David Lloyd George a sprawa polska na konferencji wersalskiej

Abstract

The Treaty of Versailles was signed after several months of deliberations at a peace conference convened to Paris after the end of World War I on 28 June 1919 in Paris by Germany and the Entente countries. It entered into force on 10 January 1920, i.e., on the day of its ratification. Delegations of 27 winning countries participated in the peace conference in Paris. The treaty completely changed the map of Europe and the prevailing political order. Many small countries found their place on the map, including the Republic of Poland re-emerging on the maps of Europe, although in smaller territorial ownership than before the Partition of Poland. The Polish delegation, including among others: Ignacy Jan Paderewski and Roman Dmowski, tried their best to restore the Poles to their lands. Lands which, as a result of the Partition, came under the rule of three powers, namely: Prussia, Austria, and Russia. However, the peace conference in Paris showed much reluctance on the part of the Big Five, which decided about the fate of post-war Europe towards Poland. Expectations of the Poles that their case would be supported by friendly British, American, or French politicians turned out to be deceptive. Especially the French, who seemed very favourable to Poland, at the peace conference completely obeyed the will of the British, who even intended to prevent the Poles in their quest to restore the pre-partition Polish borders. The British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, who turned out to expose his unfavourable attitude towards the Polish cause, was so uncompromising in his position that no arguments invoked by the Polish delegation appealed to him.