United Kingdom |
Poland |
British–Polish relations are the foreign relations between the United Kingdom and Poland.
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Polish-British relations have existed in one form or another since the 15th century. According to Polish historian Oskar Halecki, the earliest recorded evidence of communication (and, by extension, a relationship) between England and Poland was a piece of correspondence by King Henry V of England to Władysław II Jagiełło, King of Poland and Grand-Duke of Lithuania, requesting his assistance against France in the Hundred Years War.[1]
Although Britain seemed to be large indifferent to the Partition of Poland, many of Britain's political elites, including King George III and Edmund Burke, did voice their concerns in their correspondences and publications about the Partitions and the imbalance of power in Europe it created .
During the Congress of Vienna, Lord Castlereagh, British Foreign Secretary from 1812 to 1822, was a major proponent of restoration of Polish independence, although he later dropped this point to attain ground in areas on which Britain had greater interest.
During the 19th century frosty British–Russian relations prompted more of an interest in an independent Poland from Britain. Amongst the British populace too sympathy for Poland and the other oppressed peoples of Europe was popular.
During the Polish–Soviet war the support of the British government was truly with Poland, but peace was by far the preferred option resulting in Lord Curzon's drawing of the Curzon Line as part of an attempted mediated peace. This agreement was not adopted in time and Poland soon took the upper hand in the war pushing its border further to the east.
During the 1920s and early 1930s British views of Poland were generally negative due to its expansionism and treatment of ethnic minorities. This was particularly the case from the British left. The right wing in Britain meanwhile held more overall neutral views of Poland due to its position as a buffer against communism.
Poland's view of Britain at this time was generally ambivalent; France or even Germany being the primary focus of their friendship and attempts to gain protection. The first Polish embassy in London was established only in 1929.
With the rise of the Nazi party in Germany the two countries began to see more of a point in friendly relations. On the 31 March 1939 the UK made a guarantee of independence to Poland. On the 25th of August a Anglo-Polish military alliance was signed. At a first glance this treaty was just a catch all mutual assistance pact against the aggression of any other European nation however a secret protocol attached to the agreement made clear this was Germany.
In September, following the German invasion of Poland, Britain (and France) declared war against Germany starting World War II but no direct military assistance was brought against Germany in the short time before Poland fell.
During the war 250,000 Poles served with British forces taking part in many key campaigns. 1/12 of all pilots in the Battle of Britain were Polish.
During the Yalta conference and subsequent post-war alteration of Poland's borders British-Polish relations hit a low due to Britain's compromising over Poland's fate so readily. Poland saw this in a particularly negative light due to their large contribution to the war effort and the sacrifices they had made.
Post-war many Polish servicemen remained in Britain and further numbers of refugees arrived in the country.
At first British relations to communist Poland were largely neutral with some sections of the far left even being supportive of the regime. The Polish government in exile from during the war at 43 Eaton Place in London remained in place, however, and no Poles were forced to return home.
During the cold war Poland retained a largely negative view of Britain as part of the west. British efforts meanwhile were focused at trying to break Poland off from the Warsaw Pact and encouraging reforms in the country.
In the 1990s and 2000s democratic Poland has maintained close relations with Britain; both in defence matters and within the EU; Britain being one of only a few countries allowing equal rights to Polish workers upon their accession in 2004. 375 000 Poles have registered to work in the UK after the EU accession.
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