Part 11

Between World Wars

The rebuilt Polish state had a territory of 389,000 sq. km. Its population, according to the census of 1921, amounted to 27 million, with Poles amounting to 69% (18.7 million), Ukrainians 14%, Jews 8%, Byelorussians [Belarusians] 3.9%, Germans 3.8% of the entire population. There were also many Lithuanians, Russians and Czechs. Catholics made up 65% of the population, the Uniats 10%, members of the Orthodox Church 12%, Jews 10% and Protestants 2.5%. The overwhelming majority of the population lived in the countryside (75%). Peasants made up 55%, workers 27%. small businessmen 11%, intelligentsia 5%, bourgeoisie 1%. and landowners 0.3% of the total population.

The hostilities, pillage by the occupiers, and demographic losses left Poland's economy in ruin. The greatest destruction was suffered by the Kingdom's industry, which also lost its markets in Russia after the war. The consolidation and economic unification of the three formerly partitioned areas was the largest problem to be
overcome. The concentration of land with a relatively small number of owners, on the one hand, and the comminution of peasant farms on the other, as well as the shortage of arable land available to peasants produced tensions and conflicts. Destroyed towns could not accommodate the surplus of rural manpower.

The first years of existence of the state were filled with strenuous work on the reconstruction of the economy and creation of the state apparatus, as well as on lawmaking. Those years were crowned with the adoption of the Constitution of March 17, 1921, which was patterned after the democratic Constitution of the Third
French Republic.

Nineteen party tickets were entered in the 1922 parliamentary elections. The parties formed blocs: the right wing getting 29% of votes, the center 21%, the left wing 25%, and the national minorities 22%. The National Assembly made up of two houses (Sejm and Senate) elected the President. He was Gabriel Narutowicz, the candidate of the center and left wing, supported by the national minorities.

The disappointed right wing unleashed a violent campaign against the President. On December 16. 1922, Narutowicz was assassinated by a mentally disturbed supporter of the right wing. The murder and the shock it caused cooled the fanaticized masses of the right-wing's followers. Stanislaw Wojciechowski was elected President.

The conflict over the election of Narutowicz highlighted the weak points of the political structures--the party factionalism, the tensions between the right and the left, as well as between the Polish majority and the national and religious minorities.

Social tensions were further deepened by the difficult economic situation. Spiraling inflation turned into hyperinflation in 1923. Industrial production in 1924 amounted to 56% of that recorded in 1913. A government composed of experts named in 1923 carried out a successful monetary reform under the chairmanship of Wladyslaw Grabski. Sound currency restored the economic balance providing grounds for better business conditions in the years 1925-1929.

The national existence and the borders of the Polish Republic were guaranteed by the Treaties of Versailles and Riga. Germany and Russia could not tolerate the loss of territory and the emergence of the Polish state, forgetting that those were the lands once seized during the partitions. As a result, they did their best order to weaken the Polish state or even destroy it, if the situation permitted. The counter-balance rested in the Polish-French alliance and in Poland's alliance with Romania, which was threatened by Russia. On the other hand, England supported German demands, acting on the assumption that peace can be maintained by satisfying the aspirations of the big powers and not of medium-size or small countries. That, in the long run, proved to be an erroneous assumption with regard to Germany and Soviet Russia.

The fall of Grabski's government at the end of 1925 and the ensuing difficulties in forming a new government, the parties' incessant maneuvering for power, as well as tensions arising from the economic war declared on Poland by Germany in that year, sent the Polish political system reeling. In May 1926, after a few years spent on the political sidelines, Jozef Pilsudski staged an armed coup d'etat. The political system consequently created in 1926 was called Sanacja (from a slogan referring to cleansing political life of party factionalism and corruption, with which the previous governments and parties were charged.)

Legal modifications introduced to the political system after May 1926 were small indeed, as all the political parties and the trade unions continued their activities with little change. Freedom of the press was maintained. In practice, however, an authoritarian regime was created, curbing the powers of the Sejm and harassing the opposition parties, and finally arresting the opposition leaders and putting them on trial in 1931.

