Altres costos

The PPS leadership perceived Poland not through the prism of ethnicity but rather through the populations of different ethnic provenance bound by the traditions of Poland-Lithuania. The authorities were aiming to build a country which would satisfy the needs of the majority of the inhabitants and give them an opportunity for participation of which they were deprived as subjects of empires. According to the leading daily newspaper Robotnik supportive of the PPS Poland could only become strong as a polyethnic and multi-faith state. Rather than insisting on the dominant position of any ethnic group, the Republic should be concerned with equal rights and opportunities for workers and the working intelligentsia. Furthermore, according to

Robotnik the aim of the PPS was to build “a democratic and republican Poland for the

104 15.11.1922) and only the Socialist PPS was determined to “connect the working people of the urban and the rural areas” (Robotnik, 4.11.1922).

Formation of a federation and the construction of a nation built upon early- modern traditions was the ambition of Piłsudski. He sought to rebuild the

Rzeczpospolita rather than build a new Poland. This goal was taken up by the first

transitional government headed by Prime Minister Jędrzej Moraczewski. His role was to shape an overriding Polish identity which would stem any interethnic animosities. Moraczewski and Piłsudski wanted to make Polish state institutions recognised across the state. Competition between the Socialists and endecja in the early 1920s was predominantly concentrated on the shape of Poland and the definition of Polishness. According to the leading newspaper in interwar Poland, the PPS identified “the Polish nation (…), not as a nation-state but a state of nations” (Gazeta

Warszawska, The Warsaw Daily 21.12.1922). Moreover, according to the pro-

Piłsudski newspaper Kurier Poranny (The Morning Courier) the state was of the utmost importance and all citizens were essential in further development of Poland (Kurier Poranny, 31.10. 1922). Kurier Poranny and Robotnik (The Worker) opposed the right-wing propaganda, perceiving it as unconstructive and weakening Poland during a difficult political period. For them, the goal of Polish democracy was to grant democratic rights and equality to all Polish citizens (Kaminska-Szmaj, 1994:118).

In order to strengthen identification with Poland the authorities identified the key institutions which would help in accelerating this process. From the earliest stages of statehood a symbol considered as central to the Polish national identity was the Polish Army (WP), which was given an almost mythical status and inherited some of the “noble” traditions of the nineteenth century insurgents. To Piłsudski and other

105 Poles who were brought up in the national spirit underforeign rule the Polish Army “was an element of Polish nationality (…), [which] would complete the political work” (Zaremba, 1981:18). Although symbolism of the WP was effective in the areas which contained a substantial Polish majority, within the regions with a significant percentage of minorities the Polish forces were perceived as occupants no different to the previous rulers. Moreover, the military language was also utilised in political campaigns where the competing political camps were in fact presented as enemies. This approach of newspapers tied to PPS or endecja (ND, ZLN) allowed the media to appeal to the population and to involve the citizenry in activities connected to nation- building (Kaminska-Szmaj, 1994:75).

Józef Piłsudski’s credo “Poland has to be great or it will not exist at all” (Paruch, 1997:51) defined the relationship with the states’ neighbours and the non- ethnic Poles. His political ideology appeared to his opponents as anachronistic and incomplete. This state model could not survive the surge and the appeal of the contemporary nationalisms (Pankowski, 2009:17). Piłsudski was reluctant to forsake federal Poland as, unlike the National Democrats, he was certain that Poland could only reclaim its position in Europe through extension of Polish citizenship to all inhabitants of Poland-Lithuania. This particular state model perceived that it was the role of the entire body of citizens, irrespective of their ethnicity, to take the responsibility for shaping the state. Piłsudski and the Socialists argued that social equality and national development would be achieved in polyethnic Poland (Robotnik, 19.11.1922; Robotnik, 28.11.1922).

What was referred to as “nostalgic republicanism” remained entrenched in the PPS’s national programme (Snyder, 2003:41). However, in contrast to the

106 expectations of the first government, the diversified and deeply fractured society was reluctant to accept this imposed identity. Piłsudski, frustrated with the slow process of resurrection of the Polish-Lithuanian national identity assumed the role of “the heir to the Old Republic’s achievements [and] also of a competent corrector of its traditions” (Paruch, 1997:40). This (self-conceived) role of Piłsudski, as a “father” of the imagined Polish citizenry continued until his death in 1935.

Although the PPS refused to openly endorse the Church, it became clear that the period of statelessness had granted the Church the role of a pillar of shaping and preserving the Polish nation (Drummond, 2001:462; Tazbir, 1986; Davies, 2005). Aside from religion, Polish ethnicity was preserved within the literary culture and thus manifested through the use of the Polish language and historical achievements. The role of Poland as the last bastion of Christianity (as it was perceived by the nobility as the final frontier of ‘civilization’) was an important part of the Roman Catholic tradition carried from the Middle Ages (Tazbir, 1986).

Furthermore, it was concluded by the PPS that recreation of the early-modern union of nations in the form of a federation was attainable even though the Lithuanian nationalist elites refused any integration with this proposed construct (Zaremba, 1981:88). The Socialists proposed the programme of cooperation between various small nations of East-Central Europe under the patronage of Poland. This programme was named Prometheism47 _{(Prometeizm). One of the key thinkers and}

publicists Mieczysław Niedziałkowski, writing for Robotnik, contemplated the building of a “Peoples’ Bloc” (Blok Ludowy) unifying nations into the voluntary Union of the Baltic Nations rather than through military intervention. The lack of interest in

47 _{Prometeizm: a programme introduced by the Socialists which proposed creation of loose federation}

107 voluntary membership led to the intervention of the Polish Army in the East (Śliwa, 1983:222-223).

Moreover, although the Socialists refused to acknowledge the need for a national programme, it was imperative to regulate the role of the ethnic Poles among ethnic groups within the Second Republic. According to the PPS, the non-Polish national groups undergoing the crystallisation of their own national identity required clear affirmation that they could retain their distinctive cultural character in Poland. Subordination of the nation to the state, rather than the opposite, was a step which would allow the non-ethnic Poles to associate with the idea of federal Poland. Polish newspapers associated with the PPS, such as Robotnik, remained opposed to nationalist agitation stemming from the right-wing press such as Gazeta Warszawska or Kurier Poznański (The Poznań Courier). The PPS continued to combat nationalism perceiving it as contradictory with the state’s interest (Kaminska-Szmaj, 1994:217).

The formation of a successful federal state was only attainable through establishing strong ties between all ethnicities within the Polish state and in return the construction of a national identity superseding local affiliations (Paruch, 1997:59; Zaremba: 1981:208). Political actions such as Prometeism became essential in rebuilding the trust of the citizenry from the kresy through the rhetoric of East European, Caucasian and Baltic alliance rather than formation of a nation state dominated by ethnic Poles. By contrast, it was postulated by the Endecja that Poland had to be reconstructed by ethnic Poles. Unlike the Socialists, the ND drew a clear definition of Polish national identity along religious, cultural and linguistic lines. While the publicists of Robotnik discussed ways to consolidate the polyethnic population of Poland, The leadership of endecja and the press associated to the

108 National Democracy (Związek Ludowo-Narodowy) argued for Poland built upon ethnic foundations (Gross, 1973:135). The PPS was aware of the socio-political repercussions of attempts to build modern Poland around Polish language and Roman Catholicism but the press associated with endecja remained relentless in their attacks on minorities especially the Jewish and the German minorities (Dmowski, 1927; Fuks, Hoffman, Horn, Tomaszewski, 1982:37).