More Than Independence: Polish Political Thought 1918-1939

The title of the book requires certain explanations that apply to its individual constituents. By using the phrase 'more than independence' the editors acknowledged that in 1795-1918 the main value, around which all discussions concentrated, was both the regaining of the State and the process leading towards that goal. It was then that different visions of the political order that was to be implemented in independent Poland were advanced. The rise of the Second Republic changed the situation fundamentally: the value, which had so far been dominant in Polish political thought, finally materialized. New ideas therefore appeared that reflected different problems and triggered off new political conflicts, the more so that it was not clear to what extent the Second Republic was to be the successor of Old-Polish statehood. Polish political thought of 1918-39 has not yet been the object of separate and comprehensive studles. Despite this defect, the research on Polish political thought of the interwar period can draw upon ample and easily accessible sources. Party programmes have been preserved, containing more or less developed conceptions of the state's government system. There are many printed sources: parliamentary speeches, position papers of parliamentary clubs, resolutions of conventions and congresses, leaflets, articles published in the party press. An important source for ihe study of political thought are the works of theorists and political leaders, as well as political commentaries in the press, widespread and developed at that time. These sources are a testimony to political thought or they are its signs. CONTENTS: The State of Research on Polish Political Thought in the Second Republic; Polish Conservatives; The Pilsudski Camp (1926-39); National Democracy; Christian Democracy; The People's Movement; Polish Socialists; The Communist Party of Poland (1918-38); Sources in Print; Bibliography; Index of Names