Poland and the Little Entente  in the League of Nations

Distrustful of the new world order and placed within the frames of a collective system of security, the countries of the East-Central Europe developed, within the League of Nations, their own interpretation of new diplomacy. Seeking the way to acquire a real influence on the European scene, sometimes even trying to create their own diplomatic tradition, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia and Poland transferred their local conflicts, like e.g. the Czechoslovakian-Polish conflict, onto the European forum. At the same time, new actors and new challenges in the international system provided numerous opportunities for genuine cooperation invisible to the public opinion, e.g. in the very delicate issue of national minorities. The analysis of the actions of Poland and the Little Entente in Geneva enables to shed light on ambiguities – not inevitable, but nevertheless present – in the new international system.
 

Distrustful of the new world order and placed within the frames of a collective system of security, the countries of the East-Central Europe developed, within the League of Nations, their own interpretation of new diplomacy. Seeking the way to acquire a real influence on the European scene, sometimes even trying to create their own diplomatic tradition, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia and Poland transferred their local conflicts, like e.g. the Czechoslovakian-Polish conflict, onto the European forum. At the same time, new actors and new challenges in the international system provided numerous opportunities for genuine cooperation invisible to the public opinion, e.g. in the very delicate issue of national minorities. The analysis of the actions of Poland and the Little Entente in Geneva enables to shed light on ambiguities – not inevitable, but nevertheless present – in the new international system.