The institutional conflict examined in this thesis can be traced back to the successful military coup of 1926, which elevated Marshal Jozef Pilsudski to dictatorship. Given the Marshal's interest in military and foreign policy matters, he was actively involved in the formation of both, ensuring their coherence. Unfortunately, following Pilsudski's death in 1935, the 'Sanacja' regime plunged into internal conflict. Rydz-Smigly, who succeeded Pilsudski as the General Inspector of the Armed Forces, soon became involved in the domestic power struggle. Named the Second Person in the state in 1936 and promoted to Marshal, Rydz-Smigly sought greater involvement in foreign policy. This interference met with resistance from the Polish Foreign Minister Jozef Beck. The troubled relationship between both men embodied the civil-military conflict in 1930s Poland and is the main subject of this doctorate. This thesis examines the extent in which it affected Polish military preparedness in 1939 by delaying the process of defensive planning. It also subject considers the impact that the tension between the Foreign Ministry and the General Staff had on the flow of strategically important information. Save for Roman Wapinski, whose work focuses on the dynamic between Polish foreign and domestic policy, the historiography to date has failed to address the importance of this institutional and personal rivalry and tended to focus on either diplomatic (e.g. Piotr Wandycz, Anna Cienciala, Marek Kornat, Stanislaw Zerko, Michal Zacharias) or military (e.g. Marian Zgorniak, Marian Leczyk, Mieczyslaw Cieplewicz, Leszek Gadek, Piotr Stawecki) history. This dissertation looks at both and contrasts the diplomats and military men’s different attitudes to Germany. It argues that this dissonance in approach impaired the Polish military and civilian authorities' ability to accurately assess the German threat and, consequently, affected Poland's defence in September 1939.

Nombre d’œuvres d’époque impériale montrent que Xénophon était considéré comme un modèle littéraire éminent. La présente thèse offre une analyse de la réception de Xénophon dans les discours de l’orateur Ælius Aristide, lesquels n’ont pas encore été traités sous cet angle. Les œuvres aristidiennes examinées sont : les Discours platoniciens (or. 2-4), le discours Sur la digression (or. 28), la déclamation En faveur de la paix avec les Athéniens (or. 8), l’ensemble des cinq Discours leuctriens (or. 11-15), les témoignages sur la déclamation perdue Callixène, le Panathénaïque (or. 1) et l’éloge À Rome (or. 26). L’histoire grecque a une importance cruciale dans cette enquête : Aristide s’est particulièrement intéressé aux événements de l’après Leuctres. L’analyse des références historiques aux Helléniques met en avant l’érudition de l’orateur et son intérêt pour les discours contenus dans cet ouvrage de Xénophon. L’examen du travail littéraire d’Aristide sur le texte de Xénophon pourra contribuer à améliorer l’exégèse des discours aristidiens analysés, et fournira un nouveau volet aux recherches sur la réception de Xénophon. / Several ancient literary works show that Xenophon was considered during the Imperial period as a preeminent model. The present study analyses the reception of Xenophon in Ælius Aristides’ speeches, which have never been explored from this perspective. The works taken into account are the Platonic speeches (or. 2-4), the speech Concerning a remark in passing (or. 28), the declamation On making peace with the Athenians (or. 8), the group of the five Leuctran orations (or. 11-15), the evidence of the lost declamation Callixenus, the Panathenaicus (or. 1) and the speech To Rome (or. 26). Greek history has a crucial importance in this investigation: Aristides was particularly concerned by the events following the battle of Leuctra. The examination of the historical allusions to Xenophon’s Hellenica reveals Aristides’ erudition and his interest in the speeches included in this work. Looking at Aristides’ use of Xenophon’s texts can contribute to improving the exegesis of the Aristidian works and open a new path into research on Xenophon’s reception.