Intermarium ( pl, Międzymorze, ) was a post-

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

geopolitical plan conceived by

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was ...

to unite former

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

lands within a single

polity A polity is an identifiable political entity – a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any other group of ...

. The plan went through several iterations, some of which anticipated the inclusion as well of other, neighboring states. The proposed multinational polity would have incorporated territories lying between the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

and

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to th ...

s, hence the name ''Intermarium'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

for "Between-Seas"). Prospectively a

federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

and Eastern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an countries, the post-

Intermarium plan pursued by Piłsudski sought to recruit to the proposed federation the

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone ...

(

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. The Polish name ''Międzymorze'' (from ''między'', "between"; and ''morze'', "sea"), meaning "Between-Seas", was rendered into

as Intermarium. The proposed federation was meant to emulate the

, stretching from the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

, that, from the end of the 16th century to the end of the 18th, had united the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

and the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was Partitions of Poland, partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire, Habsburg Empire of ...

. Intermarium complemented Piłsudski's other

geopolitical Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...

vision,

Prometheism Prometheism or Prometheanism ( Polish: ''Prometeizm'') was a political project initiated by Józef Piłsudski, a principal statesman of the Second Polish Republic from 1918 to 1935. Its aim was to weaken the Russian Empire and its successor stat ...

, whose goal was the dismemberment of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

and that Empire's divestment of its territorial acquisitions. *"Józef Pilsudski, Polish revolutionary and statesman, the first chief of state (1918–22) of the newly independent Poland established in November 1918."
"Józef Pilsudski"

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

) *"Released in November 1918, iłsudskireturned to Warsaw, assumed command of the Polish armies, and proclaimed an independent Polish republic, which he headed."
"Piłsudski, Joseph"

Columbia Encyclopedia The ''Columbia Encyclopedia'' is a one-volume encyclopedia produced by Columbia University Press and, in the last edition, sold by the Gale Group. First published in 1935, and continuing its relationship with Columbia University Columbi ...

) *

Timothy Snyder Timothy David Snyder (born August 18, 1969) is an American historian specializing in the modern history of Central and Eastern Europe. He is the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute ...

, ''Covert Polish missions across the Soviet Ukrainian border, 1928–1933''
p.55p.56p.57p.58p.59
in ''Cofini'', Silvia Salvatici, Rubbettino, 2005). *

, ''Sketches from a Secret War: A Polish Artist's Mission to Liberate Soviet Ukraine'', Yale University Press, 2005, ,
p.41p.42p.43
"Pilsudski hoped to build not merely a Polish nation state but a greater federation of peoples under the aegis of Poland which would replace Russia as the great power of Eastern Europe. Lithuania, Belorussia and Ukraine were all to be included. His plan called for a truncated and vastly reduced Russia, a plan which excluded negotiations prior to military victory." Richard K Debo, ''Survival and Consolidation: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia, 1918–1992''
p. 59
McGill-Queen's Press, 1992, ."Pilsudski's program for a federation of independent states centered on Poland; in opposing the imperial power of both Russia and Germany it was in many ways a throwback to the romantic Mazzinian nationalism of Young Poland in the early nineteenth century." James H. Billington
''Fire in the Minds of Men''
p. 432, Transaction Publishers, Intermarium was perceived by some

Lithuanians Lithuanians ( lt, lietuviai) are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another million or two make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Unite ...

as a threat to their newly established independence, and by some

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...

as a threat to their aspirations for independence,Oleksa Pidlutsky, "Figures of the 20th century. Józef Piłsudski: the Chief who Created a State for Himself", ''

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and by most other Western powers."Between Imperial Temptation And Anti-Imperial Function In Eastern European Politics: Poland From The Eighteenth To Twenty-First Century"
Andrzej Nowak. Accessed September 14, 2007. Within two decades of the failure of Piłsudski's grand scheme, all the countries that he had viewed as candidates for membership in the Intermarium federation had fallen to the

or to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, except for Finland (which suffered some territorial losses in the 1939–40

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

with the Soviet Union).

