Integracja narodów i partii agrarnych w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej w myśli politycznej polskiego ruchu ludowego w końcowym okresie zaborów i dwudziestoleciu międzywojennym

Abstract

The question of European integration in the political thought of the peasant movement in Central and Eastern Europe appeared many times since the second half of the 19th century. In the period of partitions, people searched for paths to freedom and independence. The ideas of creating multinational political organisms were to be means for obtaining a certain degree of subjectivity. Poles saw development opportunities in the federation within the Habsburg monarchy. On the other hand, the union of the peoples of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, mainly Lithuanians, Belarusians and Ukrainians – there was an apparent chance joint struggle with the Russian invader. The geopolitics of the region, constructed in the result of the First World War, meant that the newly created Central European states found themselves between Germany and Russia – both of which were states with imperialist traditions. The question of the union of states, or mainly peasant parties in the political thought of the Polish and European peasant movements appeared several times, but in the 1930s it was rather an addition to the programs of these parties. Initially, the Poles sought an agreement mainly with neighbours facing similar threats. When the implementation of these plans failed, their programs contented with peaceful international cooperation based on the League of Nations.