Polish–Czechoslovak confederation

[4][5] The Czechoslovak government, initially split between two groups (those of Milan Hodža and Edvard Beneš), was tentatively supportive of the idea, at least publicly.

[5][6] Czechoslovak politicians Hodža and Jan Masaryk both wanted a confederation,[6] Beneš was more lukewarm; his goal was to ensure that the disputed Trans-Olza territory that had passed to Poland in the aftermath of the Munich Agreement was regained by Czechoslovakia,[2][7] and that became one of the major issues of contention in the ongoing negotiations.

[2] The negotiations proceeded slowly, with numerous conferences, and with joint declarations on 11 November 1940 (a declaration by the two governments about entering "a closer political and economic association"), on 23 January 1942 (in which both governments agreed to form a confederation after the war and mentioned common policies on diplomacy, defense, trade, education and communication) and on 10 June 1942.

[8] Some early proposals focused on economic co-operation, unified foreign policy, a customs union and a common currency but separate government offices.

[2] The Czechoslovak position was so pro-Soviet that the Beneš government passed secret documents from the Czech-Polish negotiations to the Soviets and assured them that they were acting in the best interests of Czechoslovakia-Soviet Union relations.

[2][7][12][15] In the end, the Polish federation plan came to naught; instead, the short-term victory with regard to the Central and Eastern European geopolitical scene went to Beneš, and in the long term, it went to his Soviet allies.

[12] Czechoslovakia would regain most of the disputed Trans-Olza territory, but by 1948, both it and Poland would have only nominal independence, as they would fall to communist takeovers and become part of the Soviet sphere of influence.