Spa conference

Because of the delay in Germany’s ratification of the Treaty of Versailles the Allied Powers called an international conference in Spa, Belgium, in July 1920. On the front line of the Polish-Soviet War the Bolsheviks launched an offensive which threatened the existence of the Republic of Poland. Consequently, Polish Prime Minister Władysław Grabski went to Spa to ask the West for help. The head of the Polish government agreed to conditions unfavorable to Poland, dictated mostly by British PM Lloyd George. Aside agreeing to unfavorable terms regarding the border with Czechoslovakia Poland also recognized the Allied Powers’ right to decide about Vilna’ state affiliation. In return Great Britain offered its agency in peace negotiations and — if that came to no avail — material aid, for instance, in the form of military equipment. The Allied Powers failed to keep their promises. Without consulting with Poland they proposed to Soviet Russia a border treaty based on the Curzon Line. That, however, did not stop the offensive. The Bolsheviks’ objective was to capture entire Poland and impose the communist ideology on it.

You have the right to go to hell in your own way.

In the picture members of the Inter-allied Mission to Poland. Launched in line with the decisions made during the Spa Conference, it was to advise the Polish government during peace negotiations with the Bolsheviks. Its unofficial objective, however, was to change the government for a more conciliatory one and remove the Chief of State, Józef Piłsudski, from the position of the Commander in Chief of the Polish Armed Forces. The Mission arrived in the Polish capital about a dozen days before the Battle of Warsaw. (Wikimedia Commons)

Under these circumstances, Mr. President, it is very unlikely to achieve the Supreme Council’s noble objective, that is, to end conflicts and establish normal and friendly relations between the Republic of Poland and the Republic of Czechoslovakia. For the decision made by the Ambassadors’ Conference opened an abyss between the two nations which cannot be filled.

The main players during the Spa Conference were French Prime Minister George Clemenceau and British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. Both can be seen in this photograph taken in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, where the Entente and Austria signed a peace treaty in September 1919. (NAC)