Evening star., 1941-08-02
Russo-PoIish Accord

The agreement just signed in
London between General Sikorski,
head of the Polish government-in
exile, and Ivan Maisky, the Soviet
Ambassador, is an important event,
though it's long-range implications
should not be exaggerated
The pact is due mainly to British
diplomacy, which worked intenSively
to bring these hereditary enemies
together Polish reluctance is seen
in the resignation of Foreign Min
lister ZaleSki, with other ministerial
designations reported in the offing.
General SikorSki, however, seems to
have been thoroughly sold on the
idea. AS a military man, he viewed
the matter from that angle, whereas
Zaleski presumably feared the diplo-
matte ramifications involved. Poland
has hitherto had British guarantee
of its territorial integrity. Under
the Russo-Polish pact, the question
of frontiers is left open for discus
sion after the war. Russia declared
invalid its partition agreement with
Germany, under which both govern
ments officially stated that Poland
had ceased to exist as an independ-
ent state. But Russia carefully re-
Trained from acknowledging the
post-World War frontiers of Poland,
which Russians have claimed to have
been unjustly drawn at their expense.
The Russo-PoliSh dispute over
their borderlands is not new. 1t
goes back many centuries and is
one of Europe's most thorny terri
tOrial problems. Poland became a
strong nation earlier than Russia in
the early Middle Ages, and the dis
parity became still greater when
Russia was overrun and disrupted
by the Mongol-Tartar invasions.
During that period, Poland annexed
much of what is now known as
White Russia and the Ukraine. The
inhabitants were of Russian stock
and were further separated from
the Poles by their religion, which
was Greek Orthodox, while the Poles
were Roman Catholics. This COM
bined national and religious barrier
kept the two peoples sharply dis
tinct. In the annexed regions, the
Poles were the upper class land
owners and townSfolk, the peaSantry
being almost wholly White Russian
or Ukrainian. There was chronic
hostility between the two elements.
Russia'S sudden rise to a first-claSS
power under Peter the Great, two
centuries ago, conceded with Po-
lands rapid decline. In the parti-
tionS of Poland at the close of the
eighteenth century, Russia got not
merely the bulk of Poland'S Ukrain-
ian and White Russian provinces but
the heart of true Poland as well.
Thenceforth, Russia became for all
patriotic Poles the arch enemy. The
present antagonism toward the Ger
mans did not become acute until
after the establishment of the Ger
man Empire in 1871, when Bismarck
undertook to Germanize the Poles
OF the eastern provinces.
The establishment of Poland
after the Great War at the expense
of Germany and Russia awakened
the resentment of both countries
toward the new state. Russia was
then in the chaos of it's civil wars,
and Poland undertook to occupy
what it considered its historic from
tiers. This led to Russian invasion
which was stopped by French aid
only at the gates of Warsaw. Russia
was compelled to make a peace that
granted many of Poland'ss demands,
but in a diSgruntled mood. The
groundwork was thus laid for the
new partition of Poland two years
ago, wherein Germany and Russia
virtually agreed to stamp out Poland
as a nation. 1t is hard to say which
government has been the more ruth
less in the execution of this design.
German armies now occupy the
whole of postwar Poland and parts
of Russia as well, so Poles and Rus
slams have made a working agree
ment against the common enemy.
But they have not buried the hatchet.
1t is merely laid aside for the time
being. The real problem Of mutual
adjustment remains to be solved.