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Home , Camp of Great Poland, Pinsk, Second Polish Republic

POLAND BETWEEN THE WARS, 1918-1939 Also by Peter D. Stachura

NAZI YOUTH IN THE WEIMAR

THE WEIMAR ERA AND HITLER A Select Bibliography

THE SHAPING OF THE NAZI STATE (editor)

THE GERMAN YOUTH MOVEMENT, 1900-1945 An Interpretative and Documentary History

THE NAZI MACHTERGREIFUNG (editor)

GREGOR STRASSER AND THE RISE OF NAZISM

UNEMPLOYMENT AND THE IN WEIMAR GERMANY (editor)

THE AND THE YOUNGER PROLETARIAT An Economic and Social Analysis

POLITICAL LEADERS IN WEIMAR GERMANY

THEMES OF POLISH HISTORY (editor) between the Wars, 1918-1939

Edited by

Peter D. Stachura Reader in History University of Stirling Scotland First published in Great Britain 1998 by ~ MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-349-26944-0 ISBN 978-1-349-26942-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-26942-6

First published in the United States of America 1998 by ~ ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 ISBN 978-0-312-21680-1 Cataloging-in-Publication Data Poland between the wars, 1918-1939 I edited by Peter D. Stachura. p. em. "Most of the contributions in this volume were originally presented in abbreviated form at a conference "Poland Between the Wars, 1918-1939," organized by the Polish Society at the University of Stirling on II October 1997"-Pref. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-21680-1 1. Poland-History-1918-1945----Congresses. I. Stachura, Peter D. II. Conference "Poland Between the Wars, 1918-1939" (1997: University of Stirling) DK4400.P627 1998 943.8'04-dc21 98-7134 CIP Selection, editorial matter, preface and Chapters 1, 3 and 4 © Peter D. Stachura 1998 Chapters 2, 5 and 6 © Macmillan Press Ltd 1998 Sollcover reprint or the hardcover I st edition 1998 978-0-333-73680-7 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP 9HE.

Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 For Gregory and Madeleine as another gentle reminder of their Polish heritage Contents

Preface ix

Notes on Contributors X Abbreviations and Glossary xi

Map of the XlV 1 The Second Republic in Historiographical Outline Peter D. Stachura 1 2 Three Insurrections: Upper , 1919-21 Peter LeSniewski 13 3 The Battle of , August 1920, and the Development of the Second Polish Republic Peter D. Stachura 43 4 National Identity and the Ethnic Minorities in Early Inter-War Poland Peter D. Stachura 60 5 Freedom of the Press in Inter-War Poland: The System of Control John M. Bates 87 6 Poland's Defence Preparations in 1939 Andrzej Suchcitz 109 Appendix I: Principal Officers of the Second Polish Republic, 1918-39 137 Appendix II: Chronology: Poland, 1914-39 139 Select Bibliography 146 Index 148

Vll Preface

Most of the contributions in this volume were originally presented in abbreviated form at a conference, 'Poland between the Wars, 1918-193 9', organized by The Polish Society at the University of Stirling on 11 October 1997. The society has no affiliation with the University. The Polish Society was formed in September 1996 as an academic dis• cussion forum for those interested in the best traditions of Polish history, culture and contemporary affairs, and it has already forged meaningful links with a number of university and research bodies, cultural and histori• cal organizations and archives in the United Kingdom. Meetings, usually with an invited speaker, are held at least quarterly, and invariably take place at the University of Glasgow. Members of all ages are drawn from both a Polish and non-Polish background across Scotland. I should like to thank my fellow Committee members, Mr Joseph T. Devine (Treasurer) and Mrs Stella K. Neil (Secretary), for their invalu• able assistance in the administration of the Society's affairs since its incep• tion, and in the preparation for the Conference. The Royal Historical Society, of which I am a Fellow, is thanked most sincerely for awarding a grant towards the conference expenses, and the University of Stirling kindly provided excellent accommodation for the Conference free of charge, as well as the splendid surroundings of its campus. I am very pleased to record my gratitude to the Polonia Aid Foundation Trust, London, for providing a generous subsidy towards the publication costs of this volume.

Dr Peter D. Stachura Chairman Bridge of Allan Polish Independence Day, 11 November 1997

IX Notes on Contributors

John M. Bates studied Russian at Cambridge before taking an M.Phil. and Ph.D. at the University of Glasgow, where he is at present Lecturer in Polish. His research interests lie in Polish censorship, particularly under the Communist regime in Poland, and the transformation of Polish media since 1989. He has several articles in press. Peter Lesniewski served in the Royal Air Force and worked as an engi• neer in the aerospace industry before commencing his studies in 1989 at the University of Dundee. Since graduating in 1993 he has been preparing a doctoral thesis on Britain's role in , 1919-22. Peter D. Stachura is Reader in History at the University of Stirling. His numerous publications on the history of Weimar Germany, including, most recently, The Weimar Republic and the Younger Proletariat (1989) and Political Leaders in Weimar Germany (1992), led to the award in 1994 of the Degree ofDoctor of Letters (D. Litt.). His research interests have been extended to the Second Polish Republic, on which he is presently complet• ing a book. He is Chairman of The Polish Society. Andrzej Suchcitz, a graduate of the University of London (SSEES), is Keeper of Archives at the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, London. His primary research interest is in Polish military history, 1918-46, on which he has written, edited and co-edited several books, mainly in Polish. He is a member of a number of editorial committees, including that of Teki Historyczne, published by The Polish Historical Society in Great Britain.

