POLAND’S PARTITION

Grey River Argus, 1 March 1945, Page 3

POLAND’S PARTITION

DEFENDED BY MR CHURCHILL Empire Citizenship IF POLISH TROOPS PREFER IT 8.0.W. RUGBY, Feb. 27 In the House of Commons, Mr. Churchill in his speech on the Crimea conference, said: Poland is the most difficult agitating part of my statement. For more than a year past and since the tiae of war turned so strongly against Germany, the Polish problem has been divided into the main issues of the frontiers of Poland and the freedom of Poland The freedom, independence, integrity and sovereignty of Poland have’ always seemed to Britain more important than her actual frontiers. To establish a free Polish nation with a good home to live in. always far outweighed, to my mind the actual tracing of their frontier lines. The Russian plan was first advanced at Teheran in November 1943. it lias always been unchanged. It is the Curzon Line in the east. The Russian amt has always been that ample compensation should be gained by Poland at the expense of Germany, in the north and west. If I favour this frontier for Russia, it is not because 1! bow to force, but because I believe it is the fairest division of territory which can in all the circumstances, be made between the two countries whose affairs have always been so closely interwoven. The Curzon Line was drawn in 1919 by an expert commission at a time when Russia had few friends among the Allies. 1 may say she was extremely unpopular.' The British Government of those days approved this, including of course,' the, exclusion of Lvov from Poland. Apart from all that has happened since 1 cannot conceive we should not regard it as a fair proposal.

In August, 1914, when Germany declared war agamst Russia under the Czar, the Russian frontiers in the west were far more spacious tnan those for which the Russians now ask, stretching within 60 miles of Breslau. The Russians are now accepting a frontier over an immense distance which is 200 to 300 miles further east than what was Russian territory for many generations under the'Czarist regime. One must regard these 30 years of more of strife, tumult and suffering m Europe as part of one story, in its! essentials it seems to bo one story in which British, 'Russians, Americans and Finns have struggled to their utmost to resist German aggression, which caused the most grevious sacrifices to all of us, but none more frightful than to the Russians, whose country has twice been ravished over large areas and whoso blood has been poured out in tons and millions of lives lost in the common cause which is now reaching its final accomplishment. There is a second reason which appeals to me. But the prodigious exertions, and sacrifices of the Russians Poland was doomed

to utter destruction, not only as a nation, but also as a race They wore doomed by Hitler to be destroyed or reduced to a servile Stale. Three and a half million Jews are stated to have been actually slaughtered. It is certain an enormous number perished in probably the most horrifying gict of cruelty which has ever darkened the passage of man. Suddenly, by superb efficiency and skill, Russian armies, in little more than three weeks, advanced from the Vistula to the Oder, driving Germans in ruins before them and freeing the whole of Poland from the foul cruelty and oppression under which the Poles were writhing. In support of the Russian claim for the Curzon Line, I repudiate and repulse any suggestion that we are making a questionable compromise of yielding to force and fear. I assert with the utmost conviction it is the broad .justice of policy upon which for the first time all the three great Allies have now taken their stand. Moreover, the three Powers have now agreed that Poland shall receive substantial accession of territory both north and west In the north, she will certainly receive in place of the Polish Corridor the great city of Danzig and the greater part of' East Prussia, west and south Konigsberg, and a wide sea front on the Baltic. In the west she will receive the important industrial province of Upper Silesia and in addition such other territories east of the Oder as it may he decided at the peace settlement to

