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 administration was supplied by a foreign army. Polish regency had no real sphere of activity. The borders of the country were not determined, and the independence on paper really only made the actual dependence all the more unbearable, and even this was not enough. For this shadow of independence, the sacrifice of blood was demanded, and it is almost naive to think that these sacrifices were not made for the Polish army but for the army which was led by Germans. On the day on which the kingdom of Poland was proclaimed, soldiers were demanded from this State whose existence was purely imaginary.

Both the two allies rivalled ceaselessly with each other, with the result that the respect for both of them was undermined, and it was impossible to gain Polish sympathy, which would have been easy, as Poland had always favoured us. We crowned the mistake that we had made hitherto by giving the province of Cholm in the treaty of Rrest-Litovsk to the Ukraine. The majority of the population of Cholm is Polish. Moreover, Cholm is necessary, from every point of view, for the military defence of Poland, and is specially dear to Polish patriots on account of the many battles which Poland has waged for it in the past. The Poles accused our Government, on account of allowing this province to go to the Ukraine, of breach of faith.

The state of affairs in our Polish policy was therefore highly unfavourable. This policy weakened the alliance with Germany, failed to gain the Polish nation, nor did it create the expected military force, and