Franco-Polish Alliance (1921) - 1939

1939

Finally, a new alliance started to be formed in 1939. The Kasprzycki-Gamelin Convention was signed May 19, 1939 in Paris. It was named after the Polish Minister of War Affairs General Tadeusz Kasprzycki and the commander of the French Army Maurice Gamelin. It was military (army-to-army, not state-to-state) convention and was not in force legally, as it was dependent on signing and ratification of political convention. It obliged both armies to provide help to each other in case of a war with Nazi Germany. In May Gamelin promised a "bold relief offensive" within three weeks of German's attack. Finally the treaty became ratified by France on September 4, 1939, on the fourth day of German offensive on Poland.

Despite all the obligations, France provided only token help to Poland during the Polish Defensive War of 1939, in the form of the Saar Offensive. This is often considered an example of Western betrayal. However, the political convention was a basis of the recreation of the Polish Army in France in 1939.