detach f.r)?m Germany after the views of a broadly nased Polish Government have beei\ ascertained. We need not fear that will be too heavy a task for Poland, or will bring about another German revenge, or lay the seed of future wars. We intend io take steps far more drastic and effective than those which followed the last war, so as to render all offensive action by Germany utterly impossible for generations’ to come. Finally, in the world organisation all nations, great and small, victorious or vanouisfieri. will be secure against aggression by indisputable law and overwhelming power. Mr. Churchill said the published Crimea agreement was not a readymade plan imposed by the Great Powers on the Poles. It set out the views of the three major Allies on life means whereby their common desire to establish a strong, free, independent Poland might be followed in co-operation with the Poles tpemselves, whereby a Polish Government which all the United Nations had recognised, might be set rm in a Poland which would become for the first time a possibility now that practically the whole country had been liberated by the Russians. The plan should bo studied as a whole and with the common objective always in view. Mr. Churchill said the proposals on the frontiers were . incomplete accordance with the view expressed by him many times during Ihe pasi year. He had ventured (o make pronouncements upon the subject at a time when a great, measure of agreement was not expressed bv olher important parties to the affair. The eastern frontiers must be settled if Ute new Polish administration, were to carry on in its own territory

in unity wi‘:h Russia and behind their fighting Iront. the western frontiers could be fixed as •t part of the whole German settlement after the Allies occupied German territory. The home of Poland was settled. Were they to be masters 'in their own houses? Were they to be as free as we in Britain, United States, and France are free in their sovereignty and independence The most solemn declarations have been made by Marshal Stalin and the Soviet Union that the sovereign ini dependence is to be maintained, and I this decision was now joined in both ■ by Britain and America. Here also ' the world organisation would in due ' course assume a measure of vesponsibility. The Poles would have their future in their own hands with the ' single limitation that in harmony with their Allies, the Poles honestly must follow a policy friendly to Russia The procedure which the three Great Powers had adopted to achieve, this vital aim was set forth in unmistakable terms in the Crimea, decimal ion. It provided for the establishment in Poland of a Government of national

unity with which all Powers could enter into diplomatic relations. Britain meant to do all in its power to ensure that a Government shall be established as widely as possible upon democratic parties in Poland, who shall be able to make their views known.

Mr. Churchill said that arrangements were now being made at Moscow through the Commission of Three, Messrs Molotov and Harriman and Sir A. Clark-Kerr. It would be for Poland with such assistance asi wo could give them to agree upon the composition and constitution oL a new Polish Government of national unity Thereafter, Britain through its representative in Poland would use all its influence to ensure free elections to which a new Polish Government would be pledged. These should be fairly carried out under all appropriate‘and democratic safeguards. I-le said: “Our two guiding principles in dealing with all these problem of . the Continent and liberated countries have been clear. While the war is on we will give help to anyone who can kill a Hun. When the war is over we look io a solution of free, unified, democratic elections. These are the two prin-

triples of this coalition applied to the best of its ability in circumstances of an infinitely varied and tangled situation.” The Yalta agreement did not so far effect Britain’s re-c-q'n'= .Aion of the Polish Government in London which would be maintained until Britain considered a new provisional Government had been properly formed in Poland. Nor did it involve recognition oi the provisional government now functioning in Poland. He reminded the House that there would have been no Lublin Comittee if the Polish Government had accepted our faithful counsel —by this he meant that if they had accepted the Curzon Line they 'would have entered Poland as a liberating Government. Mr. Mikolajczyk could have gone to Moscow as the friend of Marshal Stalin to become Prime Minister of a wider Government in Poland, but these opportunities were cast aside, and meanwhile the complete expulsion of Germans from Poland had taken place. The Lublin Government advanced with the Russians, and was received with great joy at many places. At the present moment the advancing Russians had the right to have their communications protected by an orderly countryside under a Government acting in accordance with their needs. Mr. Churchill added that all parties in Poland would be able to take their part in the elections The impression he brought back from the Crimea and all his other contacts was that Marshall Stalin and Soviet, leaders wished to live in terms of friendship and equality with Western democracies. I feel also their word !s their bond. No Government lias stood to its obligation even on its own, more solidly than the Russian. I decline absolutely to embark upon any discussion about Russian good faith. It is quite evident that these matters touch the whole future of the wold. Sombre, indeed, would be the fortunes of mankind if some awful action arose between the Western democracies and Russia, and the whole future of world organisation were rent asunder by a new cataclysm of inconceivable violence which destroyed what is left of the treasure and liberty of mankind. POLISH FORCES UNDER BRITAIN

