1 | * |
| local.files.size | 161608 | * |
| local.has.files | yes | * |
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