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Polish irredentism or Greater Poland is a term applied to certain currents within Polish nationalism. In one sense, it refers to the territorial scope of the Poles, emphasising the ethnicity of those Poles living outside Poland. In the political sense, though, the term refers to an irredentist belief in the equivalence between the territorial scope of the Polish people and that of the Polish state.
Polish border map has changed throughout its history. Beginning with the movement of Polish tribes, the Poles established its nation, Civitas Schinesghe under the Piast dynasty, [1] where it eventually evolved into the First Kingdom of Poland. [2] At the early stage, the Polish nation was more concentrated in protecting its border sovereignty amidst foreign incursions and conflicts.
In 1385, the Poles started entering a union with Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which led to the rise of Second Kingdom of Poland under the Jagiellonian dynasty and also the rise of its golden era of economic, political and cultural advances. During that era, the Polish-Lithuanian union encompassed a much larger territory thanked for acquisition of Lithuanian territory under one common union, as well as its successful wars against the Teutonic Order and expansion to the south and east. [3] The success of Polish-Lithuanian union paved way for the eventual establishment of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which became the largest country in Europe once of a time. [4]
The establishment of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth helped further enriching Poland and expanded its territory, far to the east of Smolensk and west to modern Germany, making the country a European power. Poland also managed to reach out then-capital of Rurik Russia, Moscow after the Battle of Moscow, though it was short-lived. [5]
Yet, following a successful era of expansion was the beginning of its decline and reduction of Polish territory. In 1648, Bohdan Khmelnytsky staged an uprising that led to the crippling of Polish economy and borderland. [6] The uprising and subsequent Ukrainian alliance with Tsardom of Russia meant that the uprising also led to the beginning of invasions on Poland from Russia, as seen by the Russian Deluge on Polish land from the east. Meanwhile, the Swedish Empire, which had fought Poland several wars before, took the opportunity to launch an invasion from the north, known as the Swedish Deluge. [7] Both Sweden and Russia had cost Poland into total destruction and devastation, with many goods being stolen by the Russians and Swedes. [8] This war also marked the end of Poland as a European power and the future rise of Russian Empire. Though the Poles managed a famous expulsion of the Ottoman Turks out of Vienna at 1683, Poland was never able to recover from these crippling invasions by Russia and Sweden. Prussia also marked the decline of Poland for its eventual rise as a major player in Europe.
From late 17th century to 18th century, Poland attempted to reform the country, but it was marred by the frequent use of liberum veto inside the Sejm, which severely weakened by the interference of Russia and later, Austria and Prussia. [9] During that time, the map of Poland became increasingly reduced and Poland fell to prey of imperial thirsts of the Russians, Austrians and Prussians. In order to reform the country and reclaim the lost lands, Józef Poniatowski and Tadeusz Kościuszko proposed and initiated the Constitution of Commonwealth, replacing liberum veto to limit Russian, Prussian and Austrian involvements. Eventually, following the French Revolution, the Constitution was officially passed, became the first European country to do so. [10] However, this also led to the partitions of Poland, thus Poland disappeared from map for the next 123 years.
In 19th century witnessed significant rise of Polish nationalism. Proponents such as Adam Mickiewicz and Adam Jerzy Czartoryski sought to free Poland throughout both political and cultural movement from Russian and German oppression. As the Russians and Germans became increasingly repressive and brutal toward Poles, the nationalist sentiment also led to the increase of irredentism, which expressed by Mickiewicz's Pan Tadeusz for the desire of restoring the lost Commonwealth. [11] Nonetheless, irredentism did not develop completely among Polish nationalists until 20th century.
