Raisons de la création et de l’évolution des formations frontalières polonaises dans l’entre-deux-guerres

Abstract

In establishing the thematic scope of this work, I assumed that its subject would be the process of the formation of border services in interwar Poland. This means a deliberate and complete disregard for the essentially distinct administrative role played by the border guard. The presentation of the Border Guard from an administrative perspective changes the situation so profoundly that a thorough discussion of its implications would certainly double the volume of the publication. A superficial treatment of the administrative issue would lead to misunderstandings. Furthermore, a superficial omission of the administrative issue was deemed necessary because the formations were mainly military in nature. Before going into details and elaborations, I would like to present my main research objective, which is the following question: what was the evolution of the legal status of Polish border formations in the inter-war period? In view of this objective, it is necessary to present the work from a historical perspective. The chronology of the facts is important for the subject matter, as it serves to systematise the considerations. The structure of the work and the research method were adjusted to the above-mentioned assumptions of the publication, which shows the reasons for the creation and the process of transformation of the border formations in relation to various types of institutional solutions, up to the moment of the creation of the Border Protection Corps and the Border Guard Corps, operating under these names until 1939. The potential conclusions resulting from this chapter concern: the presentation of the institutional construction of the border formations in the years 1918–1939 and the demonstration that in the interwar period they were the main organs of the Second Polish Republic, which guaranteed the inviolability of state territory and the security of the citizens on the subordinate territory.