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From The Eighteenth Decisive Battle of the World, 1931 by Edgar Vincent D'Abernon
Before entering upon the narrative of events which preceded the supreme days around Warsaw, I should perhaps explain how I was brought into this theatre of action. In the month of June 1920 I was appointed His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador in Berlin. After presenting my letters of credence I
was summoned to the Spa Conference, having spent only four or five days in Berlin. At Spa great apprehension was felt by the representatives of the Allies at reports of Polish disasters on the Russian frontier followed by a precipitate retreat. The Polish Government applied for assistance both to Paris and London ; Grabsky, the Polish Minister of Finance, who was present at Spa, urged in impassioned terms the necessity for immediate support. It was soon agreed between Lloyd George and the French Prime Minister that the best method of assistance was not only to despatch munitions to Warsaw but to send an Anglo-French Mission composed of diplomatic and military elements.
On our return to London from Spa the Prime Minister requested me to undertake this mission on the diplomatic side. General Radcliffe being the English military delegate. Before starting for Warsaw via Paris, Mr. Lloyd George ageed, on my urgent request, to allow Sir Maurice Hankey, Secretary to the Cabinet, to join the Mission. We left London on the 10th July for Paris, the French Government having indicated its agreement with the despatch of the Mission, but not having yet named its representatives.
( pages 15-16 )
The Eighteenth Decisive Battle of the World : WARSAW 1920
By Edgar D'Abernon
( London : Hodder and Stoughton 1931 )
Westport, Connecticut : Hyperion 1977
From Red Cross and Berlin Embassy 1915-1926 (1946) by Viscountess D'Abernon
Early in June 1920, D'Abernon was offered the post of Ambassador to Germany. Whether the offer originated from his old friend Lord Curzon (Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs), or was inspired, as seems to me more probable, by Mr. Lloyd George (Prime Minister), it was in either case undoubtedly due to his well-known financial qualifications. These qualifications had been proved long since when at an extremely difficult and critical time, he had been Financial Adviser to the Khedive at Cairo and had succeeded in averting State bankruptcy. The question of Reparations was already creating Inter-Allied differences and threatening to become insoluble.
At the request of George Curzon, D'Abernon left England at once, arriving in Berlin a few hours after the French Ambassador, who had hastened to present his letters the day before. D'Abernon remained only a few days in Berlin because Lloyd George wished him to attend the Inter-Allied Conference at Spa.
Shortly after this the Bolshevist offensive, with Warsaw for its objective, began to be rigorously pressed. The Poles were retreating everywhere, and the Allies decided to send to their assistance a Franco-British Mission. D'Abernon was appointed to lead the British Delegation, and Monsieur de Jusserand 1 and General Weygand were his French opposite numbers. (Etc).
1 Monsieur de Jusserand had previously been French Ambassador in Washington.
( page 58 )
Extracts from the Diaries of Viscountess D'Abernon
London : John Murray 1946.
From POLAND : KEY TO EUROPE,1939 by Raymond Leslie Buell
The Bolsheviks promptly took Vilna and swept aside all opposition as they marched into the heart of Poland. Poland frantically appealed to the supreme Council at Spa for aid. The latter promised assistance only if Poland abandoned all ideas of further conquest. Poland agreed to this condition, and also undertook to accept the decision of the Supreme Council concerning the Status of Lithuania, Eastern Galicia, and Teschen. In return, the Allies agreed to give Poland their military support if the Russians refused an armistice.26 A French and British military mission, which included Lord d' Abernon of England and General Weygand of France, now proceeded to Poland. Poland grudgingly accepted these terms, . . . but Soviet Russia proved obdurate. It had visions of reducing the whole of Poland to Communism ; and its demands for peace called for the establishment in Poland of a civilian militia of 200,000 workers, which would have served as the vanguard of Bolshevism. Meanwhile Poland's difficulties had increased, owing to the refusal of the Czech and German governments to allow the transit of munitions, and the unwillingness of dockers in Danzig, apparently because of sympathy with Communism, to unload munitions.37