Precedents

Commonwealth

Polish–Lithuanian union Polish–Lithuanian can refer to: * Polish–Lithuanian union (1385–1569) * Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795) * Polish-Lithuanian identity as used to describe groups, families, or individuals with histories in the Polish–Lithuanian ...

and

military alliance A military alliance is a formal agreement between nations concerning national security. Nations in a military alliance agree to active participation and contribution to the defense of others in the alliance in the event of a crisis. (Online) ...

had come about as a mutual response to common threats posed by the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

, the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragmen ...

and the

Grand Duchy of Moscow The Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovite Russia, Muscovite Rus' or Grand Principality of Moscow (russian: Великое княжество Московское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye; also known in English simply as Muscovy from the Lati ...

. The alliance was first established in 1385 by the Union of Kreva, solemnized by the marriage of Poland's

Queen Jadwiga Jadwiga (; 1373 or 137417 July 1399), also known as Hedwig ( hu, Hedvig), was the first woman to be crowned as monarch of the Kingdom of Poland. She reigned from 16 October 1384 until her death. She was the youngest daughter of Louis the Great ...

and Lithuania's Grand Duke Jogaila of the

Gediminid dynasty The House of Gediminid or simply the Gediminids ( lt, Gediminaičiai, sgs, Gedėmėnātē, be, Гедзімінавічы, pl, Giedyminowicze, uk, Гедиміновичі;) were a dynasty of monarchs in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reig ...

, who became King

Władysław II Jagiełło Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło ()He is known under a number of names: lt, Jogaila Algirdaitis; pl, Władysław II Jagiełło; be, Jahajła (Ягайла). See also: Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło. ...

of Poland. A longer-lasting federation subsequently came about in 1569 in the form of the

, an arrangement that lasted until 1795, i.e., until the

Third Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...

. The Polish–Lithuanian alliance thus lasted a total of 410 years, and constituted at times the largest state in Europe. Under the Commonwealth, proposals were advanced to establish expanded, Polish–Lithuanian-''Muscovite'' or Polish–Lithuanian–''Ruthenian'' Commonwealths. Though the Commonwealth temporarily controlled parts of Russia and governed much of Ruthenia for centuries, these proposals were never implemented at a constitutional level.

Czartoryski's plan

Between the

November November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars, the fourth and last of four months to have a length of 30 days and the fifth and last of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. Nov ...

and

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

s, in the period between 1832 and 1861, the idea of resurrecting an updated Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was advocated by Prince

Adam Jerzy Czartoryski Adam Jerzy Czartoryski (; lt, Аdomas Jurgis Čartoriskis; 14 January 177015 July 1861), in English known as Adam George Czartoryski, was a Polish nobleman, statesman, diplomat and author. The son of a wealthy prince, he began his political c ...

, residing in exile at the

Hôtel Lambert The Hôtel Lambert () is a ''hôtel particulier,'' a grand mansion townhouse, on the Quai Anjou on the eastern tip of the Île Saint-Louis, in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. In the 19th century, the name ''Hôtel Lambert'' also came to designa ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. In his youth Czartoryski had fought against Russia in the

Polish–Russian War of 1792 The Polish–Russian War of 1792 (also, War of the Second Partition, and in Polish sources, War in Defence of the Constitution ) was fought between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on one side, and the Targowica Confederation (conservat ...

; he would have done so again in the

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794 and the Second Polish War, was an uprising against the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia led by Tadeusz Kościuszko in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the P ...

of 1794 had he not been arrested at Brussels on his way back to Poland. Subsequently, in 1795, he and his younger brother had been commanded to enter the Russian army, and

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

had been so favorably impressed with them that she had restored to them part of their confiscated estates. Adam Czartoryski subsequently served the Russian Emperors

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

and Alexander I as a diplomat and foreign minister, establishing an anti-French coalition during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

. Czartoryski, one of the leaders of the Polish November 1830 Uprising, had been sentenced to death after its suppression by Russia, but was eventually allowed to go into exile in France. In Paris the "visionary" statesman and former friend, confidant and ''de facto'' foreign minister of Russia's

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

Alexander I acted as the "uncrowned king and unacknowledged foreign minister" of a nonexistent Poland. In his book, ''Essai sur la diplomatie'' (Essay on Diplomacy), completed in 1827 but published only in 1830, Czartoryski observed that, "Having extended her sway south and west, and being by the nature of things unreachable from the east and north, Russia becomes a source of constant threat to Europe." He argued that Russia would have done better cultivating "friends rather than slaves". He also identified a future threat from Prussia and urged the incorporation of

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

into a resurrected Poland. Czartoryski's diplomatic efforts anticipated Piłsudski's Prometheist project in linking efforts for Polish independence with similar movements of other subjugated nations in Europe, as far east as the

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...

