The Concept of Legal Legitimacy

When the Germans once again exposed their ambitions, the situation in Europe began to descend into chaos.

Some countries had hastily increased their defenses, such as the French, who were building the Maginot Line. Some wanted to exploit German ambition, such as the British, who had still shown no movement. Others had developed ambitions to contend for supremacy—Poland, for example, whose presence in Europe was not particularly strong.

Poland lay between Germany and Russia, with the Austrian Empire to the south, surrounded by three great powers.

By normal logic, newly independent Poland should have been like the Poland of the past, caught between the influence of three great powers and carved up by them before ultimately marching toward destruction.

But the Poland established at this time clearly harbored different ambitions. After annexing Lithuania while Russia was in turmoil, the Poles had clearly discovered a new world.

They believed that great powers such as Germany, Russia, and France had already weakened, giving them a greater chance to dominate Central and Eastern Europe—and even divide Europe among themselves together with the British.

From the outbreak of war in Russia, the Poles had been constantly expanding their army, attempting to find a suitable opportunity to carve up Russian territory.

At the same time, the Poles had not been idle diplomatically. They first proposed a plan to establish Greater Poland, which meant restoring the territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Such a territory would be immensely vast, including most of the Baltic States, most of Ukraine, all of Poland, and more than half of Eastern Europe.

If the Poles succeeded in carrying out such a plan, another hegemon of Central and Eastern Europe would surely be born.

The Poles, who had suffered repeated setbacks before, had finally learned some sense. They did not turn their