Józef Beck
Former Polish foreign minister (1894–1944) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Józef Beck (Polish: [ˈjuzɛv ˈbɛk] ⓘ; 4 October 1894 – 5 June 1944) was a Polish statesman who served the Second Republic of Poland as a diplomat and military officer. A close associate of Józef Piłsudski, Beck is most famous for being Polish foreign minister in the 1930s and for largely setting Polish foreign policy.
Józef Beck | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 2 November 1932 – 30 September 1939 | |
| President | Ignacy Mościcki |
| Prime Minister | Aleksander Prystor Janusz Jędrzejewicz Leon Kozłowski Walery Sławek Marian Kościałkowski Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski |
| Preceded by | August Zaleski |
| Succeeded by | August Zaleski |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1894-10-04)4 October 1894 Warsaw, Congress Poland, (then part of Russian Empire) |
| Died | 5 June 1944(1944-06-05) (aged 49) Stănești, Romania |
He tried to fulfill Piłsudski's dream of making Poland the leader of a regional coalition, but he was widely disliked and distrusted by other governments.[1][2] He was involved in territorial disputes with Lithuania and Czechoslovakia. With his nation caught between two large hostile powers (Germany and the Soviet Union), Beck sometimes pursued accommodation with them and sometimes defied them. He attempted to take advantage of their mutual antagonism but then formed an alliance with the United Kingdom and France. Both declared war on Germany after its invasion of Poland in 1939. After the Soviet Union also invaded Poland, Beck and the rest of his government evacuated to Romania.