, most notably in Georgia. Czartoryski aspired above all to reconstitute—with French, British and Turkish support—a sort of "pan-Slavic" Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth federated with the Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Romanians and all the

South Slavs South Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austri ...

of the future

. Poland, in his concept, could have mediated the conflicts between Hungary and the Slavs, and between Hungary and Romania. Dziewanowski, "''Polski pionier zjednoczonej Europy''," p. 11. The plan seemed achievable during the period of national revolutions in 1848–49 but foundered on lack of western support, on Hungarian intransigence toward the Czechs, Slovaks and Romanians, and on the rise of German nationalism.

Marian Kamil Dziewanowski Marian Kamil Dziewanowski (27 June 1913, Zhytomyr – 18 February 2005, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) was a historian of Poland, Russia and modern Europe. Life Born in Zhytomir, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), Dziewanowski was the son of Kamil and Zofia (K ...

writes that "the Prince's endeavor constitutes a

ital Ital, also spelled I-tal (), is food often celebrated by those in the Rastafari movement. It is compulsory in the Bobo Ashanti and Nyabinghi mansions, though not in the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The word derives from the English word "vital", ...

link etweenthe 16th-century Jagiellon ederative prototypeand

's federative- Prometheist program [that was to follow after

]."

Piłsudski's ''Międzymorze''

Józef Piłsudski's strategic goal was to resurrect an updated, democratic form of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, while working for the disintegration of the

, and later the

, into its ethnic constituents. (The latter was his Prometheist project.) Piłsudski saw an Intermarium federation as a counterweight to Russian and German

imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic powe ...

. According to Dziewanowski, the plan was never expressed in systematic fashion but instead relied on Piłsudski's pragmatic instincts. According to British scholar George Sanford, about the time of the Polish-Soviet War of 1920 Piłsudski recognized that the plan was not feasible. George Sanford
''Democratic Government in Poland: Constitutional Politics since 1989''
Palgrave Macmillan 2002. . pp. 5–6.

Opposition

Piłsudski's plan faced opposition from virtually all quarters. The Soviets, whose

sphere of influence In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence (SOI) is a spatial region or concept division over which a state or organization has a level of cultural, economic, military or political exclusivity. While there may be a formal a ...

was directly threatened, worked to thwart the Intermarium agenda. The Allied Powers assumed that

Bolshevism Bolshevism (from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined party of social revolution, ...

was only a temporary threat and did not want to see their important (from the balance-of-power viewpoint) traditional ally, Russia, weakened. They resented Piłsudski's refusal to aid their

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

allies, viewed Piłsudski with suspicion, saw his plans as unrealistic, and urged Poland to confine itself to areas of clear-cut Polish ethnicity.

Adam Bruno Ulam Adam Bruno Ulam (8 April 1922 – 28 March 2000) was a Polish-American historian of Jewish descent and political scientist at Harvard University. Ulam was one of the world's foremost authorities and top experts in Sovietology and Kremlinology, h ...

, ''Stalin: The Man and His Era'', Beacon Press, 1989,
p. 185
/ref>
. Accessed September 30, 2007.

Norman Davies Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a Welsh-Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Professor a ...

, ''White Eagle, Red Star'', Polish edition, Wydawnictwo Znak, 1997, , p.228 The Lithuanians,

Piotr Łossowski Piotr Łossowski (born 25 February 1925) is a Polish historian and professor. Lecturer at Collegium Civitas. Member of the Historical Committee of Polish Academy of Sciences. He specializes in the areas of foreign politics and diplomacy and histor ...

, ''Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918–1920'', Książka i Wiedza, 1995, , p.13–16 and p. 36 who had re-established their independence in 1918, were unwilling to join; the Ukrainians, similarly seeking independence,

Alfonsas Eidintas Alfonsas Eidintas (born 4 January 1952 in Vaiguva, Kelmė District Municipality, Lithuania) is a historian, diplomat and novelist. He is Lithuania's Ambassador to Greece. Scholar Between 1969 and 1973, Alfonsas Eidintas studied history at Vilniu ...

