Four Polands, One International System: Multicultural Polonia Restituta and the Peace Negotiations of 1918-1921

Abstract

In the eyes of the French and Anglo-Saxon peacemakers at the end of World War I, the Polish case presented specific challenges. The three parts of the restored state, to whom we will adjoin the French Polonia, make it difficult to find homogeneity between the country and the people. In these conditions, the following question arises: How does one build an organised governmental machine and, most urgently, a united army that would be able to respond to the Soviet threat? The Allied and Associated Powers had different answers, but one single statement when it came to Poland: it was “a nation struggling to become a state, with perhaps a greater number of more difficult problems than have ever faced up any other nation at any one time.” (Hoover Library & Archives, Gibson (Hugh S.) papers)