The “Polish question” in Soviet-German relations in the second half of the 1920s (based on the materials of the USSR consulate in Königsberg)
Abstract
On the basis of earlier unknown documents of the Soviet consulate in Königsberg retrieved from the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, the author analyses relations between the USSR and Germany in 1925—1930. The author focuses on the role of the “Polish question”, which largely affected the nature of bilateral relations. The consulate documents indicate that Soviet diplomacy aspired to exploit the differences between Poland and Germany over a wide range of issues (the geopolitical situation of East Prussia, the position of national minorities, the problem of transit through the Polish corridor, the status of the Free city of Danzig, etc.). Soviet consuls carefully observed political life in Königsberg and the province. On the one hand, they paid attention to an increase in the nationalist and fascist attitudes. On the other hand, they emphasized the aspirations of the local political and business elite to develop economic cooperation with the Soviet Union. The People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs tried to transform East Prussia into a Soviet lobby in the German government. These plans were not implemented at that time, but the 1920s ideas of cooperation between the two states on the anti-Polish basis were put into practice on the eve of World War II.
2. Sluch, S. 1995, Germanija i SSSR v 1918—1939 godah: Motivy i posledstvija vnesh-nepoliticheskih reshenij [Germany and the USSR in the years 1918—1939: Motives and consequences of external non-political decisions]. In: Rossija i Germanija v gody vojny i mira [Russia and Germany during the war and peace], Mosxow, Geya, p. 26—95.
3. Sovetsko-pol'skie otnoshenija v politicheskih uslovijah Evropy 30-h godov XX stoletija [The Soviet-Polish relations in the political conditions of Europe 30-ies of XX century], 2001, Moscow, Nauka.
4. Materialy «Osoboj papki» Politbjuro CK RKP(b) — VKP(b) po voprosu sovetsko-pol'skih otnoshenij v 1923—1944 g [Materials "Special Folders" the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (B.) — VKP (b) on the issue of Soviet-Polish relations in the years 1923—1944], 1997, Moscow, Tseslav.
5. Kostyashov, Yu. V. 2012, On the establishment and early activity of the Soviet consulate in Königsberg (1923—1925), Balt. Reg., no. 2, p. 44—52, doi: 10.5922/2079-8555-2012-2-5.
6. Arhiv vneshnej politiki Rossijskoj Federacii [Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation], F. 0165, Op. 5, D. 159. L. 127—127.
7. Arhiv vneshnej politiki Rossijskoj Federacii [Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation], F. 0165, Op. 8, D. 299.
8. Kostyashov, Yu. V. 2012, Eshhe raz o vizite delegacii iz Vostochnoj Prussii v SSSR v 1929 godu [Once again, the visit of a delegation from East Prussia in the USSR in 1929], Kaliningradskie arhivy [Kaliningrad archives], no. 9, p. 48—60.
9. Kratkij obzor donesenij imperatorskih rossijskih konsul'skih predstavitelej za granicej za 1914 god [A brief review of the reports of the Imperial Russian consular representatives abroad for 1914]. Pg., 1915.
10. Rossijskij gosudarstvennyj arhiv jekonomiki [Russian State Archive of the Economy], F. 413, Op. 10, D. 916.
11. Arhiv vneshnej politiki Rossijskoj Federacii [Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation], F. 0165, Op. 6, D. 199. 12. Srokowski, S. 1925, Z krainy Czarnego Krzyża, Poznań. 13. Vostochnaja Prussija glazami sovetskih pereselencev. Pervye gody Kaliningradskoj oblasti v vospominanijah i dokumentah [East Prussia through the eyes of Soviet immigrants. The first years of the Kaliningrad region in the memoirs and documents], 2002, Saint Petersburg, Belvedere.