36 For the agreement of July 10, 1920 signed by M. Grabski, cf. Borschak: L'Ukraine à/ la Conférence de La Paix, p. 182.
37 Cf. p. 337.
Poland's dark hour had come and hope was lost, except on the part of Piłsudski. The latter decided to stand the ground ; and, in what Lord d'Abernon called the "Eighteenth Decisive Battle of the World," Piłsudski was able to turn the enemy's flank outside Warsaw on August 16, 1920. The Bolsheviks now broke ranks and retreated. As a result of the further battles of the Niemen and the Szczara, the Bolsheviks were drive further into Russia, and the ground was laid for the Treaty of Riga. In undertaking this new offensive, which the United States also opposed38 Piłsudski seems to have believed that the pledge made at Spa was not binding because of the failure of the Allies to negotiate an armistice. He was determined to end the Russian danger and apply his federal idea of imperialism. In October the Polish General Zeligowski occupied Vilna, ostensibly on his own authority but actually with Piłsudski's' blessing. General Weygand declared that the battle of the Vistula was a "Polish victory," executed "by Polish generals in accordance with a Polish plan." Lord d'Abernon subsequently wrote that "had the battle been a Bolshevik victory, it would have been a turning point in European history, for there is no doubt at all that the whole of Central Europe would at that moment have been opened to the influence of Communist propaganda and to Soviet invasion."39 Had the Communists conquered Poland, they might have been equally successful in neighbouring Germany, where Communist agitation was already strong. The service rendered non-Communist Europe by Poland was
dimmed, however, by the fact that Piłsudski had declined to negotiate peace[*] when originally proposed by the Bolsheviks and that, encouraged by Allied hostility against Soviet Russia, he had taken the initiative in fighting a preventive war.
38 In a note of August 21, 1920 Secretary Colby declared that the United States "could not approve the adoption of an offensive war program against Russia by the Polish Government," Foreign Relations of the United States, 1920 (Washington, 1936), Vol. III, p. 391.
39 Gazeta Polska, August 17, 1930; Machray, [Poland], p. 165.
New York * London : A. Knopf 1938, 1939, pp. 77-79.
[*] The question whether the Soviet "peace" proposals were ever worth anything at all seems not to have dawned on R.L. Buell — (who, still, is relatively reliable so far as I find). — (WPT 13 Dec 04)
From PILSUDSKI, 1941 by Aleksandra Piłsudska
... on August 1st the Russians captured Brest-Litovsk and marched on Warsaw.
At this blackest of hours Pilsudski appealed to the Polish people, and they did not fail him. The Government, which had been so often rent with party strife, achieved a measure of unity which was echoed by the nation. Volunteers enrolled in tens of thousands, new battalions were hastily organized. But help was also needed from outside the country, and at that juncture of her history Poland stood practically alone. The Allies were willing to supply war material, but its transport
was blocked . . . (etc). Lenin's agents in every country in Europe launched a violent anti-Polish campaign which gained ground among the working-classes who were already sympathetically inclined towards the Bolsheviks.
The Supreme Council of the Allies in Paris, realizing at length the gravity of Poland's positions, sent out a special Military Mission composed of General Weygand, the English General Ratcliffe, Lord D'Abernon and M. Jusserand, who arrived in Warsaw at the end of July. Pilsudski immediately offered to share the Chief Command with Weygand, who declined, saying that since he did not know the Polish troops and their commanders he preferred to act only in the capacity of adviser.
PILSUDSKI : A Biography by his Wife,
by A. Piłsudska (with Jennifer Ellis).
New York : Dodd, Mead 1941, pp 297-88.
Bibliographic, http://melvyl.cdlib.org except where indicated.
Author D'Abernon, Edgar Vincent, Viscount, 1857-1941.
Title The eighteenth decisive battle of the world : Warsaw, 1920 / by Viscount D'Abernon.
Publisher Westport, Conn. : Hyperion Press, 1977.
