Roman Dmowski
75 years ago , on January 2nd 1939 at the age of 74 , Roman Stanisław Dmowski – Pobóg had died in Drozdowo (Łomża Voivodeship), a statesman and a political writer , theoretician of Polish nationalism and a co-founder of the reborn Polish state , with a PhD in education sciences; since 1888 a member of a secret youth organisation "Zet " and since 1889 – the Polish League and an associate of J.L. Poplawski’s “Voice”, along with several colleagues he was responsible for (April 1893) an overturn within the League resulting in the formation of a National League , as the organiser of the manifestation commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the 3rd of May Constitution, arrested and imprisoned in the Citadel and then sent to Mitau (Jelgava), from which he escaped in February of 1895 and settled in Lviv (and from 1901 in Cracow ), editor of the bi-weekly "All-Polish (Wszechpolski) Review" since 1896 a member of the Central Council of the National League and a co-founder (1897) of the National Democratic Party , in 1905, returned to Warsaw , leading the fight against the revolutionary movement in the Kingdom of Poland , and in February 1907 was elected to the Second Russian Duma, he forced through the reorientation of the anti-Russian national policy making it anti-German and " neo-Slavonic " which ended up costing him a number of secessions’ within the movement , re-elected to the Third Duma , he gave his parliamentary mandate up in February 1909 , as a result of defeat in the elections to the Fourth Duma in 1912 in favour of a Jewish rival – E. Jagiello , announced an economic boycott of Jews; at the time of the outbreak of World War I ( during which the main objective from the Polish point of view was the defeat of Germany and the unification of all Polish lands as a step towards independence ) formed the Polish National Committee , after the occupation of Warsaw by the Germans went to Petrograd , where he took part in the works of the Polish – Russian commission aimed to develop a plan for the future autonomy of the Kingdom of Poland , in 1915 with the consent of the Russian authorities he left for the West, where in February 1916 he handed to the Russian ambassador in France a memorandum postulating the rebuilding of an independent Polish state for the first time , in 1917, he became a president of the Polish National Committee (created by him) in Lausanne, later recognised by the Allies as the official representation of the Polish nation , on his initiative a Polish army known as the Blue Army was created under the command of General J. Haller , as a Polish plenipotentiary delegate to the Peace Conference at Versailles he played a key role in negotiating the shape of the Polish borders (though his demands went further than those obtained ) and his signature (next to the JI Paderewski ) appears under the Treaty of Versailles (28th June 1919 ) formally restoring Poland to the map of Europe; after his return to Poland ( May 1920 ) his political role has decreased: he was formally a member of parliament from the Legislative arm of the Popular National Union, a member of the Council of National Defence, in 1920, and a foreign minister in W.Witos’ second government (X – XII of 1923) , but never really involved himself even within the activities of his own party’s parliamentary politicians club , in response to the May Coup he created ( December 1926) the Camp of Great Poland and became its Great Councils’ chairman , also reorganising (1928 ) a party that " dropped " the adjective " democratic" and became the National Party , serving it by taking on a role of an informal and inspiring leader through a secret and classified system of " sevens " and “nines "; was awarded a Great Ribbon of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland, several international awards and honorary PhD’s at the University of Cambridge and the University of Poznan, himself, he ideologically evolved (and stimulated this change in the National Movement) from a nationally-democratic and liberally nationalist and positivist as well as social Darwinism to a national-Catholic formula and the concept of the rule of “National elite “; most of his life an agnostic, he converted in the last year of his life and returned to full sacramental practices.
prof. Jacek Bartyzel
translated by Arek Jakubczyl
Kategoria: Reactionary Diary
