Polish Diplomatic Documents 1919 January-May

The most recent volume (twenty-third) of the Polish Diplomatic Documents series contains 430 documents illustrating the activities of Polish politicians and diplomats between January and May 1919.

Special attention was paid to Paris Peace Conference deliberations, including political and organizational issues. The Polish state actively solicited input for the peace treaty, and also tried to obtain material, economic and humanitarian aid. The creation of the Polish Delegation to the Peace Conference has been heavily documented, as well as negotiations of the Polish National Committee with delegates of Warsaw authorities staying in Paris.

The volume also contains documents illustrating the actions of Polish diplomacy in the Eastern part of the continent, regarding the ongoing armed conflict. Besides fighting for Eastern Galicia and Cieszyn Silesia, it also shows the situation of the Polish Army in Russia and issues related to the onset of the Polish-Bolshevik war. Many documents also relate to humanitarian issues and aid granted to Polish prisoners of war and refugees.

Among the published documents, materials were also included about the Greater Poland Uprising and issues faced when transporting the Haller Army from France to Poland.

The volume also documented the rebirth process of the Polish Foreign Service, which was associated with constructing a network of diplomatic and consular sites.

The source of the volume largely consists of materials stored in the Archives of Modern Records in Warsaw and the Jozef Pilsudski Institute of America. Interesting supplementary documentation has been included from the Central Military Archive, Polish Institute and General Sikorski Museum in London. The publication also contains material available in the Academic Library of the Polish Academy of Learning and the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow, as well as The National Archives in London. The volume also includes material published in the “Polish Monitor” in 1919, as well as transcripts from Legislative Sejm meetings. Document from Russian archives were also utilized. The vast majority of materials presented in this volume consist of previously unpublished documents.

The volume also contains an index of names and an extensive subject index, the preface contains detailed information about the structure and functioning of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Polish National Committee, as well as the organization of the Polish Delegation to the Peace Conference.