Description 178 p. ; 23 cm.
ISBN 0883554291 :
Note Reprint of the 1931 ed. published by Hodder and Stoughton, London.
Includes index.
Author D'Abernon, Edgar Vincent, viscount, 1857-
Title The eighteenth decisive battle of the world:
Publisher London, Hodder and Stoughton, limited, 1931.
Description 178 p. ports., maps (3 fold. in pocket) 22 cm.
Author D'Abernon, Edgar Vincent, Viscount, 1857-1941.
Title The path to recovery, by Viscount D'Abernon.
Imprint London, Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. [1931]
Descript 32 p. 19 cm.
Note Four speeches delivered in United States and England.
Subject Depressions -- 1929.
[ Source : New York Public Library http://catnyp.nypl.org ]
Author D'Abernon, Edgar Vincent, Viscount, 1857-1941.
Title Portraits and appreciations, by Viscount D'Abernon.
Publisher London : Hodder and Stoughton limited, [1931]
Description 3 p. L., 5-259 p. ports. 19 cm.
Author D'Abernon, Edgar Vincent, Viscount, 1857-1941.
Title Rapallo to Dawes, 1922-1924; the diary of an ambassador, with historical notes by Maurice Alfred Gerothwohl.
Publisher Garden City, N. Y. : Doubleday, Doran, 1930.
Description viii, 350 p. ports.
Author D'Abernon, Edgar Vincent, Viscount, 1857-1941.
Title Foreign policy / by Lord D'Abernon.
Publisher London : Oxford University Press, 1930.
Description 20 p.
Series Barnett House papers ;no. 14
Language English
Note Text of the Sidney Ball Lecture, October 31, 1930.
Author D'Abernon, Edgar Vincent, Viscount, 1857-1941.
Title The economic crisis : its causes and the cure / by Viscount D'Abernon.
Imprint London : Hodder & Stoughton, 1930.
Descript 30 p. ; 20 cm.
Note "Speech at the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, November 14th, 1930."
"First printed November, 1930"; 2nd printing Jan. 1931.
Extracts mainly from the Interim report of the Gold Delegation of the Financial Committee of the League of Nations appended to the speech (p. 13-30)
[ Source : New York Public Library http://catnyp.nypl.org ]
Author D'Abernon, Edgar Vincent, Viscount, 1857-1941.
Title The diary of an ambassador, Viscount D'Abernon ... with historical notes by Maurice Alfred Gerothwohl ...
Publisher Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran & company, inc., 1929-31.
Description 3 v. fronts. (ports.) 25 cm.
Language English
Note Maps on lining-papers (v. 1)
London edition (Hodder and Stoughton, limited) has title: An ambassador of peace; pages from the diary of Viscount D'Abernon (Berlin, 1920-1926)
Contents [v. 1] Versailles to Rapallo, 1920-1922.--[v. 2] Rapallo to Dawes, 1922-1924.--[v. 3] Dawes to Locarno, 1924-1926.
Author D'Abernon, Edgar Vincent, Viscount, 1857-1941.
Title A handbook to Modern Greek, by Edgar Vincent., and T. G. Dickson.
Edition 2d ed., rev. and enl.
Publisher London, Macmillan and co., 1881.
Description xvi, 341 p. 19 cm.
Note "Appendix. The relation of Modern to classical Greek, especially in regard to syntax, by Prof. R. C. Jebb": p. [285]-341.
Note "List of authorities": p. vii.
Author D'Abernon, Edgar Vincent, Viscount, 1857-1941.
Title A handbook to modern greek / by Edgar Vincent and T. G. Dickson ; with a preface by professor J. S. Blackie.
Publisher London : Macmillan and Co., 1879.
Description xvi, 273 p.
* * *
Author Marriott, William Thackeray, Sir, 1834-1903.
Title The Khedivial family; correspondence between the Rt. Hon. Sir William Marriott ... and Sir Edgar Vincent ...
Imprint London, Gilbert & Rivington, 1889.
