The Ethnic Minorities in the Political Thought of Polish Peasant Party (Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe) "Piast" and Wincenty Witos

Abstract

Both in the final period of the Partitions and in the Second Republic of Poland, the majority of the society lived in villages. The countryside appeared to be the main area of the linguistic, cultural and religious diversity. Its daily life was marked not only by economic differences, but also ethnic, denominational and cultural ones, which grew in importance by becoming the crucial elements of the social stratification. A relatively amicable cohabitation of various groups was put to the test during a period of wars and other unrests, when existing friendships were losing their significance and the population was forced to explicitly define themselves in terms of their ethnicity or religion. Based on the programme assumptions and the comments or speeches made by the politicians of Polish Peasant Party (Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe) “Piast”, it can be concluded, that the party tolerated only such aspirations of other ethnic groups, which did not involve any attempts to share political power and which expressed loyalty to the state. In the case of Slavic minorities, it was believed that due to effective government’s policy, they might be drawn to Poland or even assimilated, especially the minority of Belarusians. The assimilation programme of the German minority from the Western Borderlands was considered to be futile and with little chances of success. The solution to the Jewish problem was sought in supporting Polish economic and cultural activity, Polish industry, trade and craft as well as liberal professions and cooperative movement. The remaining minorities dispersed in Poland were not even taken into account under the party’s ideological concepts.