Mr. Churchill dealt with the question of the large Polish forces fighting under the British Command, and who owed their allegiance to the Polish Government in London. “We have every confidence that once a new Government, more representative of the will of the Polish people than i he one in London or the Provisional Government, has been recognised by the Great Powers, means will be found to overcome these formidable difficulties in a wider interest. Above all, Britain is resolved that as many as possible of the Polish troops shall be enabled to return in due course to Poland of their own free will and under safeguard to play their part in the future life of their country. In any event, Britain will never forget the debt it owes to Polish troops who served Britian so valiantly and to all those who fought under our Command. I earnestly hope it may be possible to give them citizenship and freedom of the British Empire if thev so desire.” .. There was a full House, including M Gusev the Russian Ambassador, who occasionally took notes. Perhaps Mr Churchill sensed the atmosphere of ' reserve with which members awaited his remarks, knowing, of course, that it was the question ot the Polish settlement that was the chief cause of it. Many members were waiting to trarne their subseniient speeches on his statement. Judging hy th® way in which this was ‘received—and, generally speakin- it was well received—it soon became clear that'the Flou.se appeared much more interested in the question

of Polish freedom than in the technicalities of the Curzon Line.

The House heard in silence, unpunctuated by applause, the early part of his speech, also his remark that he thought the Russian claim to the Curzon Line was just and right. There was only a faint cheer when he declared he had not bowed to force. Immediately he referred to Polish freedom his ' remarks were drowned in a chorus of ‘‘hear hears” and the loudest cheer was raised when he said there would have been no Lublin Committee if the London Polish Government had accepted “our faithful counsel.” It was apparent throughout that the House felt very sincerely the Poles should have complete political freedom. It had been thought that Mr. Churchill might have been subjected to interruptions during this stage of his speech, but the only query came from Lord Dunglass, who enquired if there were going to be some kind of international supervision in Poland. It seems likelv that the chief criticisms during the following two days of the debate may* centre round the Polish question.

AN AMENDMENT. (Rec. 1.0.) LONDON, Feb. 2S. “The Times’s” Parliamentary correspondent says Mr. iPetherick (Labour) moved an amendment to tne motion of Mr. Churchill. Most pl the Conservative Party and the Lacour Party will be behind the Government if, as seems likely, there is a division on the motion on rnursday. Comment on Mr Churchill’s speech shows that, generally speaking, it has had a, good press. The chief comment, as expected, centres round the Polish question. The Daily Telegraph says that the I question of Poland's frontiers has ceased to be acutely controversial. I What is really at the back of the uneasiness is the “hangover’ from the distrust of Russia’s intentions. . _ At the bottom, what the critics fear is that such freedom for Poland, as that to which Russia would be committed would turn out to be a sham. The Daily Telegraph says it sees no other course, however, than that of adopting the Crimea proposals. The Manchester Guardian says:— There is no question of Polish independence. We have to take things on trust. Mr Churchill thinks that the Russians will hold faithfully to their word. But even if Mr Churchill’s expectation is not completely fulfilled, we must be careful where we let our sentiments carry us. We must think for a long time. We must look all round, before we follow those Tories who', six vears ago, were appeasers of Hitler almost to a man, and who are now moving towards their old antiSoviet tracks. “BEHIND HER BACK”. POLAND’S FATE DECIDED. (Rec. 1.0). LONDON, February; 28. The Daily Herald (Labour) says:— We hav e not been convinced by Mr Churchill that the Polish situation arrived at is ideal. The paper declares: Poland’s future is being decided by methods which are directly in conflict with the Atlantic Charter. The paper adds: Mr Greenwood (Labour) made the statement that Poland’s fate is being decided “inf her absence and behind her back”. We cannot contradict it. The Daily Herald continues: Although this' is a compromise of principles, it may not be escapable, in th'e interests of the larger unity. But the fact that it is a compromise of principles should not be glossed over. It would not be necessary, if all had striven harder for political unity at an earlier stage in the war.