Zbigniew Żak: What alliances? Thoughts 34/2026
date:21 August 2026 Editor: Anna
To you, Lord, I rise my soul, my God, to you I trust: let me not be disappointed! Let my enemies not triumph over me! Look at my enemies: there are many of them and they hatred me violently. defender my soul and deliver me, lest I be disappointed erstwhile I flee to you. Let innocence and righteousness defend me, for in you, Lord, I have hope (Ps 25, 19 -21).
By this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know him," and does not keep his commandments, is simply a liar, and there is no fact in him. But he who keeps his teaching is truly perfect. This is how we know that we are in Him. He who claims to be in him should besides act as he did (1 Jn 2:3-6).
Another anniversary of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact is coming, that is, the alliance of our neighbours against Poland, whose consequences were tragic for us.
This forces us to reflect on whether our neighbours are allied against Poland again. Do we have a skillful policy that wouldn't happen? In 1939, we thought that having alliances with Britain and France, we were safe. However, it turned out that these allies did not intend to support us without adequate weapons, and the public opinion in these countries was against participation in the war. However, the authorities of these countries assured us that in the event of an attack on Poland they would join the war. To the end, they convinced us that we could number on them. Our hopes proved impenetrable. The authorities of both countries played a game that was only meant to make any effort. There was no mention of an allied offensive on a truly large scale. "Our allies" in August 1939 learned about the content of the secret agreement between Germany and the russian Union, which led to the next partition of Poland, but did not notify the Polish authorities of its content so that they would not effort to halt the war. They wanted to hit the Germans on Poland to distract from their countries and gain time and better prepare for war.
Could Poland prevent an agreement between Germany and the russian Union? I don't know. We had a past lesson at the time, that erstwhile our neighbors are in conflict, then our capabilities increase. It was thanks to the conflict of Germany and Russia that independency was regained. Yet Russia powerfully understood Germany and German influence in the 19th century were huge. Many people with German surnames played key roles in the military and in the Russian authorities. Roman Dmowski's organization decently diagnosed that the conflict between our invaders was an chance for Poles. This led to a war that led to our independence. At the end of the war, the Germans transported the Bolsheviks to Russia to make a coup and to sign a separatist peace with the Germans without looking to the Allies.
“Our allies” failed and later, erstwhile determining the map of post-war Europe. The British and Americans sold Poland's case for their own interests. At a conference in Tehran, where the large powers set the borders of Poland, everything went under Stalin's dictatorship. Our government has not been informed of the decisions made there for a long time. The findings proved embarrassing adequate for the Allies to decide as long as possible to hide them from the public.
The British did not stand on our side either erstwhile negotiating the Treaty of Versailles and in 1920. In the name of alleged peacekeeping, they were willing to trade our independence.
With this experience, we cannot place unlimited trust in our alliances. We should be more careful in this respect and trust more on ourselves. It's difficult, due to the fact that the current wars can be global. Therefore, we should besides search local alliances.
Russia and Germany are presently in conflict, but will this state proceed for long? In addition, we can see closer relations between Germany and Ukraine, which may prove fatal for Poland. Ukrainian leaders have besides previously taken patterns from the Germans. They were impressed by the cult of force, which is why Nazi Germany's fascism was a point of mention for them. Ukrainians were happy to welcome the entering Germans in 1941 with the hope of creating their own state from which they would get free of another nationalities. Isn't good relations between Germany and Ukraine a substitute for German-Russia relations? Will these relations pose a threat to Poland? Although they do not say it officially, Germany has not renounced claims against Poland and if the chance arises they will effort to make us dependent on each other, whether straight or through the EU. Ukraine can be very dangerous after the war, as a tiny part of its society will not be able to fight. Aren't they going to rent out as mercenaries? In addition, there is simply a large Ukrainian community in Poland. Whether she will be forced to follow instructions coming from Kiev. Yet, the worship of flagism is spreading in Ukraine, as can be seen from the attitude of the highest authorities. And the chauvinist communities in Ukraine make territorial claims against Poland. Poland has generously supported Ukraine with many aids and our society has helped Ukrainians coming to us. However, this did not change Ukraine's attitude towards Poland, and even seems to have increased hostility towards us and request further help. This confirms that strength is crucial to that society and its leaders.
