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 the 1930s and for largely setting Polish foreign policy.
He tried to fulfill Piłsudski's dream of making Poland the leader of a regional coalition, but he was widely disliked and distrusted by other governments. He was involved in territorial disputes with
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
and
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
. With his nation caught between two large hostile powers (
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
), Beck sometimes pursued accommodation with them and sometimes defied them. He attempted to take advantage of their mutual antagonism but then formed an alliance with the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. Both declared war on Germany after its invasion of Poland in 1939. After the Soviet Union also
invaded Poland, Beck and the rest of his government evacuated to
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
.
Early life
Beck was born into a
Calvinist
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...
(Protestant) family whose forebears had emigrated from
Flanders
Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...
to Poland in the 16th century, during the rule of Polish King
Stephen Báthory. When
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
started, Beck was a student at a college of engineering.
[Stanislaw Mackiewicz, ''Colonel Beck and his policy'', Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1944, p. 7.] After the outbreak of the war, Beck was a member of the clandestine
Polish Military Organization (''Polska Organizacja Wojskowa'', or ''POW''), founded in October 1914 by Piłsudski. Joining in 1914 Beck served until 1917 in the
First Brigade of the Polish Legions and was an aide to Piłsudski. When the brigade was interned, Beck escaped.
After Poland had regained its independence, Beck was assigned as a commander of an artillery battery and assigned to the General Staff. Beck served as military attaché to France between 1922 and 1923. The French disliked Beck to the point of spreading lies about him, such that he was a Soviet agent. He helped to carry out the May 1926 military
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
, which brought Piłsudski to ''de facto'' governmental power.
In 1926–1930, Beck served as chief of staff to Poland's
Minister of Military Affairs, and in 1930–1932, he served as Vice Prime Minister and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs. Groomed by Piłsudski to implement Poland's
foreign policy
Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...
, he in 1932 took office as
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
,
[Peter Stachura, ''Poland, 1918-1945'', p. 116.] a post that he would hold until the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Foreign minister
Beck had been dealt a weak hand. The historian David G. Williamson argues that Poland with 35 million people had a large population but a thin industrial base. Furthermore, its army of 283,000 men was ill-equipped, short of artillery and poorly trained and relied heavily on cavalry because it lacked enough mechanisation. Finally it faced long borders with two powerful dictatorships, Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union. Historian
Richard Overy wrote that of all the new states in Europe:
In his international diplomacy, Beck sought to maintain a fine balance in Poland's relations with its two powerful neighbours. In July 1932, he concluded the
Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact and, in January 1934, the
German–Polish declaration of non-aggression.
Beck complained that while Poland and Czechoslovakia were legally bound by treaty to respect the rights of their respective German minorities, the Polish minorities in Germany and the Soviet Union were not so protected. In addition, Beck resented that countries, such as Germany, used the
Minorities Treaty to exert pressure and become involved in the internal affairs of Poland. In September 1934, Beck renounced the Minorities Treaty after the Soviet Union had been admitted to the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
.
After Piłsudski's death in May 1935, a power-sharing agreement was entered into by the various Piłsudskiite factions, led by General (later Marshal)
Edward Rydz-Śmigły
Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz also called Edward Rydz-Śmigły, (11 March 1886 – 2 December 1941) was a Polish people, Polish politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of Poland's armed forces, as well as a painter and ...
, President
Ignacy Mościcki and Beck himself. The three individuals effectively dominated the ''
Sanacja'' (Sanation) and collectively ruled Poland until the outbreak of the Second World War. Beck had a more-or-less free hand in formulating Poland's foreign policy.
The stability of the ruling group was weakened because of personal conflicts, and none of the three men managed to assert his dominance in the late 1930s completely. The
oligarchy
Oligarchy (; ) is a form of government in which power rests with a small number of people. Members of this group, called oligarchs, generally hold usually hard, but sometimes soft power through nobility, fame, wealth, or education; or t ...
from 1935 to 1939 is often described by historians as a "dictatorship without a dictator".
Strategic ideas
Beck was hostile to the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
and did not think it could help Poland. France wanted some arrangement with Poland but distrusted Beck and so he looked in new directions. He explored the possibility of realising Piłsudski's concept of ''
Międzymorze'' ("Between-seas"), a federation of central and eastern European countries stretching from the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
to the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea 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 bound ...
, indeed in later variants from the
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...
to the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
. Such a coalition between Germany in the west and the Soviet Union in the east might have been strong enough to deter both from military intervention. Beck realised that for the immediate future there was no realistic chance of building such a force and so he was prepared to settle in 1937–1938 for a diplomatic bloc referred to as a "
Third Europe", led by Poland, which might become the nucleus of a ''Międzymorze'' federation. Beck's "Third Europe" diplomatic concept comprised a bloc made up of Poland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Romania.
His efforts failed for several reasons:
*Both Italy and Hungary preferred to align themselves with Germany, rather than Poland.
*The dispute between Romania and Hungary over
Transylvania
Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
doomed efforts to include them in a common bloc.
*The desire of both Italy and Hungary to partition Yugoslavia blocked any effort to include Rome, Budapest and Belgrade in an alliance.
*None of the other four states that was meant to form the "Third Europe" with Poland was interested in accepting Polish leadership.
From 1935 to 1939, Beck supported German claims against Czechoslovakia by citing purported mistreatment of Polish minorities in Czechoslovakia. In January 1938, he demanded publicly that the Poles living in Czechoslovakia be granted the rights enjoyed by the Germans. In 1937, Beck had also begun a diplomatic offensive in favour of Slovak independence.
