Marea Britanie şi aliaţii est-europeni ai Franţei la sfârşitul Marelui Război
Britain and the Eastern European allies of France at the end of the Great War

Summary/Abstract: Once the peace was concluded, at the end of the “Great War”, Great Britain resumed its traditional policy, of not intervening in Eastern Europe. This did not entail a complete abandonment of the European policy, but the British tried to avoid providing guarantees or getting involved in alliances on the old continent. However, Europe remained even after the end of the Second World War a space dominated by alliances. Whereas Great Britain was not a founding member, France chose this position, mainly in Eastern Europe, thus trying to create a new continental balance, to eliminate the German threat and to keep the Bolshevik danger away. Unlike France, Great Britain’ traditional policy involved avoiding any direct involvement in Eastern Europe, but a similar attitude characterized London’s position regarding Europe as a whole. Nonetheless, the political leaders in Romania, Czechoslovakia, Poland and more always sought British support for their causes. The lack of British enthusiasm for the countries in Eastern Europe was based on the pragmatic conclusion drawn by London: namely, regardless of their instability, the three former empires in Central and Eastern Europe –Austrian-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman – were preferable to the new States, seen as aggressive and unstable in London.Due to this attitude, many of the political leaders in Eastern Europe interpreted the British policy as opposing their interests, and the dominant concern of London towards the issues of the Empire or the domestic issues almost as a sign of hostility. A stable and peaceful Europe remained, though, an essential objective of British policy, as well as a limited collaboration with France, but not without conditions. Moreover, the most important of the conditions was for Paris to waive or drastically limit the interest east from the Rhine. Great Britain thus wished to make sure that it would not be dragged in any conflict for defending a Eastern-European country or for getting involved in divergences highly possible in Upper Silesia, Danzig, Poland, Romania or any other East-European state with which France had concluded or intended to conclude treaties.

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