Poland between the Wars, 1918-1939 by Peter Stachura (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 545 Canadiansthemselveswere alreadyscorning,but the workof the Finnishmen was clearly grimmer than that of the Finnish women migrants. The men laboured in the field, the forest and the mine, not merely tougherjobs but more dangerous ones. The jobs were non-urban and therefore in rather isolated places. Finnish males did indeed have Finnishworkmatesin Canada (the division of labour among the various immigrant nationalities is a fascinatingpart of this book), but Finnsworkingamong Finns did not readily learn English,in contrastto the Finnishdomestic servantsin English-speaking families. The females in domestic service might also be looked after by their familieswhen they fell ill. Finnishmales in the logging-camps, however, were often afraidto fall ill, for this could mean that they would end up in a charity ward and soon cost enough to the Canadian taxpayerto be markeddown, as a public charge, for deportation. Migrantseverywherehave plenty to put up with. But what do you think about the fate of the Finnish loggers in the Canadian camps, who, afterhumping the trees,were forbiddento talkduring theirmealtimes? The core-periphery theory furnishes the usual sad commentary on the development of capitalism.Not that communism turned out to be any better. Plenty of those thrown out of work in capitalist Canada tried yet another migration,thistime to communist EastKareliawhere Finnishwas, briefly,on itsway to becoming the dominant language. The socialistparadiseturnedout to be an even more depressingexperience than the delusive capitalistsystem and many came out of East Karelia back to Finland. These were the lucky ones who got out before the Stalinistterrorbegan with full force. By the way, the core-periphery axis is still having its effect on the areas dealt with in Kettunen-Hujanen's study, though this time (and one is inclined to say fortunately)the movement is to other parts of the homeland. There seems to be no ideology to cope with the operationsof the axis. There is a rathergood Englishsummaryat the end of thiswork,though, as so often, unattributed. University ofTurku GEORGE MAUDE Finland Stachura,Peter(ed.).Poland between theWars,i9i8-s939. Macmillan, London, I998. xiii + I53 pp. Notes. Appendices. Bibliography.Index. ?40?.?. CONFERENCE volumes can disappoint. They often lack overall coherence and are entirely dependent on the quality of materialpresented to their 'parent'. At firstsight, Peter Stachura'sPolandbetween theWars,I9I8-I939, is less than promising. It is a fairlyslim volume,just over I00 pages of text for more than twenty years of turbulenthistory,and, of the six articlespublished,fullythree are the workof the editor. However, despite this caveat, much of what is presentedin the book is very interesting.The jacket promises 'challenging and frequentlyrevisionistviews on [. . .] controversialtopics' of modern Polishhistory. Peter Stachurais well placed to deliver on the hyperbole. Coming from a background in German 546 SEER, 79, 3, 2001 history, specificallythe Weimar Republic, he provides a fresh and objective interpretationof the period and especiallythe thornyissueof ethnic affairs. His chapter on the influence of the Battle of Warsaw, for example, is a fascinatingexposition of the wider political consequences of the conflictwith Soviet Russia of 1919-20. Pilsudski'svictory on the Vistula is now acknowledged to have halted (albeit temporarily) the wider advance of Bolshevik ideology. Stachura adds to this, arguing most convincingly that it was also a turning-point for the Polish Republic, having consequences and echoes far beyond the early 192os. He posits that, far from merely securing Poland's independent survivalfora generation, it also informedPoland'srelationswith itsethnic minorities,itsprogressivemilitarization,itsuncompromisingforeign policy, and in many ways coloured the entire political life of the Second Republic. PeterLesniewski'spaperon the Upper SilesianInsurrectionsof I 9 19-2 1, makes grim but enlightening reading. It outlines Polish attitudesto a bloody seriesof eventsthat have often only been told, fromthe Germanpoint of view, as a blatant subversionof liberal principles to the simple desire for revenge. Lesniewski'sapproach is generally thorough, though one notable omission is the phenomenon of 'elective nationalism' whereby numerous Poles voted for Germanysimplybecause, in termsof social and economic conditions, they 'knew what they were getting'. After I 23 years of oblivion, the new Poland was a totallyunknownquantity,even to many Poles. Stachura'snext contribution, on national identity and the minorities, is a provocative and refreshing look at a subject that can still arouse passions. Inter...