THE SOCIETY OF THE KINGDOM OF POLAND IN THE LIGHT OF 'LEGION SOURCES' IN 1914

• Authors: Oettingen U.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Battles and marches of the First Infantry Regiment of the Polish Legions, commanded by Józef Pilsudski, conducted from August to November 1914 in the Kingdom of Poland, became reflected in Legion sources, composed of archival material - reports, commands, handwritten reminiscences as well as published accounts and diaries written by men of the Polish Legions. The greatest number of opinions pertained to the peasants followed by the landowners. Assessments were made of the inhabitants of towns, large and small, including the intelligentsia- the workers and the Jews as well as the stands represented by the clergy, German colonists and the Russians The Legionnaires (members of the 'Strzelec' movement) characterised the society of the Kingdom of Poland via its attitude towards the First Regiment, which at the time was regarded as the embryo of the national armed forces and the spokesman of the Polish irredenta. The described behaviour spanned from hostile and indifferent to favourable or friendly, dominated, however, by unwillingness, anxiety, passivity and a tendency to await the development of events as well as slight involvement in rendering help to Polish soldiers. The variety of the stands stemmed from the personal convictions of the persons with whom the Legionnaires had contact, influenced by family traditions, education, upbringing, links with patriotic organisations, mainly in Galicia, the activity of the Russian partitioning authorities, as well as the fact that 'Strzelec' fought alongside the German army , which was generally identified with a distinctly anti-Polish orientation.

Keywords

EN

KINGDOM OF POLAND (1914); LEGION SOURCES

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla PAN w Warszawie
• Journal: Dzieje Najnowsze
• Year: 2004
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 149-168
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Oettingen U.

• U. Oettingen, Akademia Swietokrzyska w Kielcach, Instytut Historii, ul. Zeromskiego 5, 25-369 Kielce, Poland.

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

04PLAAAA0027619