SOCIAL MOODS IN WESTERN POMERANIA AGAINST THE BACKGROUNDOF THE SETTLEMENTS OF 1945-1947

• Authors: Kozlowski K.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The attitudes prevailing among Polish settlers in the titular region were conditioned by the international situation - primarily by uncertainty as regards the stability of the western frontier, as well as difficult relations with the Red Army and the deported Germans - and domestic issues (political rivalry between the Polish Workers' Party and the Polish Peasant Party, security, communication and supplies). Settlers from Central Poland (over a half of the Polish population in 1947) were more inclined to accept Soviet domination, while arrivals from beyond the Bug not only cultivated memories of incurred suffering but feared the consequences of the Soviet military presence in Western Pomerania. So-called 'szaber' (plunder of former German property), banditry among Red Army marauders, and outright disastrous supplies proved to be an outright plague of 1945. The relations between the settlers and the administrative authorities of the region remained relatively correct thanks to the professional approach of the team working for the first voivode - Leonard Borkowicz, and the first president of Szczecin - Piotr Zaremba. The local community did not identify state administration with the political apparatus, and especially with the security police. A relevant role in the settlement process was played by the Catholic Church. At the time, the official authorities were not interested in conducting a battle against the Church, and appreciated its pro-integration functions. Conflicts between settlers were caused by material reasons, but did not achieve a more universal dimension nor hampered the Polonisation of the region. The almost two-years long Polish presence in the region of Western Pomerania - discussed also in the context of the then emergent social moods - could be regarded as a success and a synthesis of the opportunities and necessities generated by that particular period in history.

Keywords

EN

ATTITUDES; SETTLEMENTS' BACKGROUND; SOCIAL MOODS; SOCIETY; WESTERN POMERANIA (1945-1947)

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla PAN w Warszawie
• Journal: Dzieje Najnowsze
• Year: 2005
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 151-176
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Kozlowski K.

• K. Kozlowski, Uniwersytet Szczecinski, Instytut Politologii i Europeistyki, ul. Piastów 40b, 71-065 Szczecin, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

06PLAAAA01142639