EMBASSY EVENTS 2009

TODAY: 90 Years of Diplomatic Relations between the U.S. and Poland

29 January 2009

On January 29, it's been exactly 90 years to the day since the U.S. government established formal diplomatic ties with Poland. The United States was the first country to recognize the newly independent Poland, a country and its people severely damaged by war. On January 29, 1919, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson extended full recognition to the new Polish Government under the Premiership of Ignacy Paderewski in an official telegram.  He wrote: “It is my privilege to extend to you at this time my personal greetings and officially assure you that it will be a source of gratification to enter into official relations with you at the earliest opportunity, and to render to your country such aid as is possible at this time as it enters upon a new cycle of independent life.” According to the New York Times, a leading U.S. daily, the Polish population in the United States “gave itself over to general rejoicing over the action taken by the President.” Throughout the year 2009, the American Embassy in Warsaw and American Consulate General in Krakow will be joining with the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and institutions throughout Poland to celebrate 90 years of Polish-American Diplomatic relations.

On January 29, 1919, as the New York Times announced the good news with a bold-print headline: “WE RECOGNIZE POLAND” the newspaper also reported on the dire military, economic and political situation in Poland which called for immediate attention: “The economic outlook is very disturbing,” wrote Ernest Marshall, the newspaper correspondent.  War and deprivation have brought on a widespread epidemic of deadly diseases and a severe drop in birth rates. Food supplies were reduced by half by German, Russian, Austrian, and native requisitions. The reporter further noted that Poland urgently needed military assistance to “deal with any danger on either the Bolshevist or the German side.”