That's not comic thinking. What do I do? First of all, take care of the combat ability of our army and form patriotism in the young generation. Do not quit weapons for free, and financial and material assistance should benefit Poland. Our NATO allies encouraged us in 2022 to surrender our weapons Ukraine promising to arm our troops. But no of this happened. The most crucial thing is to stay distant from the war; not to be drawn into it; although again Ukraine and allies effort to engage us militarily. And improve political relations with neighbors. We have no direct influence on specified action by our authorities, but at the time of the elections we can vote for candidates who share this thinking.
Zb.
This forces us to reflect on whether our neighbours are allied against Poland again. Do we have a skillful policy that wouldn't happen? In 1939, we thought that having alliances with Britain and France, we were safe. However, it turned out that these allies did not intend to support us without adequate weapons, and the public opinion in these countries was against participation in the war. However, the authorities of these countries assured us that in the event of an attack on Poland they would join the war. To the end, they convinced us that we could number on them. Our hopes proved impenetrable. The authorities of both countries played a game that was only meant to make any effort. There was no mention of an allied offensive on a truly large scale. "Our allies" in August 1939 learned about the content of the secret agreement between Germany and the russian Union, which led to the next partition of Poland, but did not notify the Polish authorities of its content so that they would not effort to halt the war. They wanted to hit the Germans on Poland to distract from their countries and gain time and better prepare for war.
Could Poland prevent an agreement between Germany and the russian Union? I don't know. We had a past lesson at the time, that erstwhile our neighbors are in conflict, then our capabilities increase. It was thanks to the conflict of Germany and Russia that independency was regained. Yet Russia powerfully understood Germany and German influence in the 19th century were huge. Many people with German surnames played key roles in the military and in the Russian authorities. Roman Dmowski's organization decently diagnosed that the conflict between our invaders was an chance for Poles. This led to a war that led to our independence. At the end of the war, the Germans transported the Bolsheviks to Russia to make a coup and to sign a separatist peace with the Germans without looking to the Allies.
“Our allies” failed and later, erstwhile determining the map of post-war Europe. The British and Americans sold Poland's case for their own interests. At a conference in Tehran, where the large powers set the borders of Poland, everything went under Stalin's dictatorship. Our government has not been informed of the decisions made there for a long time. The findings proved embarrassing adequate for the Allies to decide as long as possible to hide them from the public.
The British did not stand on our side either erstwhile negotiating the Treaty of Versailles and in 1920. In the name of alleged peacekeeping, they were willing to trade our independence.
With this experience, we cannot place unlimited trust in our alliances. We should be more careful in this respect and trust more on ourselves. It's difficult, due to the fact that the current wars can be global. Therefore, we should besides search local alliances.
Russia and Germany are presently in conflict, but will this state proceed for long? In addition, we can see closer relations between Germany and Ukraine, which may prove fatal for Poland. Ukrainian leaders have besides previously taken patterns from the Germans. They were impressed by the cult of force, which is why Nazi Germany's fascism was a point of mention for them. Ukrainians were happy to welcome the entering Germans in 1941 with the hope of creating their own state from which they would get free of another nationalities. Isn't good relations between Germany and Ukraine a substitute for German-Russia relations? Will these relations pose a threat to Poland? Although they do not say it officially, Germany has not renounced claims against Poland and if the chance arises they will effort to make us dependent on each other, whether straight or through the EU. Ukraine can be very dangerous after the war, as a tiny part of its society will not be able to fight. Aren't they going to rent out as mercenaries? In addition, there is simply a large Ukrainian community in Poland. Whether she will be forced to follow instructions coming from Kiev. Yet, the worship of flagism is spreading in Ukraine, as can be seen from the attitude of the highest authorities. And the chauvinist communities in Ukraine make territorial claims against Poland. Poland has generously supported Ukraine with many aids and our society has helped Ukrainians coming to us. However, this did not change Ukraine's attitude towards Poland, and even seems to have increased hostility towards us and request further help. This confirms that strength is crucial to that society and its leaders.
That's not comic thinking. What do I do? First of all, take care of the combat ability of our army and form patriotism in the young generation. Do not quit weapons for free, and financial and material assistance should benefit Poland. Our NATO allies encouraged us in 2022 to surrender our weapons Ukraine promising to arm our troops. But no of this happened. The most crucial thing is to stay distant from the war; not to be drawn into it; although again Ukraine and allies effort to engage us militarily. And improve political relations with neighbors. We have no direct influence on specified action by our authorities, but at the time of the elections we can vote for candidates who share this thinking.
Zb.
