Warsaw Accord

Last updated

The Warsaw Accord was an accord signed on 17 March 1922 by Finland, Poland, Estonia, and Latvia. The Finnish Parliament's failure to ratify it prevented it from entering into force. [1] [2]

Contents

Accord summary

The states agreed not to enter any other treaties to disadvantage of other members (Article 2), to communicate the other treaties to each other (Article 3), to resolve their disputes peacefully (Article 6), and to observe neutrality in case of an unprovoked attack on one of the signatories (Article 7). [3]

Of other issues, Article 1 stipulated reciprocal recognition of their treaties with (Soviet) Russia, Article 6 urged for conclusion of administrative and economic treaties, wherever missing, and Article 5 called for the guarantees of the rights of ethnic minorities. Article 8 set the validity term of 5 years, afterwards automatically extendable annually unless denunciated in advance. [3]

History

Poland under Józef Piłsudski aspired for creating its own sphere of influence in the Baltics, leaving Estonia under the influence of Finland, while getting Latvia and Lithuania under the Polish one. [1] Moreover, Piłsudski envisioned a grand Eastern European federation (Intermarium). However, the bitter dispute of Poland and Lithuania over the Vilnius Region was a major stumbling block. [1] Therefore, Lithuania did not participate in the accord and even actively opposed to it. [4] That made an alliance with Poland less attractive to Latvia and Estonia. [5]

Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs Rudolf Holsti failed to get the accord ratified by the parliament and was served a vote of no confidence. That reflected a growing sentiment that Finland should align with either Germany, [6] or the rest of Scandinavia [1] instead of creating alliances with the Baltic states.

The resulting accord was the extent of Polish success in creating a Baltic bloc. [1] [2] [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltic states</span> Three countries east of the Baltic Sea

The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea are sometimes referred to as the "Baltic nations", less often and in historical circumstances also as the "Baltic republics", the "Baltic lands", or simply the Baltics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Riga</span> 1921 treaty which ended the Polish-Soviet War

The Treaty of Riga was signed in Riga, Latvia, on 18 March 1921 between Poland on one side and Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine on the other, ending the Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921). The chief negotiators of the peace were Jan Dąbski for the Polish side and Adolph Joffe for the Soviet side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupation of the Baltic states</span> 1940–91 Soviet occupation of the Baltic states

The three independent Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – were invaded and occupied in June 1940 by the Soviet Union, under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in August 1939, immediately before the outbreak of World War II. The three countries were annexed by the Soviet Union as "constituent republics" in August 1940. Most Western countries did not recognise this annexation, and considered it illegal. On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union and within weeks occupied the Baltic territories. In July 1941, the Third Reich incorporated the Baltic territories into its Reichskommissariat Ostland. As a result of the Red Army Baltic Offensive of 1944, the Soviet Union recaptured most of the Baltic states and trapped the remaining German forces in the Courland Pocket until their formal surrender in May 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intermarium</span> Proposed country during World War I

Intermarium was a post-World War I geopolitical plan conceived by Józef Piłsudski to unite former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lands within a single polity. The plan went through several iterations, some of which anticipated the inclusion of neighbouring states. The proposed multinational polity would have incorporated territories lying between the Baltic, Black, and Adriatic Seas, hence the name Intermarium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltic Entente</span> 1934 Baltic cooperation organization

The Baltic Entente was based on Treaty of Good-Understanding and Co-operation signed between Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia on 12 September 1934 in Geneva. The main objective of the agreement was joint action in foreign policy. It also included commitments to support one another politically and to give diplomatic support in international communication. The endeavour was ultimately unsuccessful, as the combined strength of the three nations and their statements of neutrality were insubstantial in the face of the massive armies of Poland, Germany and the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty</span> Signed between Lithuania and Soviet Russia on 12 July 1920

The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty, also known as the Moscow Peace Treaty, was signed between Lithuania and Soviet Russia on July 12, 1920. In exchange for Lithuania's neutrality and permission to move its troops in the territory that was recognised during its war against Poland, Soviet Russia recognized the sovereignty of Lithuania. The treaty was a major milestone in Lithuania's struggle for international recognition and recognised Lithuania's eastern borders. Interwar Lithuania officially maintained that its de jure borders were those delineated by the treaty although a large territory, the Vilnius Region, was actually controlled by Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Litvinov Protocol</span> 1929 international peace treaty

The Litvinov Protocol is the common name of an international peace treaty concluded in Moscow on February 9, 1929. Named after the chief Soviet diplomat moving the negotiations forward, Maxim Litvinov, the treaty provided for immediate implementation of the Kellogg-Briand Pact by its signatories, thereby formally renouncing war as a part of national foreign policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State continuity of the Baltic states</span> Legal continuity of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

The three Baltic countries, or the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – are held to have continued as legal entities under international law while under the Soviet occupation from 1940 to 1991, as well as during the German occupation in 1941–1944/1945. The prevailing opinion accepts the Baltic thesis of illegal occupation and the actions of the USSR are regarded as contrary to international law in general and to the bilateral treaties between the USSR and the three Baltic countries in particular.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940</span> Military occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the Soviet Union

The Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 refers to the military occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the Soviet Union under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany and its Secret Additional Protocol signed in August 1939. The occupation took place according to the European Court of Human Rights, the Government of Latvia, the United States Department of State, and the European Union. In 1989, the USSR also condemned the 1939 secret protocol between Nazi Germany and herself that had led to the invasion and occupation of the three Baltic countries, including Latvia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty</span> 1939 secret addition to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