[Thaddeus V. Gromada, "Slovak Nationalists and Poland during the Interwar Period, ''Jednota Annual Furdek'' (1979), Vol. 18, pp. 241–253.] He supported Hitler's position in the
Munich agreement
The Munich Agreement was reached in Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Third Republic, French Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement provided for the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–194 ...
in 1938. Within days, Poland invaded and seized
Teschen, an industrial district of Czechoslovakia with 240,000 people, where ethnic Poles formed only 35%.
1939: German invasion
In 1937, Hitler continued to assure Beck that Germany had no claims on Danzig, but at the start of 1939, Hitler changed his earlier position and now laid claim to Danzig, adding that military force would not be used.
Beck played a decisive role in early 1939 by staunchly refusing Hitler's demands to subordinate Poland and to turn it into a German
puppet state
A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its ord ...
. Hitler demanded for Poland to give away strategic territories to Germany and to join the
Anti-Comintern Pact
The Anti-Comintern Pact, officially the Agreement against the Communist International was an anti-communist pact concluded between Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan on 25 November 1936 and was directed against the Communist International (Com ...
, which was directed against the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. Beck rejected Hitler's demands for annexation of Polish
Pomorze (
Pomerania
Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...
), which would have cut off Polish access to the sea and its main trade route, effectively making the Polish economy dependent on Germany. He also rejected demands for an extraterritorial rail and highway corridor that was to run to
East Prussia
East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...
and the
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...
, in exchange for vague promises regarding trade and annexation of territories inhabited by Ukrainians and Belarusians in the Soviet Union after a future war. While Hitler had been planning to annex Polish territory for several years, he finally decided to go ahead with his plans for war by early September 1939.
Beck was surprised when Britain, looking for a pretext to confront Germany, announced at the end of March 1939 that it would defend Poland from German attack. France also offered its support, but both countries knew there was very little they could do if Germany invaded Poland.
In April 1939, Beck was in London to negotiate the terms of the British-Polish aid treaty. Beck famously voiced his refusal of German demands in a speech on 5 May 1939:
Similarly, Beck refused a request from the Soviets to allow Soviet forces to enter the country, which was made during talks in which the Polish side did not take part. A third proposal soon followed, once again elaborated by Britain, which promised support to the Polish government if the country's borders were endangered. This time around, Beck accepted it. According to
Joseph E. Davies, the Polish government underestimated German military power.
As a result, Hitler's diplomatic efforts shifted to the Soviet Union and secured the German-Soviet alliance in August 1939. Known as the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, it secured Soviet support in a war, a heavy flow of Soviet food and oil and an agreement to partition Poland and the Baltic states. By now, many observers realised that war between Germany and Poland had become imminent.
World War II
Following the invasion of Poland by Germany on 1 September 1939, the start of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Beck called on Poland's allies, France and Britain, to enter the war to support Poland. In spite of the agreement between them, France and Britain did little to help Poland directly though both declared war two days after the German invasion.
After the Soviet Union attacked Poland from the east on 17 September 1939, Beck withdrew to
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
, together with the rest of the
Polish government.
In Romania, he was interned by the authorities at a hotel in
Brașov
Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County.
According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...
. It was there that he wrote a volume of memoirs, ''Ostatni raport'' (''Final Report'').
Melchior Wańkowicz, a popular Polish journalist, met Beck in the autumn of 1939 during his internment in Romania. This is how he described the meeting:
Beck died in
Singureni, Romania, on 5 June 1944, after developing
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
. Beck was survived by his son
Andrzej Beck, who was active in the Polish community in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
until his death in 2011.
In May 1991, Beck's remains were repatriated to Poland and interred at Warsaw's
Powązki Military Cemetery.
Honors
*
French Legion of Honour in the grade of Chevalier (1923) and in the grade of Officier (1927)
*
Order of Saint Sava I degree
Notes
Sources
*
*
*Cienciala, Anna. "The Munich Crisis of 1938: Plans and Strategy in Warsaw in the Context of Western Appeasement of Germany" in ''The Munich crisis, 1938: Prelude to World War II'', edited by Igor Lukes and Erik Goldstein, London, Frank Cass, Inc., 1999. pp. 48–81
* Cienciala, Anna M. ''Poland the Western Powers, 1938-1939. A Study in the Interdependence of Eastern and Western Europe'' (U. Toronto Press, 1968
online*Greenwood, Sean. "The Phantom Crisis: Danzig, 1939," in ''The Origins of the Second World War Reconsidered: A.J.P. Taylor and the Historians'', edited by Gordon Martel, London, Routledge, 1999. pp. 247–72
*Gromada, Thaddeus V. "Joseph Beck in the Light of Recent Polish Historiography," ''Polish Review'' (1981) 26#3 pp 65–73
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External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Jozef
1894 births
1944 deaths
Politicians from Warsaw
People from Warsaw Governorate
Polish Calvinist and Reformed Christians
Polish people of German descent
Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government politicians
Camp of National Unity politicians
Deputy prime ministers of Poland
Ministers of foreign affairs of the Second Polish Republic
Senators of the Second Polish Republic (1935–1938)
Senators of the Second Polish Republic (1938–1939)
Polish Army officers
Polish legionnaires (World War I)
People of the Polish May Coup (pro-Piłsudski side)
Lviv Polytechnic alumni
Recipients of the Cross of Independence with Swords
Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 1st Class
Recipients of the Order of St. Sava
Burials at Powązki Military Cemetery
Polish military attachés
Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)
20th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis deaths in Romania