, Vytautas Zalys, ''Lithuania in European Politics: The Years of the First Republic, 1918–1940'', Palgrave, 1999,
pp. 78–81
/ref> likewise feared that Poland might again subjugate them; and the Belarusians, who had little national consciousness and were mostly Russophiles, were similarly not interested either in independence or in Piłsudski's proposals of union. The chances for Piłsudski's scheme were not enhanced by a series of post-World War I wars and border conflicts between Poland and its neighbors in disputed territories—the Polish-Soviet War, the

Polish–Lithuanian War The Polish–Lithuanian War (in Polish historiography, Polish–Lithuanian Conflict) was an undeclared war between newly-independent Lithuania and Poland following World War I, which happened mainly, but not only, in the Vilnius and Suwałki ...

, the

Polish–Ukrainian War The Polish–Ukrainian War, from November 1918 to July 1919, was a conflict between the Second Polish Republic and Ukrainian forces (both the West Ukrainian People's Republic and Ukrainian People's Republic). The conflict had its roots in ethn ...

, and

border conflicts between Poland and Czechoslovakia Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...

. Piłsudski's concept was opposed within Poland itself, where

National Democracy National Democracy may refer to: * National Democracy (Czech Republic) * National Democracy (Italy) * National Democracy (Philippines) * National Democracy (Poland) * National Democracy (Spain) See also * Civic nationalism, a general concept * ...

leader

Roman Dmowski Roman Stanisław Dmowski (Polish: , 9 August 1864 – 2 January 1939) was a Polish politician, statesman, and co-founder and chief ideologue of the National Democracy (abbreviated "ND": in Polish, "''Endecja''") political movement. He saw th ...

"Wojna polsko-bolszewicka"
. ''

Internetowa encyklopedia PWN ''Internetowa encyklopedia PWN'' (Polish for ''Internet PWN Encyclopedia'') is a free online Polish-language encyclopedia published by Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN (''Polish Scientific Publishers PWN''; until 1991 ''Państwowe ...

''. Accessed 27 October 2006."Pilsudski dreamed of drawing all the nations situated between Germany and Russia into an enormous federation in which Poland, by virtue of its size, would be the leader, while Dmowski wanted to see a unitary Polish state, in which other Slav peoples would become assimilated." Andrzej Paczkowski
''The Spring Will Be Ours: Poland and the Poles from Occupation to Freedom''
p. 10, Penn State Press, 2003, argued for an ethnically homogeneous Poland in which minorities would be

Polonized Polonization (or Polonisation; pl, polonizacja)In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэя� ...

.Manfred F. Boemeke, Gerald D. Feldman, Elisabeth Glaser, ''The Treaty of Versailles: A Reassessment After 75 Years'', Cambridge University Press, 1998,
p.314
/ref>

has been quoted as saying: "Wherever we can multiply our forces and our civilizational efforts, absorbing other elements, no law can prohibit us from doing so, as such actions are our duty." J. Tomaszewski, , vol. 6, Warsaw, 1988, p. 101. Cited in Oleksandr Derhachov, ''ibid.'' Many Polish politicians, including Dmowski, opposed the idea of a multiethnic federation, preferring instead to work for a

unitary Unitary may refer to: Mathematics * Unitary divisor * Unitary element * Unitary group * Unitary matrix * Unitary morphism * Unitary operator * Unitary transformation * Unitary representation In mathematics, a unitary representation of a grou ...

Polish

nation-state A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may in ...

Sanford Sanford may refer to: People *Sanford (given name), including a list of people with the name *Sanford (surname), including a list of people with the name Places United States * Sanford, Alabama, a town in Covington County * Sanford, Colorado ...

has described Piłsudski's policies after his resumption of power in 1926 as similarly focusing on the Polonization of the country's Eastern Slavic minorities and on the centralization of power. While some scholars accept at face value the democratic principles claimed by Piłsudski for his federative plan,

Aviel Roshwald Aviel Roshwald is an American historian and Professor of history at Georgetown University. He received his B.A from the University of Minnesota in 1980, and his PhD from Harvard University in 1987. As a scholar of nationalism, Roshwald is noted ...

, ''Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires: Central Europe, the Middle East and Russia, 1914–1923'', 2001, Routledge (UK),
p. 49
/ref> others view such claims with skepticism, pointing out a coup d'état in 1926 when Piłsudski assumed nearly dictatorial powers.

Yohanan Cohen Yohanan Cohen ( he, יוחנן כהן, 31 December 1917– May 20, 2013)https://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=447 was an Israeli politician and diplomat. Biography Born in Łódź (then part of the Russian Empire, ...

