The following organisations can be considered representatives of national extremism in Poland after 1989: a) The National Rebirth of Poland, b) The Polish National Community‑Polish National Party, c) The National Radical Camp. They have been categorised as being national extremist as they meet the following criteria: 1) the rejection of democracy and the concept of civil society, 2) the negation of the political system transformation model implemented after 1989, 3) the approval of violence as a means to the alternation of power, 4) the pursuit of a new political order which is treated as a model to which there is no alternative, 5) the presence in political thought of countercultural and nativistic elements, 6) the acceptance of integral Catholicism, 7) the use of a distinctive and individual vocabulary, 8) the use of original symbols. In the case of national extremist groups we can only talk about a social policy that is postulated and in the concept phase where there are no possibilities of implementing its objectives.
In the period of the Second Polish Republic, educational issues constituted a subject-matter of interest to Polish political thinkers. Nonetheless, such issues were often perceived differently by the diverse ideological and political factions. According to such political entities, the interwar period was marked with the destabilisation of the previously-existing social, political and cultural order, giving rise to a new reality. Visions of creating a “new”, “better”, more moral and socialised man began to appear in the statements disseminated by almost all political circles. Such projections, however, entailed the rather disturbing perspective of far-reaching interference with the lives of all citizens, including their privacy. The postulate of changing the individual in order to meet the emerging “higher” objectives, social needs and “lofty” principles, was put forward. The National Party developed a comprehensive educational programme. The aim of national education was to build a strong nation, and to prepare the society for an independent nation and State’s functioning. The principal categories of the National Party’s political thought included work, creation and action. The condition of the Polish society was also thoroughly analysed, with the ideal Pole being depicted as a hard-working, thrifty, conscientious and diligent person, dedicated to nation and State’s affairs. Active and constructive attitudes were widely promoted, along with social responsibility, readiness to make sacrifices, self-determination and subordination to the individuals responsible for the implemented goals. National education was expected to give rise to “a definite Polish type” that would embody the truly Polish character and indigenous values cultivated from generation to generation by the natively Polish population.
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W okresie II Rzeczypospolitej zagadnienia wychowawcze i edukacyjne stanowiły przedmiot zainteresowania polskiej myśli politycznej. Kwestie te były zazwyczaj rozmaicie rozumiane w obrębie rożnych opcji ideowo-politycznych. W opinii licznych podmiotow politycznych lata międzywojenne stanowiły okres destabilizacji zastanych stosunkow społecznych, politycznych i kulturalnych, a nawet pewien początek nowej rzeczywistości. Rozwijano wowczas programy formowania „nowego człowieka”, „lepszego”, bardziej moralnego, uspołecznionego. Tego rodzaju zapowiedzi pojawiały się w enuncjacjach niemal wszystkich środowisk politycznych. Stronnictwo Narodowe dysponowało rozbudowanym programem wychowawczym. Celem wychowania narodowego była budowa silnego narodu, przygotowanie społeczeństwa do samodzielnego życia narodowego i państwowego. Centralnymi kategoriami myśli wychowawczej SN stały się praca, tworczość, czyn. Nieustannie zachęcano do postawy aktywnej, konstruktywnej. Promowano odpowiedzialność społeczną, gotowość do wyrzeczeń, samozaparcia, podporządkowania się woli jednostek odpowiedzialnych za realizowane cele. Wychowanie narodowe miało doprowadzić do wytworzenia „definitywnego typu polskiego”, ktory byłby uosobieniem polskości, rodzimych wartości przechowywanych od pokoleń przez rdzennie polskie masy ludowe.
Views of the National Party (1928-1939) merit special attention, given both the Party’s prominent role in the political life of interwar Poland and the interesting combination of various elements derived from diverse ideological trends within the Party’s programme. The ideological legacy of the National Party reflected, to a large extent, the key constituents of the National Democracy’s political thought, such as nationalism, representation of all social classes, national integrity and the concept of the nation-state. The National Party underwent major evolution and was subject to internal divisions which makes the image of its political thought much more complex. Based on an analysis of the National Party’s political thought, several conclusions can be formulated. The National Party developed its own views regarding political systems. These were, to a large extent, determined by their own system of values based on the national idea. The National Party’s political system projections were mainly inspired by (1) the successes of the “new type” states; (2) pressure from totalitarian systems; and (3) the influence of the economic and spiritual crisis. The National Party leaders wanted to make the political system more efficient. Nonetheless, views in favor of directly imitating any foreign political systems could hardly be found in the Party’s political thought. The National Party’s ideologists and journalists invariably stated that there was no pre-defined political system, but its form had to be adjusted to the specificity and unique character of a given national body. Although inspiration was drawn from external political systems, the Party’s political thought did not lose its independence.
The development of theoretical reflection on the essence and sense of the con-cept of nation was determined by the direction of socio-political transformations which took place in the Polish lands at the turn of the XIX and XX centuries. The national issues occupied much space in the political thought of Zygmunt Balicki (1858–1916), one of the “fathers of Polish nationalism”, an ideologue and a founder of the Christian Democracy and one of the antecessors of the then developing social sciences. The essence of the Polish nation, its good and deve- lopment became the main subject of interest and the motivation for the majority of Balicki’s ruminations. Nonetheless it is rather difficult to answer the question what the nation meant for Balicki since he had not elaborated a clear-cut theoretical formulation of the issue. In the light of his enunciations, the Polish nation is represented both as a po-litical, historical, cultural category and a psychological, moral and mystical one. It seems that despite the fact that he nowhere defined the nation in absolute terms, in fact, this is only lacking a verbal statement. The analysis of his writings proves that the nation was the supreme and autotelic value for him. The nation constituted in Balicki’s eyes “the highest social community”, absolutely the most important of all and as such – a source of moral norms.
Within the views of the National Rebirth of Poland, critical judgements and the questioning of the existing socio-political order have prevailed. The liberal democratic system has been rejected, to be replaced by a regime in which all social norms are in accordance with Christian values. Both the area of economic and social, as well as politi-cal, life are to be shaped according to principles stemming from Christianity and Catholi-cism. The NOP propounds the view that in the independent Polish state there should be no room for any forces seeking to destroy national sovereignty in terms of internal rela-tions, and the state in terms of external relations.
A reflection on the nation, its essence and function formed the key motivation in the National Party’s political thought. The Polish nation was treated subjectively, and the principle of a hierarchical nation organisation was disseminated. In the works by the National Party ideologists, the idea of the nation presented a strong emotional potential, closely related to a moral aspect. It was invariably proclaimed that the nation was a spiritual body. The National Party theorists were convinced that the national idea added real meaning to all forms of a person’s functioning. The Party members viewed the nation as such an important and priority issue that any indifferent personal approach towards the nation was considered unacceptable. It can be noted that, contrary to previous statements, typical of “the early nationalism” (at the turn of the 20th century), the nation was no longer treated as the absolute, but rather it was viewed through the prism of its relation to God and the world of transcendental values. It was usually considered a kind of family, and a unique metaphysical being, with a strong emphasis placed on the spiritual and moral form of the nation.
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