Some of the first Polish irredentists in this era included Józef Piłsudski, who initiated the Intermarium concept, which sought to create a united independence state in Central Europe that could deter German and Russian imperialism and to revive the fallen Commonwealth. He had worked with various Polish and even to Ukrainian, Belarusian, Lithuanian, Czechoslovak and Romanian groups in order to capitalize and to make it happen. Thus, he unofficially became one of the first modern Polish irredentists. [12]
Unfortunately, his proposed plan faced unprecedented hostilities. The Ukrainians, Czechs and Lithuanians, in particular, did not support the project and saw it as part of Polish imperialism. The Entente was very critical and distrustful of Piłsudski, as well as underestimating Bolsheviks' threats. [13] Meanwhile, the Soviet Russians viewed it as a threat for its agenda and vowed to thwart it. Even among major Polish irredentists like Roman Dmowski who also sought to expand Polish territory, such idea gained very little support since it required Polonization to do so. [14] Eruptions of Polish–Ukrainian War, Polish–Czechoslovak War, Polish–Lithuanian War and Polish–Soviet War, which Poland annexed many territories, including Lithuania's capital Vilnius, dented any hope for a possible Intermarium federation, even after Piłsudski overthrew the civilian government in 1926.
Despite this, efforts to reinforce Polish irredentism continued, in accordance for the fallen Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the Interwar period, Piłsudski attempted to support Polish control among minorities of its newly-acquired territories by replacing ethnic assimilation to "state assimilation", where citizens were judged by loyalty to the state. However, tensions with minorities mounted, when Poland had to face restless resistance from the Ukrainians in Polish Galicia and increasing attacks by Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists on Polish officials and settlers further deepened tensions and hostilities. Poland also had troubles with its German minority in Silesia, as well as with the Lithuanians and Belarusians in the east.
In 1938, Poland took advantage of increasing Nazi German irredentism on Czechoslovakia, and had annexed Trans-Olza into Polish territory. The annexation of Trans-Olza was justified by Poland to protect its Polish minority, but was strongly criticized in Czechoslovakia as a sign of ongoing Polish irredentism. [15] With tensions on the rise, Polish irredentist movement grew stronger. Yet, it was halted in 1939 following a joint invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and Soviet Union. [16] Minorities like Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Germans had utilised the opportunity to demand secession from Poland, which let to frequent ethnic conflicts between Poles and minorities. These conflicts further intensified the growth of Polish irredentism and resulted in numerous massacres throughout the World War II in order to restore Polish border territory. [17] [ better source needed ] Both the Germans and Soviets used the ethnic cards to play fool with hope of weakening irredentism among Poles and to ensure Poland could not resurge. [18] Eventually, with Poland completely destroyed following the end of World War II, Soviet Union acquired entire of Kresy region and drew Polish border to Kresy Zachodnie as part of Recovered Territories. [19]
During the People's Republic of Poland's era, due to communist censorship and repression, irredentism lost its official place, a legacy of Joseph Stalin's policy toward Poland. [20] To Polish population, such repressive methods used by the Soviets made Polish irredentism back to Polish life, with many Polish livelihood in the Kresy region being stolen by the Russians and its allies (Ukrainians, Lithuanians and Belarusians). Many Poles in these recovered territories often mentioned to their dream of returning to the east, and one quote was widely mentioned that "Just one atom bomb, and we will be back in Lwów" (Jedna bomba atomowa i wrócimy znów do Lwowa). [21] Polish irredentism was further enhanced by the painful losses Poland suffered during the World War II and how the Soviets stole it from Poland. The communist authorities did little to improve it, as the accusation of collaboration was strong among Polish public toward the communist regime, and was fearful of Polish irredentism could bring a dangerous prospect on its relations with the more powerful Soviet Union. [22] Irredentism continued to be repressed in Communist Poland until its collapse at 1989.
Since the fall of communist regime, Polish irredentism did not make an immediate resurgence, as Poles were concerned of trying to rebuild the country following decades under suffering communist rule. Poland's successful economic transition from a centralized economy to a market-oriented economy granted the country accession to the European Union in 2004. However, a number of unwanted political explosion in 2010s led to the rebirth of Polish irredentism, in the wake of increasing nationalist sentiment.