, ''Small Nations in Times of Crisis and Confrontation'', SUNY Press, 1989,
p. 65
/ref> In particular, his project is viewed unfavorably by most Ukrainian historians, with Oleksandr Derhachov arguing that the federation would have created a greater Poland in which the interests of non-Poles, especially Ukrainians, would have received short shrift."The essence of ózef Piłsudski's 'federalist' programwas that after the overthrow of tsardom and the disintegration of the Russian empire, a large, strong and mighty Poland was to be created in Eastern Europe. It would be the reincarnation of the ''Rzeczpospolita'' on 'federative' principles. It was to include the Polish, Lithuanian, Belarusian and Ukrainian lands. The leading role, of course, was to be given to the Polish ethnic, political, economic and cultural element. ... As such two influential and popular political doctrines with regard to Ukraine—the 'incorporationist' and the 'federalist'—even before the creation of Polish statehood, were based on ignoring the right of the Ukrainian people to self-determination and put forward claims to rule over the Ukrainian territories ..." "Ukraine in Polish concepts of foreign policy", in Oleksandr Derhachov (ed.), ''Ukrainian Statehood in the Twentieth Century: Historical and Political Analysis'', Kyiv, 1996, . Some historians hold that Piłsudski, who argued that "There can be no independent Poland without an independent Ukraine", may have been more interested in splitting Ukraine from Russia than in assuring Ukrainians' welfare."The newly founded Polish state cared much more about the expansion of its borders to the east and southeast ('between the seas') than about helping the dying krainianstate of which Petlura was ''de facto'' dictator." "A Belated Idealist", ''

Zerkalo Nedeli ''Dzerkalo Tyzhnia'' ( ua, Дзеркало тижня), usually referred to in English as the ''Mirror Weekly'', was one of Ukraine's most influential analytical weekly-publisher newspapers, founded in 1994.'Mirror Weekly'' 22–28 May 2004. Available onlin
in Russian
an
in Ukrainian
. Piłsudski is quoted to have said: "After Polish independence we will see about Poland's size." (ibid)A month before his death, Pilsudski told an aide: "My life is lost. I failed to create a Ukraine free of the Russians." Oleksa Pidlutskyi, "Józef Piłsudski: The Chief who Created Himself a State", in ''Postati XX stolittia'' 'Figures of the 20th century''

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

, 2004, , . reprinted in ''

, 3–9 February 2001
in Russian
an
in Ukrainian
. He did not hesitate to use military force to expand Poland's borders to

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

and

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...

, crushing a Ukrainian attempt at self-determination in disputed territories east of the

Bug River uk, Західний Буг be, Захо́дні Буг , name_etymology = , image = Wyszkow_Bug.jpg , image_size = 250 , image_caption = Bug River in the vicinity of Wyszków, Poland , map = Vi ...

which contained a substantial Polish presence Anna M. Cienciala, 2004
"The Rebirth of Poland"
(lecture notes). University of Kansas. Asccessed 2 June 2006. (a Polish majority mainly in cities such as

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

, surrounded by a rural Ukrainian majority). Speaking of Poland's future frontiers, Piłsudski said: "All that we can gain in the west depends on the Entente—on the extent to which it may wish to squeeze Germany", while in the east "there are doors that open and close, and it depends on who forces them open and how far". MacMillan, Margaret, ''Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World'', Random House, 2003, , p. 212 In the eastern chaos, the Polish forces set out to expand as far as feasible. On the other hand, Poland had no interest in joining the western intervention in the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

or in conquering Russia itself.Joseph Pilsudski. Interview by Dymitr Merejkowsky, 1921. Translated from the Russian by Harriet E Kennedy B. A. London & Edinburgh, Sampson Low, Marston & Co Ltd 1921. Piłsudski said: "Poland can have nothing to do with the restoration of old Russia. Anything rather than that–even Bolshevism".

