Polskie Dokumenty Dyplomatyczne 1939 wrzesień-grudzień

The volume PDD 1939 (September–December) in the series Polish Diplomatic Documents is a collection of 492 documents on Polish diplomatic activity in the early months of World War II. Most of them were created at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led initially by Józef Beck and later, following the Składkowski Cabinet’s internment in Romania and formation of a new Government-in-Exile, by August Zaleski. The presented documents come from the Archives of the Polish Museum and Sikorski Institute, the National Archives in London, the Central Archives of Modern Records  in Warsaw (which offers access to microfilms of records from the Hoover Institution for War Revolution and Peace in California) and – marginally – from Archives du Ministère des affaires étrangères and the Polish Library in Paris.

The sources presented in the volume have, for the most part, never been published previously, although some were already brought out, usually in monograph annexes (especially texts on Polish foreign policy in September). The editors followed the rule of publishing documents based only on the originals kept in archives.

The material is presented in chronological order. The volume contains a name index with information about public positions filled in September 1939 (with subsequent changes in a new political situation), a list of the documents and an extended subject index.The Polish diplomatic effort in the early months of World War II focused on seeking to keep up Poland’s position on the international arena and preserve the validity of pre-September alliances. The Polish government also sought to win support from neutral countries, counter German and Soviet propaganda, and maintain diplomatic contacts in the expectation of a better situation that would come after the end of hostilities. Diplomats and officials also occupied themselves with the evacuation of military personnel, problems involved in the formation of Polish military units in France and Great Britain, and refugee relief. The Polish foreign policy in the period was impacted by turnover among its executors, following the internment of the Składkowski Cabinet and the formation of new structures in France.