Following Ukraine's elevation status of heroes for OUN members Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych, in Poland, there have calls call about reclaiming Lviv and Galicia from Ukraine, blaming Russia of robbing Ukraine from Poland. It has drawn criticism from Ukraine. [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]
Polish irredentism also sparked controversy regarding Polish historical claims of Vilnius, the current capital of Lithuania, with the thought that since the city was part of Poland dated from the Commonwealth to even the Second Polish Republic. [30] [31]
Polish nationalists' irredentist sentiment also draws its desire to Belarus, given Belarus' close cultural bond with Poland from history. In Poland there are also belief that the current Cyrillic alphabet of Belarus was actually a Polish Cyrillic alphabet invented by the Russians to distance Belarusians from Poles. [32] Polish irredentists also staged a march in Hajnowka, a Polish town with dominant Belarusian population. However, the claim receives less intention than that of Ukraine and Lithuania. [33]
More than in the form of Polish irredentism over the Kaliningrad Oblast, a Polish annexation of the region has been more mentioned by Russian media, which has accused the Polish authorities of preparing to incorporate the region. These accusations stemmed from online comments made by readers of an article published on the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza : while the article itself did not mention any Polish alleged annexation desire, the comments suggested that the Kaliningrad Oblast should belong to Poland. Pro-Kremlin media such as Pravda.ru misleadingly reported this as an attempt by the Polish government to annex the region. Stanisław Żaryn, spokesperson for the Polish Minister Coordinator for Special Services, dismissed the allegation as "fake news". [34] [35]
The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from medieval tribes, Christianization and monarchy; through Poland's Golden Age, expansionism and becoming one of the largest European powers; to its collapse and partitions, two world wars, communism, and the restoration of democracy.
The lands of Belarus during the Middle Ages became part of Kievan Rus' and were split between different regional principalities, including Polotsk, Turov, Vitebsk, and others. Following the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, these lands were absorbed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which later was merged into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th century.
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Byelorussia, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and afterwards as one of fifteen constituent republics of the USSR from 1922 to 1991, with its own legislation from 1990 to 1991. The republic was ruled by the Communist Party of Byelorussia. It was also known as the White Russian Soviet Socialist Republic.
The Curzon Line was a proposed demarcation line between the Second Polish Republic and the Soviet Union, two new states emerging after World War I. Based on a suggestion by Herbert James Paton, it was first proposed in 1919 by Lord Curzon, the British Foreign Secretary, to the Supreme War Council as a diplomatic basis for a future border agreement.
The Polish–Soviet War was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution, over territories previously controlled by the Russian Empire and the Habsburg monarchy.
Seventeen days after the German invasion of Poland in 1939, which marked the beginning of the Second World War, the Soviet Union entered the eastern regions of Poland and annexed territories totalling 201,015 square kilometres (77,612 sq mi) with a population of 13,299,000. Inhabitants besides ethnic Poles included Belarusian and Ukrainian major population groups, and also Czechs, Lithuanians, Jews, and other minority groups.
The Polish minority in the Soviet Union are Polish diaspora who used to reside near or within the borders of the Soviet Union before its dissolution. Some of them continued to live in the post-Soviet states, most notably in Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine, the areas historically associated with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan among others.
The Republic of Central Lithuania, commonly known as the Central Lithuania, and the Middle Lithuania, was an unrecognized short-lived puppet state of Poland, that existed from 1920 to 1922. It was founded on 12 October 1920, after successful Żeligowski's Mutiny, during which the volunteer 1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division under command of general Lucjan Żeligowski seized the Vilnius Region that Lithuania made claims to. It was incorporated into Poland on 18 April 1922.
The Treaty of Riga was signed in Riga, Latvia, on 18 March 1921 between Poland on one side and Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine on the other, ending the Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921). The chief negotiators of the peace were Jan Dąbski for the Polish side and Adolph Joffe for the Soviet side.
Eastern Borderlands or simply Borderlands was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic with a Polish minority, it amounted to nearly half of the territory of interwar Poland. Historically situated in the eastern Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, following the 18th-century foreign partitions it was divided between the Empires of Russia and Austria-Hungary, and ceded to Poland in 1921 after the Treaty of Riga. As a result of the post-World War II border changes, all of the territory was ceded to the USSR, and none of it is in modern Poland.
Intermarium was a post-World War I geopolitical plan conceived by Józef Piłsudski to unite former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lands within a single polity. The plan went through several iterations, some of which anticipated the inclusion of neighbouring states. The proposed multinational polity would have incorporated territories lying between the Baltic, Black, and Adriatic Seas, hence the name Intermarium.
