英波军事同盟

The military alliance between the United Kingdom and Poland was formalised by the Anglo-Polish Agreement on 31 March 1939, with subsequent addenda of 1940 and 1944, for mutual assistance in case of a military invasion from Nazi Germany, as specified in a secret protocol.

Background

The United Kingdom (First Chamberlain ministry) had been attempting to create a four-way alliance to contain Nazi Germany, with France (then governed by Édouard Daladier), Poland and the Soviet Union. Polish Foreign Minister Józef Beck was disturbed by the prospect of any alliance with Stalin's Soviet Union because it conflicted with Poland's policy of maintaining distance from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.……

British assurance to Poland

On 31 March 1939, in response to Nazi Germany's defiance of the Munich Agreement and its occupation of Czechoslovakia, in Parliament, Chamberlain pledged the support of the UK and France to assure Polish independence:

Agreement of Mutual Assistance

On 25 August 1939, two days after the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union with a secret protocol that partitioned Central and Eastern Europe between them, Britain and Poland signed an agreement for mutual assistance. The agreement contained promises of mutual military assistance between the nations if either was attacked by some "European country".……

Failed Soviet–Franco–British alliance

After the German occupation of Prague in March 1939 in violation of the Munich Agreement, the Chamberlain government in Britain sought Soviet and French support for a Peace Front. The goal was to deter further German aggression by guaranteeing the independence of Poland and Romania. However, Stalin refused to pledge Soviet support for the guarantees unless Britain and France first concluded a military alliance with the Soviet Union.……

Polish–British Naval Agreement

Ever since it had been sent to Britain in the last days of August 1939 during Operation Peking, the Polish Navy remained in British waters. In November 1939, after the Invasion of Poland, the Polish-British Naval Agreement allowed Polish sailors to wear their Polish uniforms and to have Polish commanding officers on board even though the ships were of British make. The agreement would later be revised on 5 August 1940 to encompass all Polish units.

Anglo–Polish Agreement Respecting Polish Land and Air Forces

On 5 August 1940 an agreement was signed that "the Polish Armed Forces (comprising Land, Sea, and Air Forces) shall be organized and employed under British Command" but would be "subject to Polish military law and disciplinary ruling, and they [would] be tried in Polish military courts". The only change came on 11 October 1940, when the Polish Air Force was made an exception and became subject to British discipline and laws.

Analysis

The alliance committed Britain, for the first time in history, to fight on behalf of a European country other than France or Belgium. Hitler was then demanding the cession of the Free City of Danzig, an extraterritorial highway (the Reichsautobahn Berlin-Königsberg) across the Polish Corridor and privileges for the ethnic German minority within Poland.……

Criticism

The Polish historian Paweł Wieczorkiewicz wrote, "Polish leaders were not aware of the fact that England and France were not ready for war. They needed time to catch up with the Third Reich, and were determined to gain the time at any price". The publicist Stanisław Mackiewicz stated in the late 1940s, "To accept London's guarantees was one of the most tragic dates in the history of Poland. It was a mental aberration and madness".……