Failure

In the aftermath of the Polish-Soviet War (1919–1921), and the establishment of the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

, Piłsudski's concept of a federation of Central and Eastern European countries, based on a Polish-Ukrainian axis, lost any chance of realization.Tadeusz Marczak, '
Międzymorze wczoraj i dziś
' iędzymorze Yesterday and Today a Polish-language version of the paper, iędzymorze Yesterday and Today published in (Belarus and Poland: the Path toward Cooperation. Materials of an International Scholarly Conference),

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

, 2005. Piłsudski next contemplated a federation or alliance with the

and

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

states. This plan envisioned a

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

an union including Poland,

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

, the Baltic states,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

—thus stretching not only west-east from the Baltic to the Black Sea, but north-south from the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

to the Mediterranean Sea. This project also failed: Poland was distrusted by Czechoslovakia and Lithuania; and while it had relatively good relations with the other countries, they had tensions with their neighbors, making it virtually impossible to create in

a large block of countries that all had good relations with each other. In the end, in place of a large federation, only a Polish–Romanian alliance was established, beginning in 1921. In comparison, Czechoslovakia had more success with its

Little Entente The Little Entente was an alliance formed in 1920 and 1921 by Czechoslovakia, Romania and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (since 1929 Yugoslavia) with the purpose of common defense against Hungarian revanchism and the prospect of a ...

(1920–1938) with Romania and Yugoslavia, supported by France. Piłsudski died in 1935. A later, much reduced version of his concept was attempted by interwar Polish Foreign Minister

Józef Beck Józef Beck (; 4 October 1894 – 5 June 1944) was a Polish statesman who served the Second Republic of Poland as a diplomat and military officer. A close associate of Józef Piłsudski, Beck is most famous for being Polish foreign minister in ...

, a Piłsudski protégé. His proposal, during the late 1930s, of a " Third Europe"—an alliance of Poland, Romania and Hungary—gained little ground before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

supervened. Beck's Third Europe concept failed to achieve any traction because Germany was the world's second largest economy and all of eastern Europe was dominated economically by the ''Reich''. For economic reasons, there was a tendency in eastern Europe to follow the lead of Berlin rather than Warsaw. Disregarding the 1932 Polish-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, the

allied itself with

to divide

and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

between them. Marek Jan Chodakiewicz, ''Intermarium: The Land between the Black and Baltic Seas''. Transaction:

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city in and the seat of government of Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

World War II and since

The concept of a "Central nd EasternEuropean Union"—a triangular geopolitical entity anchored in the Baltic, Black, and Adriatic or Aegean Seas—was revived during

Władysław Sikorski Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski (; 20 May 18814 July 1943) was a Polish military and political leader. Prior to the First World War, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause for Polish i ...

Polish Government in Exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...

. A first step toward its implementation—1942 discussions between the Greek, Yugoslav, Polish and Czechoslovak governments in exile regarding prospective Greek-Yugoslav and Polish-Czechoslovak federations—ultimately foundered on Soviet opposition, which led to Czech hesitation and Allied indifference or hostility. A declaration by the

Polish Underground State The Polish Underground State ( pl, Polskie Państwo Podziemne, also known as the Polish Secret State) was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland that were loyal to the Gover ...

in that period called for the creation of a Central and Eastern European federal union undominated by any one state. On 12 May 2011, the

Visegrád Group The Visegrád Group (also known as the Visegrád Four, the V4, or the European Quartet) is a cultural and political alliance of four Central European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The alliance aims to advance co-op ...

countries (

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

, and

) announced the formation of a

Visegrád Battlegroup The Visegrád Battlegroup or V4 EU Battlegroup is an EU Battlegroup led by Poland, in which the other fellow Visegrád Group countries – the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary participate. It was on standby from 1 January until 30 June 2016 a ...

under Poland's command. The battlegroup was in place by 2016 as an independent force, not part of the NATO command. In addition, starting in 2013, the four countries were to begin joint military exercises under the auspices of the

NATO Response Force The NATO Response Force (NRF) is a high-readiness force comprising land, air, sea and special forces units capable of being deployed quickly. Until February 2022, when NATO activated it in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine,JAMES KITFIEL(1 ...

. Some scholars saw this as a first step toward close

an regional cooperation. On 6 August 2015,

Polish President The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Pol ...

Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (; born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as president of Poland since 6 August 2015. Before becoming president, Andrzej Duda was a member of Polish Lower House (Sejm) from 2011 to 2014 and th ...

, in his inaugural address, announced plans to build a regional alliance of

an states, modeled on the Intermarium concept. In 2016 the Three Seas Initiative held an initial summit meeting in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranea ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

. The Three Seas Initiative has 12 member states along a north–south axis from the

to the

and the

: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria.

