Polish-British Common Defence Pact

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British embassy in Warsaw, Poland

The Polish-British Common Defence Pact was an annex to the Franco-Polish Military Alliance signed on August 25, 1939 between representatives of the United Kingdom and Poland. The pact contained promises of mutual military assistance between the nations in the event either was attacked by Nazi Germany, which presented an immediate threat to Poland at the time. The United Kingdom, sensing a dangerous trend of German expansionism, sought to prevent German aggression by this show of solidarity.

The pact was preceded by a written "guarantee" of military assistance, issued by the governments of France and Great Britain to those of Germany and Poland on March 30. Both the guarantee and the pact were directed specifically against a possible German invasion and pledged to defend Polish independence. At the time Adolf Hitler was demanding cession of the port of Danzig, military access to the Polish Corridor, and special privileges for the German minority within Poland. By the terms of the military alliance with Great Britain and France, it was left to Poland to decide whether to compromise. Fearing all-out German invasion no matter what, the Poles rejected the German demands.

The March 30 guarantee also promised to defend neutral Romania if it were attacked.

In case of war, the United Kingdom was to start hostilities as soon as possible, initially helping Poland with air raids against the German war industry, and joining the struggle on land as soon as the British Expeditionary Corps arrived in France. In addition, a military credit was granted and armament was to reach Polish or Romanian ports in early autumn 1939.

However, both the British and French governments had plans other than fulfilling their treaties with Poland. On May 4, a meeting was held in Paris at which it was decided that "the fate of Poland depends on the final outcome of the war, which will depend on our ability to defeat Germany rather than to aid Poland at the beginning."^{[citation needed]} Poland's government was not notified of this decision, and the Polish-British talks in London were continued. Also in May 1939, Poland signed a secret protocol to the 1921 Franco-Polish Military Alliance in which it was agreed that France would grant her eastern ally military credit "as soon as possible." In case of war with Germany, France promised to start minor land and air military operations at once, and to start a major offensive (with the majority of its forces) no later than 15 days after a declaration of war. A full military alliance treaty between Poland and Great Britain was ready to be signed on August 22, but the British government postponed the signing until August 25, 1939.

Because of the pact's signing, Hitler postponed his planned invasion of Poland until September 1. But the pact was unsuccessful at preventing the invasion on that date. The invasion of Poland marked the outbreak of World War II in the West.