Western Krai was an unofficial name for the westernmost parts of the Russian Empire, excluding the territory of Congress Poland. The term encompasses the lands annexed by the Russian Empire in the successive partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late 18th century – in 1772, 1793, 1795 and located east of Congress Poland. This area is known in Poland as Ziemie Zabrane but is most often referred to in Polish historiography and common parlance as part of Zabór Rosyjski. Together with Bessarabia and the former Crimean Khanate, the territory roughly overlapped also with the Jewish Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire, and included much of what is today Belarus, Ukraine, and Lithuania.
During the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1921, Soviet Russia and its client state, Soviet Ukraine, were in combat with the re-established Second Polish Republic and the newly established Ukrainian People's Republic. Both sides aimed to secure territory in the often disputed areas of the Kresy, in the context of the fluidity of borders in Central and Eastern Europe in the aftermath of World War I and the breakdown of the Austrian, German, and Russian Empires. The first clashes between the two sides occurred in February 1919, but full-scale war did not break out until the following year. Especially at first, neither Soviet Russia, embroiled in the Russian Civil War, nor Poland, still in the early stages of state re-building, were in a position to formulate and pursue clear and consistent war aims.
Vilnius Region[a] is the territory in present-day Lithuania and Belarus that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time.
Western Belorussia or Western Belarus is a historical region of modern-day Belarus which belonged to the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period. For twenty years before the 1939 invasion of Poland, it was the northern part of the Polish Kresy macroregion. Following the end of World War II in Europe, most of Western Belorussia was ceded to the Soviet Union by the Allies, while some of it, including Białystok, was given to the Polish People's Republic. Until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Western Belorussia formed the western part of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR). Today, it constitutes the west of modern Belarus.
Stanisław Grabski was a Polish economist and politician associated with the National Democracy political camp. As the top Polish negotiator during the Peace of Riga talks in 1921, Grabski greatly influenced the future of Poland and the Soviet Union.
Poland and Lithuania established diplomatic relations from the 13th century, after the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under king Mindaugas acquired some of the territory of Rus' and thus established a border with the then-fragmented Kingdom of Poland. Polish–Lithuanian relations subsequently improved, ultimately leading to a personal union between the two states. From the mid-16th to the late-18th century Poland and Lithuania merged to form the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a state that was dissolved following their partition by Austria, Prussia and Russia. After the two states regained independence following the First World War, Polish–Lithuanian relations steadily worsened due to rising nationalist sentiments. Competing claims to the Vilnius region led to armed conflict and deteriorating relations in the interwar period. During the Second World War Polish and Lithuanian territories were occupied by both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, but relations between Poles and Lithuanians remained hostile. Following the end of World War II, both Poland and Lithuania found themselves in the Eastern Bloc, Poland as a Soviet satellite state, Lithuania as a Soviet republic. With the fall of communism relations between the two countries were reestablished. Since then relations have been friendly and akin to strategic partnership in defence and security.
Belarusian resistance movement are the resistance movements on the territory of contemporary Belarus. Wars in the area - Great Northern War and the War of the Polish Succession - damaged its economy further. In addition, Russian armies raided the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth under the pretext of the returning of fugitive peasants. By mid-18th century their presence in the lands of modern Belarus became almost permanent.
The Polish population transfers in 1944–1946 from the eastern half of prewar Poland, were the forced migrations of Poles toward the end and in the aftermath of World War II. These were the result of a Soviet Union policy that had been ratified by the main Allies of World War II. Similarly, the Soviet Union had enforced policies between 1939 and 1941 which targeted and expelled ethnic Poles residing in the Soviet zone of occupation following the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland. The second wave of expulsions resulted from the retaking of Poland from the Wehrmacht by the Red Army. The USSR took over territory for its western republics.
The Polish–Lithuanian identity describes individuals and groups with histories in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth or with close connections to its culture. This federation, formally established by the 1569 Union of Lublin between the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, created a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state founded on the binding powers of national identity and shared culture rather than ethnicity or religious affiliation. The term Polish-Lithuanian has been used to describe various groups residing in the Commonwealth, including those that did not share the Polish or Lithuanian ethnicity nor their predominant Roman Catholic faith.