Dmowski's Line
Encyclopedia
Dmowski's Line was a proposed border of Poland after World War I. It was proposed by the Polish delegation at the Paris Peace Conference
of 1919 and it was named after Roman Dmowski
, Polish foreign minister. Poland wanted to get Upper Silesia
, Pomerelia
with Danzig, Warmia
and Masuria
, all Lithuania
, Zhytomyr
region and eastern: Belarus
, Polesia
, Volhynia
, Podolia
.
This proposal was rejected, and later withdrawn by the author - Roman Dmowski, who during the negotiations ending the Polish-Bolshevik war, spoke out against the inclusion of Minsk. He explained the desire to build a country without ethnicl minorities - the de facto theme was the desire to prevent the concept of federation (Międzymorze)
of Jozef Pilsudski
, even to a limited extent. Consequently, the Treaty of Riga the Polish-Soviet border demarcated in the distance about 30 km to the west and north of Minsk. Polish territory according to the concept Dmowski was supposed to be equal to 447 000 km ² .
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
of 1919 and it was named after Roman Dmowski
Roman Dmowski
Roman Stanisław Dmowski was a Polish politician, statesman, and chief ideologue and co-founder of the National Democracy political movement, which was one of the strongest political camps of interwar Poland.Though a controversial personality throughout his life, Dmowski was instrumental in...
, Polish foreign minister. Poland wanted to get Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
, Pomerelia
Pomerelia
Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...
with Danzig, Warmia
Warmia
Warmia or Ermland is a region between Pomerelia and Masuria in northeastern Poland. Together with Masuria, it forms the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship....
and Masuria
Masuria
Masuria is an area in northeastern Poland famous for its 2,000 lakes. Geographically, Masuria is part of two adjacent lakeland districts, the Masurian Lake District and the Iława Lake District...
, all Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Zhytomyr
Zhytomyr
Zhytomyr is a city in the North of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zhytomyr Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Zhytomyr Raion...
region and eastern: Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Polesia
Polesia
Polesia is one of the largest European swampy areas, located in the south-western part of the Eastern-European Lowland, mainly within Belarus and Ukraine but also partly within Poland and Russia...
, Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
, Podolia
Podolia
The region of Podolia is an historical region in the west-central and south-west portions of present-day Ukraine, corresponding to Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Vinnytsia Oblast. Northern Transnistria, in Moldova, is also a part of Podolia...
.
Boundary Line
Boundary line to the east was Polish by the notes from the Polish Delegation as follows:This proposal was rejected, and later withdrawn by the author - Roman Dmowski, who during the negotiations ending the Polish-Bolshevik war, spoke out against the inclusion of Minsk. He explained the desire to build a country without ethnicl minorities - the de facto theme was the desire to prevent the concept of federation (Międzymorze)
Miedzymorze
Międzymorze was a plan, pursued after World War I by Polish leader Józef Piłsudski, for a federation, under Poland's aegis, of Central and Eastern European countries...
of Jozef Pilsudski
Józef Pilsudski
Józef Klemens Piłsudski was a Polish statesman—Chief of State , "First Marshal" , and authoritarian leader of the Second Polish Republic. From mid-World War I he had a major influence in Poland's politics, and was an important figure on the European political scene...
, even to a limited extent. Consequently, the Treaty of Riga the Polish-Soviet border demarcated in the distance about 30 km to the west and north of Minsk. Polish territory according to the concept Dmowski was supposed to be equal to 447 000 km ² .