Descript 35 p. incl. tables. 8vo.
Note Microfilm. New York, N.Y.: New York Public Library, 19--.
[ Source : New York Public Library http://catnyp.nypl.org ]
* * *
Author Great Britain. Economic Mission to Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay
Title Report of the British economic mission to Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay
Publisher London, H.M.S.O., 1930
Description 58 p. 25 cm
Language English
Note At head of title: Department of overseas trade
D'Abernon, chairman
Author Great Britain. Royal Commission on National Museums and Galleries.
Title Final report ...
Publisher London : H.M. Stationery off., 1929-30.
Description 2 v. : fold. plan. ; 25 cm.
Series [Parliament. Papers by command] ;Cmd. 3401, 3463
Series Cmd. (Great Britain. Parliament) ;3401, 3463.
Note At head of title: Royal commission on national museums & galleries.
D'Abernon, chairman.
Contents pt. I. General conclusions and recommendations. Dated 20th September, 1929.--pt. II. Conclusions and recommendations relating to individual institutions. Dated 1st January, 1930
Author Great Britain. Royal Commission on National Museums and Galleries.
Title Interim report, dated 1st September, 1928 ...
Publisher London : H.M. Stationery Off., 1928.
Description 64 p. 3 fold. plans, tables (1 fold.) 25 cm.
Series [Parliament. Papers by command]Cmd. 3192
Note At head of title: Royal Commission on National Museums & Galleries.
Viscount D'Abernon, Chairman.
Author Great Britain. Dominions Royal Commission.
Title Final report.
Publisher London : H. M. Stationery off., Darling & Son, ltd. [printers], 1918.
Description xv, 498 p., 1 L. fold map. 19 cm.
Note At head of title: Dominions royal commission.
Lord D'Abernon, chairman.
Issued also in 1917 in the series of Papers by command, Cd. 8462, in an edition of ix, 199 p.
"A complete list of the documents relating to the work of the Dominions royal commission which have been presented to Parliament": 1 �. (at end)
Author Great Britain. Dominions Royal Commission.
Title(s) Final report of the Royal commission in the natural resources, trade, and legislation of certain portions of His Majesty's dominions.
Publisher London : H.M. Stationery Off., 1917.
Paging ix, 199 p. : folded map. ; 34 cm.
Series Parliament. Papers by Command Cd. 8462
Notes Lord D'Abernon, Chairman.
A complete list of the documents relating to the work of the commission which have been presented to Parliament is given on p. ii.
Subject Headings Natural resources.
Great Britain Colonies.
Other Entries D'Abernon, Edgar Vincent, Viscount, 1857-1941.
* * *
Author D'Abernon, Edgar Vincent, Viscount, 1857-1941.
Title Eighteenth decisive battle of the world, Warsaw 1920. Polish. 1990
Osiemnasta decydujaca bitwa w dziejach swiata, pod Warszawa 1920 r. / Vhr. D'Abernon ; autoryzowany przeklad z angielskiego ; opracowal i wydal Artur Dobiecki.
Imprint Warszawa : Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1990.
Edition Wyd. 1. polskie powojenne / poslowie, Andrzej Ajnenkiel.
Descript 198 p. ; [3] folded maps ; 20 cm.
Note Reprint. Originally published: Warszawa : Sklad Gl�wny, Drukarnia Mazowiecka, 1932.
[ Source : New York Public Library http://catnyp.nypl.org ]
Author D'Abernon, Edgar Vincent, Viscount, 1857-1941.
Title(s) ... Memoiren ... einzige autorisierte ausg. Deutsch von Antonina Vallentin.
Publisher Leipzig, List, n.d.
Paging 3 v. 24 cm.
Author D'Abernon, Edgar Vincent, Viscount, 1857-1941.
Uniform Title [ Ambassador of peace. German]
Title Viscount d'Abernon, ein Botschafter der Zeitwende. Memoiren.
Publisher Leipzig : P. List, [1930?]
Description 3 v. port. 25 cm.
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