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Polish irredentism orGreater Poland is a term applied to certain currents withinPolish nationalism. In one sense, it refers to the territorial scope of thePoles, emphasising the ethnicity of those Poles living outsidePoland. In the political sense, though, the term refers to anirredentist belief in the equivalence between the territorial scope of the Polish people and that of the Polish state.
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Polish border map has changed throughout its history. Beginning with the movement ofPolish tribes, the Poles established its nation,Civitas Schinesghe under thePiast dynasty,[1] where it eventually evolved into theFirst 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 withGrand Duchy of Lithuania, which led to the rise ofSecond Kingdom of Poland under theJagiellonian 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 theTeutonic Order and expansion to the south and east.[3] The success of Polish-Lithuanian union paved way for the eventual establishment ofPolish–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 ofSmolensk and west to modern Germany, making the country a European power. Poland also managed to reach out then-capital ofRurik Russia,Moscow after theBattle 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 anuprising that led to the crippling of Polish economy and borderland.[6] The uprising and subsequent Ukrainian alliance withTsardom of Russia meant that the uprising also led to the beginning of invasions on Poland from Russia, as seen by theRussian Deluge on Polish land from the east. Meanwhile, theSwedish Empire, which had fought Poland several wars before, took the opportunity to launch an invasion from the north, known as theSwedish 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 ofRussian Empire. Though the Poles managed a famousexpulsion 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 ofliberum veto inside theSejm, 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 andTadeusz Kościuszko proposed and initiated theConstitution of Commonwealth, replacing liberum veto to limit Russian, Prussian and Austrian involvements. Eventually, following theFrench Revolution, the Constitution was officially passed, became the first European country to do so.[10] However, this also led to thepartitions of Poland, thus Poland disappeared from map for the next 123 years.
In 19th century witnessed significant rise of Polish nationalism. Proponents such asAdam Mickiewicz andAdam 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'sPan 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 includedJózef Piłsudski, who initiated theIntermarium concept, which sought to create a united independence state inCentral 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. TheUkrainians,Czechs andLithuanians, in particular, did not support the project and saw it as part of Polish imperialism. TheEntente was very critical and distrustful of Piłsudski, as well as underestimatingBolsheviks' threats.[13] Meanwhile, theSoviet Russians viewed it as a threat for its agenda and vowed to thwart it. Even among major Polish irredentists likeRoman Dmowski who also sought to expand Polish territory, such idea gained very little support since it requiredPolonization to do so.[14] Eruptions ofPolish–Ukrainian War,Polish–Czechoslovak War,Polish–Lithuanian War andPolish–Soviet War, which Poland annexed many territories, including Lithuania's capitalVilnius, 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 theInterwar period, Piłsudski attempted to support Polish control among minorities of its newly-acquired territories by replacingethnic 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 inPolish Galicia and increasing attacks byOrganization of Ukrainian Nationalists on Polish officials and settlers further deepened tensions and hostilities. Poland also had troubles with its German minority inSilesia, as well as with the Lithuanians and Belarusians in the east.
In 1938, Poland took advantage of increasing Nazi German irredentism onCzechoslovakia, and had annexedTrans-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 jointinvasion 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 theWorld 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 ofKresy region and drew Polish border toKresy Zachodnie as part ofRecovered Territories.[19]
During thePeople's Republic of Poland's era, due to communist censorship and repression, irredentism lost its official place, a legacy ofJoseph 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 theEuropean 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 membersStepan Bandera andRoman Shukhevych, in Poland, there have calls call about reclaimingLviv 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 ofVilnius, the current capital of Lithuania, with the thought that since the city was part of Poland dated from the Commonwealth to even theSecond 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 inHajnowka, 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 newspaperGazeta 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 asPravda.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]