Notes

References

* Janusz Cisek, ''Kilka uwag o myśli federacyjnej Józefa Piłsudskiego, Międzymorze – Polska i kraje Europy środkowo-wschodniej XIX-XX wiek'' (Some Remarks on Józef Piłsudski's Federationist Thought, Międzymorze — Poland and the East-Central European Countries in the 19th–20th Centuries), Warsaw, 1995. * Marek Jan Chodakiewicz, ''Intermarium: The Land between the Black and Baltic Seas'' (Transaction Publishers) New Brunswick, NJ. 2012. *

, ''"Polski pionier zjednoczonej Europy"'' ("A Polish Pioneer of a United Europe"), ''

Gwiazda Polarna ''Gwiazda Polarna'' (Polish for "''Pole Star''") is "America's oldest independent Polish-language newspaper." It has been published since 1908 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. History ''Gwiazda Polarnas name appears to have arisen from an English-lan ...

'' (Pole Star), vol. 96, no 19 (September 17, 2005), pp. 10–11. *

M.K. Dziewanowski Marian Kamil Dziewanowski (27 June 1913, Zhytomyr – 18 February 2005, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) was a historian of Poland, Russia and modern Europe. Life Born in Zhytomir, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), Dziewanowski was the son of Kamil and Zofia ( ...

, ''Czartoryski and His Essai sur la diplomatie'', 1971, ASIN: B0072XRK6. *

, ''Joseph Pilsudski: a European Federalist, 1918–1922'', Stanford, Hoover Institution, 1979. * * Peter Jordan, ''Central Union of Europe'', introduction by Ernest Minor Patterson, Ph.D., ''President, The American Academy of Political and Social Science'', New York, Robert M. McBride & Company, 1944. * Jonathan Levy, ''The Intermarium: Madison, Wilson, and East Central European Federalism'', , 200

* Sławomir Łukasiewicz, ''Trzecia Europa: Polska myśl federalistyczna w Stanach Zjednoczonych, 1940–1971'' (Third Europe: Polish Federalist Thought in the United States, 1940–1971), Warsaw, Institute for National Remembrance (''Instytut Pamięci Narodowej''), 2010, . * Anna Mazurkiewicz (

University of Gdańsk The University of Gdańsk ( pl, Uniwersytet Gdański) is a public research university located in Gdańsk, Poland. It is one of the top 10 universities in Poland and is also an important centre for the studies of the Kashubian language. History ...

), review of Sławomir Łukasiewicz, ''Trzecia Europa: Polska myśl federalistyczna w Stanach Zjednoczonych, 1940–1971'', in ''Polish American Studies: A Journal of Polish American History and Culture, Published by the Polish American Historical Association'', vol. LXVIII, no. 1 (Spring 2011), ISSN 0032-2806, pp. 77–81. * Piotr Okulewicz, ''Koncepcja "miedzymorza" w myśli i praktyce politycznej obozu Józefa Piłsudskiego w latach 1918–1926'' (The Concept of Międzymorze in the Political Thought and Practice of Józef Piłsudski's Camp in the Years 1918–1926), Poznań, 2001, . * Antoni Plutynski, ''We Are 115 Millions'', with a foreword by

Douglas Reed Douglas Lancelot Reed (11 March 1895 – 26 August 1976) was a British journalist, playwright, novelist and writer of books with political themes. His book ''Insanity Fair'' (1938) examined the state of Europe and the megalomania of Adolf Hitler ...

, London, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1944. * David J. Smith,

Artis Pabriks Artis Pabriks (born 22 March 1966) is a Latvian politician. Since January 2019 he has been the Minister for Defence and Deputy Prime Minister of Latvia. From 2014 to 2018, he was a Member of the European Parliament. Early life and career After ...

, Aldis Purs, Thomas Lane, ''The Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania'', Routledge (UK), 2002, {{ISBN, 0-415-28580-1}
Google Print, p.30
(also availabl
here
.

External links

Intermarium
Televisions program of Belsat TV, BelSat. Late modern Europe Eastern Europe Second Polish Republic History of Lithuania (1918–1940) Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Lithuania–Poland relations Federalism by country Proposed organizations Proposed political unions Józef Piłsudski European integration History of Ukraine (1795–1918) History of Ukraine (1918–1991)

Precedents

Commonwealth

Czartoryski's plan

Piłsudski's ''Międzymorze''

Opposition

Failure

World War II and since

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links