The Sanacja came to power when the economic situation was generally favorable, but soon the world crisis of 1929-1933 hit out at the weak Polish economy with particular force. Industrial output fell dramatically and in the worst year of 1932 it represented 53% of that of 1913. Prevailing prices led the rural population to poverty and destitution. Unemployment in towns rose dramatically. Recovery came only after 1935.

In foreign policy Poland was threatened by the build-up of the military potentials of Germany and the Soviet Union. The preparations of those states for war were time consuming, which is why they concluded non-aggression pacts with Poland: the Soviet Union in 1932 and Germany in 1934. That gave Poland, according to Jozef Pilsudski, several years for internal reform and development of a defensive capability. The Polish political reforms were crowned with the Constitution of April 23, 1935, which strengthened the president's position and power.

The years between 1936 and 1939 were a period of economic growth, development of industry, especially in the Central Industrial Region situated between the Vistula and San Rivers. State intervention and the correct choice of investment targets were largely the result of policies pursued by Deputy Prime Minister Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski. The average standard of living was improving, unemployment was falling and part of the surplus of rural manpower was absorbed by new projects. All that was important in view of the demographic increase. In 1939, Poland numbered some 35 million people.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jozef Beck, continued the policy of balanced relations with Moscow and Berlin. However, the readiness of the Western Powers to meet Germany's demands upset the pan-European equilibrium. That policy had its climax in Munich where Czechoslovakia's interests were sacrificed for the sake of illusive peace (1938).

At the beginning of 1939 German diplomacy put forth demands toward Poland: to incorporate Gdansk into the Reich and to build an extra-territorial motorway through Polish Pomerania. Moreover, Germany proposed that Poland accede to the Anti-Soviet Pact. It was assumed in Poland that submissiveness would lead to the loss of
independence. Thus, for the first time, Nazi Germany encountered opposition to its expansion. In the meantime Great Britain changed its policy. In April, Britain gave guarantees for Poland's independence, which were later confirmed by France. That being the situation, the Soviet Union helped Germany to pull itself from isolation.

The Soviet Union was simultaneously negotiating with Germany, England and France, promising assistance against Germany on the condition of Poland's consent for the entry of the Red Army onto Polish territory. The fate of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in 1940 later demonstrated what the result of the entry of that army onto Polish soil would have meant.

Under the existing circumstances, greater profits could be derived by Stalin from an alliance with Germany. On August 23, 1939, the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact was signed. Its secret clauses defined the zones of influence (i.e., areas for territorial expansion) of both nations, including a new partition of Poland. On September 1, 1939,
without declaring war, Germany attacked Poland.

The independent existence of Poland lasted for only 20 years. The statehood regained as a result of the struggle of several generations was of great value to Poles. The two decades of independence brought both successes and failures. The greatest achievement was the consolidation of the areas and economies of the three former partitions into a uniform state organism. The new legislation enacted at that time was another important accomplishment. The construction of the port of Gdynia and development of the Central Industrial Region were also among the successes.

Polish dreams of a free and just homeland were best expressed by Stefan Zeromski when he wrote about "houses made of glass," bright, spacious and available to all. However, economic reality was more difficult. Poland was a destroyed, underdeveloped country, and social conflicts and the poverty of a part of society were a source of widespread pain. The slow implementation of agricultural reform and poverty in the rural areas were significant failures. It also proved impossible to avoid social, national and religious conflicts.

The development of culture, however, was a great success of reborn Poland. In literature, the Nobel Prize was won in 1924 by Wladyslaw Reymont. Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy), Bruno Schulz and Witold Gombrowicz all produced works that charted new trends in world literature. There were also remarkable developments in theater, painting, architecture and film, including the excellent works by Jozef Lejtes. In science, the greatest achievements were scored by the Lwow and Warsaw schools of mathematics under the direction of Stefan Banach, Waclaw Sierpinski, Kazimierz Kuratowski and Hugo Steinhaus. In the liberal arts, history, archaeology, and sociology flourished. Such scholars as Jozef Kostrzewski, Marceli Handelsman, Stefan Czarnowski and Florian Znaniecki created their own scientific schools.

Despite all the economic difficulties Polish educational institutions brought forth one of the most valuable generations in Polish history: an enlightened, courageous and patriotic generation. In 1939, that generation stood up in the defense of the homeland.

Interwar Poland - Archival film footage without narration