The German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty was a second supplementary protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 23 August 1939. It was a secret clause as amended on 28 September 1939 by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union after their joint invasion and occupation of sovereign Poland. It was signed by Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov, the foreign ministers of Germany and the Soviet Union respectively, in the presence of Joseph Stalin. Only a small portion of the protocol, which superseded the first treaty, was publicly announced, while the spheres of influence of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union remained secret. The third secret protocol of the Pact was signed on 10 January 1941 by Friedrich Werner von Schulenburg and Molotov, wherein Germany renounced its claims to portions of Lithuania, only a few months before their anti-Soviet Operation Barbarossa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German–Estonian Non-Aggression Pact</span> 1939 treaty

The German–Estonian Non-Aggression Pact was signed in Berlin on June 7, 1939, by Estonian and German Foreign Ministers Karl Selter and Joachim von Ribbentrop. The German–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact was also signed on the same day. Ratifications of the German-Estonian Pact were exchanged in Berlin on July 24, 1939, and it became effective the same day. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on August 12, 1939. The pact was intended for a period of ten years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact</span> 1939 treaty between Germany and Latvia

The German–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact was signed in Berlin on June 7, 1939.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latvia–Poland relations</span> Bilateral relations

Latvia–Poland relations are foreign relations between Latvia and Poland. Both countries enjoy good relations and are close allies. There are around 57,000 Poles living in Latvia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltic–Soviet relations</span> International relations between Baltic states and Soviet Union

Relevant events began regarding the Baltic states and the Soviet Union when, following Bolshevist Russia's conflict with the Baltic states—Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia—several peace treaties were signed with Russia and its successor, the Soviet Union. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Soviet Union and all three Baltic States further signed non-aggression treaties. The Soviet Union also confirmed that it would adhere to the Kellogg–Briand Pact with regard to its neighbors, including Estonia and Latvia, and entered into a convention defining "aggression" that included all three Baltic countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Welles Declaration</span> 1940 U.S. diplomatic statement condemning the Soviet occuption of the Baltic states

The Welles Declaration was a diplomatic statement issued on July 23, 1940, by Sumner Welles, the acting US Secretary of State, condemning the June 1940 occupation by the Soviet army of the three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – and refusing to diplomatically recognize their subsequent annexation into the Soviet Union. It was an application of the 1932 Stimson Doctrine of nonrecognition of international territorial changes that were executed by force and was consistent with US President Franklin Roosevelt's attitude towards violent territorial expansion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Background of the occupation of the Baltic states</span>

The background of the occupation of the Baltic states covers the period before the first Soviet occupation on 14 June 1940, stretching from independence in 1918 to the Soviet ultimatums in 1939–1940. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia gained independence in the aftermath of the Russian revolutions of 1917 and the German occupation which in the Baltic countries lasted until the end of World War I in November 1918. All three countries signed non-aggression treaties with the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s. Despite the treaties, in the aftermath of the 1939 German–Soviet pact, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were occupied, and thereafter forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union, in 1940.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940)</span> Forced annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the USSR (1939–41)

The Soviet occupation of the Baltic states covers the period from the Soviet–Baltic mutual assistance pacts in 1939, to their invasion and annexation in 1940, to the mass deportations of 1941.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet re-occupation of the Baltic states (1944)</span> Overview of the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states in 1944

The Soviet Union (USSR) occupied most of the territory of the Baltic states in its 1944 Baltic Offensive during World War II. The Red Army regained control over the three Baltic capitals and encircled retreating Wehrmacht and Latvian forces in the Courland Pocket where they held out until the final German surrender at the end of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty</span> 1939 treaty allowing Soviet troops and military bases within Estonia

The Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty, also known as the Bases Treaty was a bilateral treaty between the Soviet Union and Estonia, signed in Moscow on 28 September 1939. The treaty obliged both parties to respect each other's sovereignty and independence, and allowed the Soviet government to establish military bases in Estonia. These bases facilitated the Soviet takeover of the country in June 1940.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet–Latvian Mutual Assistance Treaty</span> 1939 treaty allowing Soviet troops and military bases within Latvia

The Soviet–Latvian Mutual Assistance Treaty was a bilateral treaty between the Soviet Union and Latvia, signed in Moscow on October 5, 1939. The treaty obliged both parties to respect each other's sovereignty and independence, while in practice allowed the Soviet government to establish military bases in Latvia, which facilitated the Soviet invasion of the country in June 1940.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Hiden, John; Salmon, Patrick (2014). The Baltic Nations and Europe: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the Twentieth Century. Routledge. pp. 65–66. ISBN   9781317890577.
  2. 1 2 Kirby, David (2014). The Baltic World 1772-1993: Europe's Northern Periphery in an Age of Change. Routledge. p. 287. ISBN   9781317902188.
  3. 1 2 "Political Agreement, between Estonia, Finland, Lithuania and Poland, signed at Warsaw, on March 17, 1922" (PDF). League of Nations Treaty Series. Vol. XI. League of Nations. 1922. pp. 168–171.
  4. ↑ Gaigalaitė, Aldona (2017-04-12). "Ministras iš šaunios Zaunių šeimos" (in Lithuanian). Panevėžio miesto savivaldybės viešoji biblioteka. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  5. 1 2 Leonard, Raymond W. (1999). Secret Soldiers of the Revolution: Soviet Military Intelligence, 1918-1933. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 186. ISBN   9780313309908.
  6. ↑ Hiden, John (2002). The Baltic States and Weimar Ostpolitik. Cambridge University Press. p. 122. ISBN   9780521893251.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.