Poland in International Relations in Europe: British Government Circles Assessments on the Еve of the Locarno Conference of 1925

Abstract

The article is devoted to the identification and analysis of assessments by representatives of British government circles of Poland place and role in international relations in Europe on the eve of the Locarno Conference. The sources for the work were the documents of the Foreign Office, the Cabinet, and the parliamentary debates materials for the period from November 1924 to October 1925. The emergence of Cabinet members and parliamentarians assessments of Poland's place and role in international relations was facilitated by the solution of current foreign policy tasks in Europe: discussion of the Geneva Protocol, adopted on October 2, 1924 at the Assembly of the League of Nations, signing. Аfter the UK's rejection of it, guarantee pact drafts discussion, which ended with the signing of agreements in Locarno. The assessments made at the time were directly or indirectly related to such aspects of international relations as Polish-German, Polish-French relations, Poland's relations with the Baltic countries, primarily Lithuania, and policy towards Soviet Russia. It is shown that the dominant influence on the assessment of Poland's place and role in European relations by the British government circles at that time was exerted by current economic interests, ideas about national security tasks and the tradition of focusing in European politics exclusively on the "great powers", which led to some disregard for the interests of Poland.