Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star MONDAY, JULY 19th, 1920. POLAND’S DILEMMA.

Hokitika Guardian, 19 July 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star MONDAY, JULY 19th, 1920. POLAND’S DILEMMA.

Judging by the news from Poland of late, that country has fallen on bad times as a result of this war against Soviet Russia. There is evidently a rude awakening near at hand to Poland’s dream of conquest. Her ambition, as stated by General Haller < n the return of his Polish legion from France, was a new Poland far greater ; han the Peace Conference planned for the resurrected State. The new eastern frontier was to stretch from the Baltic to the Black gen. The project involved the inclusion of a vast area, which since 1772 had been Russian territory, and in whose population the Polish element is a mere fraction. It has been stated by reputable writers that unofficially the Poles have been receiving s: pport from both France and Britain—that France provided a Geu eral -Staff picked from her ablest so>diers while Britain supplied munitions including tanks of a later type than ever took the field in the west. At the same time the Allies warned Poland “not to burden'herself with external responsibilities beyond her strength. ’ Tlie advice was reasonable, because Poland’s food situation was precarious, financially she was not far from ban 1 .: ruptcy, and in the matter of internal administration she was barely past the experimental stage. But General Pilsudski preferred to take big risks, and established lines hundreds of miles within Russian territory. Roughly speaking, his‘front ran southward along tile Dwina, the Boresina and the Dnieper.k His earlier -Successes this year were won when many of the units of the Russian army were little more than skeleton formations, as there had ' been partial demobilisation to allo.v the peasant soldiers i® do their spring * Svioirihig. Mow, however, the Soviet i armies are applying their weight, and -~ I the Poles are undeniably in retreat. According to their own claims, they have struck shrewd blows in some of their I rearguard actions, hut the efforts of their friend to get the Soviet Governmon to agree to an armistice indicate ’ anxiety lest the gamble should result in disaster. Closely bound up with 1 this campaign is the matter of tlie Allied policy to Bolshevik Russia. "When 1 Poland first put her fortune to the i hazard it was grandiloquently said tluir 1 she was fighting for the defence <>l s Western civilisation; that she wouhl f form a bar in Fa stem Furope to the westward spread of Bolshevism. When '/ it was pointed out that there was a fallacy in the idea of a physical bnrriu- p against what is in part an intellects*d movement, the more material ground was taken that Poland would constitute an obstacle to Germany forestalling p more distant Powers in the t resumption of trade with Rus- e sia; but Poland has failed as' Britain’s active intervention in Norili s. l Russia failed and as her support of Kol chak and Reniken proved unavailing. F

Russia knocks more loudly at the door for rendmisskm to the comity of nn tions.