GAULLE Charles de. 2 L. A. S., Warsaw 13 June and 3 July 1920, to his mother Jeanne de Gaulle; 4 Return to Poland, where the captain is posted to the Polish army fighting against the Russians. 13th June. "Everyone here has given me a very warm welcome. [For the time being, as there are no students at Rembertov, I am being sent to Warsaw to prepare and give a few lectures. My general impression of this country is mediocre. No doubt you have been able to discern from the communiqués from the East the failure of the offensive on Kiev, the loss of the Ukraine, and the growing threat on Poland's present borders of a Russian army where national feeling is being reborn against an age-old enemy. The economic situation is also very worrying. Poverty continues to spread. The cost of living doubles every three months. The Polish mark is currently the lowest unit of currency in the world (with the exception of the rouble) and there is nothing to suggest that it will rise again. I think that if Poland wants to live, it is high time that it moderates, that it signs peace with the Russians and modestly that it gets along with its Lithuanian, German and Czech neighbours and that it gets to work"... 3rd July. "The Russians largely won the first round against the Poles. They will start the second one any day now, probably in the form of an offensive towards Minsk this time. What is most worrying is not so much the retreat of the Polish troops as the disarray of the public mind. The political world in particular, instead of coming to an agreement and supporting any government until the end of the crisis, is only redoubling its divisions and intrigues. Since the loss of Kiev there has been growing bitterness, ambitions and grudges are coming out into the open, and for literally a month there has been no way of putting together a ministry that would last three days. On the other hand, the breakdown of negotiations with Krassin has deprived us of the possibility of pulling Poland out of its predicament - should its situation go completely awry - by diplomatic means. So what are we to do? Are we going to be forced to intervene here with weapons in hand against the Russians? That's a bit tricky, especially as we have a lot to do elsewhere and we'll be on our own here. The future of Poland therefore seems to me to be very bleak if some new development does not upset the situation very soon. LNC, I, p. 498-499.