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THE UPS AND DOWNS OF POLITICAL RELATIONS BETWEEN POLAND AND FINLAND IN THJE INTERWAR PERIOD (Wzloty i upadki w politycznych relacjach Polski i Finlandii w dwudziestoleciu miedzywojennym)

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Czechowski J.

Dzieje Najnowsze

2009

issue 1

49-60

Poland and Finland comprised an integral art of the Russian empire. Regardless of the will of the Russian decision makers, the February and October revolutions changed this state of things. Both countries gained independence, which they owed predominantly to their own determination as well as a favourable international situation. The basic political factor shared by Poland and Finland during the interwar period was fear of an invasion of Bolshevik militarism. Upon the basis of such a premise, both states, with the cooperation of Latvia and Estonia, embarked upon attempts at creating a defensive alliance. The Polish state also faced a grave situation along its western border. The demanding policy of the Weimar Republic and later the Third Reich posed the threat of an armed conflict. The Fins did not experience such a challenge to their sovereignty, and regarded the German state as a positive point of reference. Finland did not strive towards anti-German conventions, a stand that became a characterstic trait of its foreign policy. The mutual relations between Poland and Finland thus witnessed the emergence of a feature, which differentiated their perception of political reality in the region. Polish-Finnish relations were composed of three distinguishable stages; the first - 1920-1925 - coincided with talks about the establishment of a political-military alliance, to be known as the Baltic Union. The second stage - the years 1926-1932 - was a time when mutual collaboration focused on a joint stand vis a vis essential European events, such as the work of the Disarmament Commission in Geneva. During the 1933-1939 period Polish foreign policy was steered by Józef Beck, who tried to intensify bilateral contacts along the Warsaw-Helsinki line, which led to mutual visits paid by ministers of foreign affairs. Polish-Finnish political cooperation did not produce permanent effects. It proved impossible to create either a binding convention or - and this was the fundamental goal of the Polish policy - a joint defensive bloc. Finnish foreign policy oscillated around three focal points: cooperation with Poland and the Baltic states, collaboration with Scandinavia, and neutrality towards events on the Continent. Unfortunately, these targets could not be harmonized with the interests of the Polish state.

THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CENTRAL LITHUANIA IN THE LIGHT OF THE ACTS OF THE INTERIM GOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION (9 OCTOBER 1920 - 20 FEBRUARY 1922) (Polish title - below)

100%

Czechowski J.

Studia Historyczne

2009

vol. 52

issue 3-4

263-275

(Tirle in Polish - 'Spoleczno-ekonomiczne realia Litwy Srodkowej w swietle akt Tymczasowej Komisji Rzadzacej (9 pazdziernika 1920 - 20 lutego 1922 roku'). The proclamation of an independent Central Lithuania by General Lucjan Zeligowski on 12 October 1920 was followed by the creation of an interim government and the administrative apparatus of the new state. It was a difficult undertaking, complicated further by the wartime damage to infrastructure and industry. The formidable task of organizing a new administration was not made easier by the complex ethnic composition of the population. Moreover, Wilno, the historical capital of the Grand Duchy was claimed by the two newly-independent states of Poland and Lithuania. While the hostile attitude of the Lithuanians to the Polish plans was shared by the Lithuanian Catholic clergy, the allegiance of the Belarussian intelligentsia was at best skin-deep, and the support of Jewish elites for a Polish-based statehood could only be gained in return for considerable concessions, namely some form of autonomy for the Jewish minority. The problems faced by the interim government ranged from bringing in new laws, issuing new uniform identity cards, overseeing the replacement of the Russian ruble by the Polish marka, to the introduction of new systems of taxation and social insurance. The new state needed a new labour law and an updated legislation guaranteeing the freedom of association and the rights of trade unions. Meanwhile, however, Central Lithuania had no police; and the use of the draft to stabilize the situation was a risky business in a divided, multiethnic society. The article examines the ethnic and religious composition of the population of Central Lithuania. This is followed by a survey of the achievements of the Central Lithuanian interim administration in two main areas, first, the rebuilding of the region's infrastructure and industry, and second, the introduction of a new legal codes and norms. The author's analyses draw on source material from the Józef Pilsudski Institute in New York (the Aleksander Prystor files). The context for all the developments presented here was the incorporation of Central Lithuania (the Wilno region) into Poland on 22 March 1922.

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1 Dzieje Najnowsze

1 Studia Historyczne

2 Czechowski J.

2 2009

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THE UPS AND DOWNS OF POLITICAL RELATIONS BETWEEN POLAND AND FINLAND IN THJE INTERWAR PERIOD (Wzloty i upadki w politycznych relacjach Polski i Finlandii w dwudziestoleciu miedzywojennym)

THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CENTRAL LITHUANIA IN THE LIGHT OF THE ACTS OF THE INTERIM GOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION (9 OCTOBER 1920 - 20 FEBRUARY 1922) (Polish title - below)