FOR MYSELF OR FOR MY COUNTRY? SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF THE POLISH EMIGRATION'S POLITICAL ACTIVITY (Dla siebie czy dla kraju? Spoleczne uwarunkowania aktywnosci politycznej emigracji polskiej)

• Authors: Radzik Tadeusz
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Analysing the social activity of Polish emigration in the twentieth century, mainly political but in part labour related, the historian encounters numerous declarations, manifestos and proclamations, where the essence of emigration, starting from the decision to leave the country and stay in exile until the end of activity abroad, is portrayed as the fight for a free, sovereign Poland, in line with the political ideals of the emigrant. Numerous references are made to the idea of a 'great emigration' and 'noble emigration' after the January Uprising. In the case of Polish emigration to the United Kingdom after World War II, the term 'the second great emigration' was adopted in London. Without denying in the slightest the prerequisites of patriotic political exile or the political behaviour of labour emigration, attention should be paid to the non-political conditions that played a role in the decision of masses to emigrate as well as their organizational, socio-cultural and even scientific activity. To some extent we can speak of a certain mythologising of the role of emigrants and their relation to Poland. The text is an analysis of how this myth was created and how it has been supported by real events. It begins by looking at overseas emigration from Polish territories at the end of the nineteenth century and the role of the Polish Diaspora in promoting independence during World War I, then goes on to look at migration issues related to World War II and the concentration of Poles in the UK.

Keywords

EN

POLISH DIASPORA; POLITICAL ACTIVITY; SOCIAL DETERMINATIONS

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Wydział Studiów Międzynarodowych i Politycznych Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego oraz Polska Akademia Umiejętności
• Journal: Studia Migracyjne - Przegląd Polonijny
• Year: 2010
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 2(136)
• Pages: 23-38
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Radzik Tadeusz

• Tadeusz Radzik (1953-2009)

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

10PLAAAA08972