231,1 Arranging the plebiscite took months, partly because the situation in Upper Silesia was deteriorating as Poles rose up against the Germans, partly because the Allies had trouble finding the troops. There were also disagreements over whether only those actually living in Silesia could vote (the choice of the Polish government) or former residents as well (as the Germans preferred). The German government won that argument and on a Sunday in March 1921, as trainloads of German Silesians rolled in to the sound of band music, the vote finally took place. The north and west chose Germany, the south Poland, and the middle, which with all its industry was what both Poland and Germany wanted, divided almost evenly. Further months of negotiations, with the British backing Germany and the French Poland, produced only deadlock. The whole issue was finally turned over to the League, where four powers with no direct interest in the matter-Belgium, china, Spain and Brazil –drew a line that left 70% of the area in Germany but gave most of the industries and mines to Poland. In 1922, in one of the longest treaties ever seen, Germany and Poland agreed on economic and political cooperation and the protection of their respective minorties.67 It was in fact a model for dealing with such mixed areas, but the will was not there. The Germans resented the loss of Upper Silesia as much as they did Danzig and the corridor. In 1939 Hitler annexed the whole to Germany. In 1945 it went back to Poland and most, but not all, of the Germans living there fled or were expelled. 231,2 Settling Polands borders in the north-east was even more difficult. There anarchists, Bolsheviks, White Russians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians and Baltic Germans were jostling for power. The peacemakers did not know how many countries they would be dealing with, or which governments. The Commission on Polish Affairs was instructed to go ahead anyway and it duly worked out a border that brought all the clearly Polish territories into Poland. In December 1919 what was left of the Supreme council approved what came to be known as the Curzon line (roughly the line of Polands eastern border today). The polish government didnt have the slightest intention of accepting this. While the peacemakers had been busy with their maps, Polish forces had been equally busy on the ground. All along the disputed borderlands, Poland had staked out much greater claims, which were to be settled largely by success or failure in war.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 19:27:42 +0000
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