X Abbreviations and Glossary

Agudat Israel A conservative, pro-assimilationist Jewish political party (Poland) Ausgleich Compromise between the Hapsburgs and Magyars, resulting in the establishment of the Dual Monarchy in 1867 BBWR Bezpartyjny Blok dla Wsp6lpracy z Rzqdem (Non• Party Bloc for Cooperation with the Government) Blitzkrieg 'Lightning war', the ultra-rapid strategic operation of the German Army BRT Ship tonnage measurement Bund Abbreviation of the 'General Jewish Workers' Union', a Jewish Marxist and anti-Zionist political party Chadecja Chrzdcijw1ska Demokracja (Christian Democratic Party) C-in-C Commander-in-Chief COP Centralny Okrfg Przemyslowy (Central Industrial Area) DBFP Documents on British Foreign Policy Duma Russian parliament Endecja for the National Democratic Party and its successors Endek Polish abbreviation for member/follower of the National Democratic Party FO Foreign Office (British) Folkists Small Jewish political party in the Second Republic Freikorps Right-wing German paramilitary groups after 1918 General Zionists Jewish political movement straddling Socialism and Orthodoxy GHQ General Headquarters Grenzschutz units H-K-T Society German right-wing, imperialist pressure group in Prussian Poland before 1914 HMSO Her Majesty's Stationery Office KNP Komitet Narodowy Polski (Polish National Committee) KPD Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (German Communist Party)

XI xii Abbreviations and Glossary

KPP Komunistyczna Partia Polski (Communist Party of Poland) KPRP Komunistyczna Partia Robotnicza Polski (Communist Workers' Party of Poland) Kreis Small German administrative district Polish term for the eastern borderlands Kulturkampf The somewhat grandiose term used to describe Reich Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's struggle against the in Germany after 1871 Landschutz German provincial militia Landtag German provincial parliament Litvak Polish (derogatory) term for Jews from and environs Luftwaffe German Air Force NBKR Noel Baker Papers (Churchill College, Cambridge) OUN Organizacja Ukraiftskich Nacjonalistow (Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists) OWP Ob6z Wielkiej Polski (Camp of Great Poland) OZON Ob6z Zjednoczenia Narodowego () PAT Polish Telecommunications Agency People's Poland The -imposed Communist regime in Poland (1944/5-89) A massacre of Jews POW Polska Organizacja Wojskowa (Polish Military Organization, 1914-19) PPS Polska Partia Socjalistyczna () PRO Public Record Office, London PSL Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe (Polish Peasant Movement) PSL-Piast The largest until 1931 PSL- fJ)Izwolenie 'Liberation', a radical peasant party until 1931 PWW Papers of President Woodrow Wilson of the USA RAF Royal Air Force Reichstag Federal German Parliament Reichswehr The name of the German Army, 1918-34, when it became the Wehrmacht Ruch Association of Railway Bookshops (Polish) Saisonstaat Prusso-German term used to denigrate Poland Sanacja Name given to the post-1926 regime in Poland (denot• ing a 'moral purification') Abbreviations and Glossary xiii

Schutzbund German paramilitary organization Selbstschutz German self-defence militia Polish parliament Shtetl Small Jewish town in Eastern Sicherheitspolizei German Security Police Siegfried Line German military defensive line in the West SL Stronnictwo Ludowe (united Peasant Party set up in 1931) SolidarnoH: Solidarity movement Spartacists Radical leftists, precursors of and Communists in Germany SRO Scottish Record Office, Edinburgh Starosta District Administrator (Polish) Polish landed nobility and gentry Ugoda Polish Government-Jewish agreement in 1925 USSR United Soviet Socialist () uvo Ukrainian Military Organization Voievode Regional Governor (Polish) Voievodship Regional administrative unit Wehrmacht Name of the German Armed Forces during the Third Reich YIVO Jewish Scientific Institute for Research on , Wilno Zloty Polish currency from 1924 (gold crown) POLAND of August 31st 1939

Frontiers of Poland TOWNS Boundanes of vo1vodsh1ps w1th more than • 200,000 1nhab1tants • 100,000 ~ 200,000 up to 100.000 mhab1tants WILNO•

•SUWALKI

eGRODNO

"• LOMZA 1 BARANOWICZE OSTRO~EKA ...~ eBIALYSTOK • ... -, • T~RUN ~ eMLAWA ,• . , ,, ,- 1, I~OWROCLAW,-1 , \ WLOCLAWEK ,.... --- POZNAN ' ' ', ', . ~NIEZNO - ~I •PLOCK <'I'.-.._~I • i- : ...... , WARSZAWA , __ ...... - ..... ~-- 'KurNo, .• ,. . '; L~CZYCA 1 GRODZISK/ BI.ALA'..e BRZESC e SKIERNIEWICE . POOL _,~-~I ,- • PIOTRKOW\ e : RADOM11 e KOWEL ' • ' CHELM'. • ' ... .., J e L ZAMOSC:~ W~ODZIMIER~ LUCK e ROWNE ':1 CZESTOCHOWA / ..~A~DO¥IERZ • - ,.:·:', ':. ZDOLBUNOWe BEDZIN ~"\ 1 ... e DUBNO CHORZOW4Pl eDABROWA _.,... , ' ... ,.::__ ,~-- KATOW'ICEr,SOSNfJWIEC / ' 1 \ 1' .- -'- TARN.OW 'RZESZOW~AROSLAW BIELSKO~BIALA; KRAKOW -' LWOW •ciE~hYN ~,~ ;RosNo ';.RZEMYSL • ' NOWY. SACZ 11 ,-, ' DROHOBYCZ 1.. c ' 1 " BORYSLA~~:.-' :STR~~ I KALUSZ'

,' STAN~SLA~O~'

KOLOMYJA.

Map of Poland 1939