right of self-determination of the nations was violated-after all, more than one million Germans came under Polish domination in this manner-but in excess of this through the partition of the state territory of the German Reich into two areas completely separated from each other, a condition was established which was not only contrary to all economic common sense but which, in excess of this, had to become the cause for constant discord and incidents from the very first day on. Indeed, from the day of the signing the the Versailles peace treaty, the demand for a revision of the treaty, especially in the question of the Polish Corridor, has never been silenced at any hour. There was no party and no government in Germany which did not acknowledge and demand the necessity of a revision of the treaty, primarily in this point. It cannot be the subject of any doubt that, if Poland ought to have an independent access at all to the Baltic Sea under all circumstances, this problem could have been solved much more sensibly than by the establishment of the so-called Corridor and the thereby conditional partition of the German Reich into two areas which were completely separated from each other.

Something similar applies with regard to the status of the Free State of Danzig on the basis of international law and state sovereignty. It is not necessary to regard the facts more closely in this case, which in the course of time have led to constantly increasing difficulties and which in the end caused a situation which made a change of the position in regard to international law and state sovereignty of this purely German city necessary.

It is just as unnecessary to go into closer details with regard to the minority problem which was raised by the Polish Corridor and the establishment of a Free State of Danzig. The fact is that in the course of two decades, no less than approximately one million Germans were forced to leave their settlement area and especially under circumstances which could not remain without effect on the general political relations between the German Reich and the Polish Republic. It is also not as if the problems which have been raised here have been publicly discussed only since the coming into power of Adolf Hitler.

Under these circumstances, it could not surprise anyone if after the seizure of power through Adolf Hitler and his party, the questions caused by the Polish Corridor and the separation of Danzig from the Reich were subject to an examination anew. This was all the less avoidable since after the conclusion of the German-Polish Treaty in the year 1934, Poland's attempts to exclude the German element to a continually rising extent did not stop in any way.

3

Minister on 19 November 1938. Asked about the Polish Government's attitude regarding the German proposition of an extraterritorial arterial motor road and an extra-territorial railway through the Corridor, the Polish Ambassador declared that he was not able to make an official statement.

It is impossible to deny that the proposal made by Germany was very restrained and contained nothing incompatible with Polish honor or the vital interests of that State. One should be the more willing to admit this, as the creation of the Corridor and the separation of East Prussia from the Reich was really felt by the German people as the hardest of the territorial burdens of the Versailles Treaty. If, nevertheless, the Polish Government turned this proposal down, for reasons leaving hardly any prospect of finding a solution in subsequent negotiations, the conclusion could be drawn that at that time already Poland altogether lacked a sincere wish for an agreement, which would take into consideration Germany's legitimate interests. This impression was confirmed by the negotiations during the visit of the Polish Foreign Minister Beck to Berlin, on 5 January 1939, and the return by the Reich Foreign Minister to Warsaw, on 21 January 1939. If, in spite of this hostile attitude of Poland the Reich Foreign Minister repeated the proposition made on 24 October 1938 in another meeting with the Polish Ambassador on 21 March 1939, this must lead to the conclusion that the German Government was sincerely desirous of solving, by means of negotiation, the questions relative to the Corridor and the separation of Danzig. Thus it cannot be seriously denied that the German Government tried to solve the Danzig question and that of the Polish Corridor by negotiation and that it made very moderate proposals in that respect.

The reply to the German proposals of 21 March 1939 was a partial mobilization of the Polish armed forces. It need not be defined as to what was the connection between the partial mobilization ordered by the Polish Government and the British proposal for consultation, dated 21 March 1939, and whether, incidental to the transmission of this consultation proposal in Warsaw, the declaration of guarantee of 31 March had already been promised or contemplated. There can be no doubt, however, that the partial mobilization of the Polish armed forces, as also admitted by the British Prime Minister Chamberlain in a declaration before the House of Commons on 10 July 1939, was bound to do anything but create favorable prerequisites for further negotiations. As a matter of fact, the subject of the memorandum of the Polish Government handed by the Polish Ambassador Lipski on 26 March 1939 was a complete rejection of the German proposal. It was declared that