Two Ideologies: Dmowski Vs. Pilsudski

For a nation that had not formally existed for almost 150 years, Poland in 1918 loomed large in the minds of those who had for generations longed to see their homeland reemerge on the map of Europe. Yet when Poland did return to the world stage, nearly everyone had his own opinion as to what direction the nascent state should take. Poland’s political scene was home to numerous parties, interest groups and organizations: Trade unions, ethnic organizations and religious societies existed side-by-side with the traditional political parties, which were themselves often divided into moderate and radical wings.

Yet amid the diversity of the numerous political movements, two major political leaders emerged. From the First World War to the 1930s, Polish politics was dominated by two strong personalities: Jozef Pilsudski and Roman Dmowski. While both shared a love for their homeland and a desire to see it thrive as an independent state, the methods they used to achieve their goals were very different. And while one’s philosophy would dominate the interwar period, the other’s be influential during the crteation of the postwar state.

Roman Dmowski was born in the Warsaw suburb of Praga in 1864 to a poor, working-class family. Having earned a degree in biology from the University of Warsaw, he felt resentment for having to compete with the many non-Poles in the Polish lands. He became politically active for a number of nationalist causes, some of which were anti-Semitic, even spending time in prison in 1892 for organizing a nationalist demonstration. Throughout his career, Dmowski would be known for his conservative, nationalist, anti-Semitic, pro-Polish philosophy.

Jozef Pilsudski, on the other hand, represented a more liberal ideology. He was born in Wilno (now Vilnius, Lithuania) in 1867 to a noble family. He, too, was sent to prison: He was sentenced to five years in Siberia in 1887. Pilsudski worked with the Socialists, helping to found the Party of Polish Socialism and editing the revolutionary newspaper Robotnik (The Worker) Pilsudski, being from an outlying area of what was historically known as Poland, believed in a country that would accept all who were loyal to it, Poles and non-Poles alike. The events beginning in 1914 would allow both him and his rival to help build the Polish state according to their own ideologies.

When World War I broke out, the Polish lands lay on both sides of the conflict. Galicia was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and Silesia belonged to the German Empire; yet the majority of Poles were Russian subjects. As a result, there was no clear enemy, no one for the Poles to “beat” in their quest for independence. Dmowski and Pilsudski differed in their assessments of the threats that faced Poland. The former feared Germany as the historical aggressor and conqueror of Poland. The latter felt that Russia was the lesser of the two evils, posing the greatest danger to its western neighbor at the time. Dmowski, opposing the same enemies as the Western Allies, was able to travel abroad and lobby for their support of Poland’s independence. Pilsudski raised his own army to oppose the czar and was imprisoned in Magdeburg castle until the end of the war.

At the end of the war, Pilsudski easily overshadowed his rival. While Dmowski was still abroad, Pilsudski was able to take control of the newly forming government. The charismatic Pilsudski, considered a hero for his service to Poland, furthered his reputation by his miraculous defeat of the Soviet forces at Warsaw in 1920. Dmowski was still powerful, however—his National Democratic party was the largest political party in Poland. He was able to keep Pilsudski from attaining great personal power by having the constitution written to weaken the powers of the President, an office that Pilsudski would surely have been elected to. The war hero retired from public life as a result, returning in 1926 to finally seize power and establish his own, mildly authoritarian regime.

Pilsudski ruled Poland until his death from stomach cancer in 1935. He exercised his power from behind the scenes, never holding office himself. Shortly before his death, the Polish constitution was amended once again with Pilsudski in mind, this time strengthening the presidency. But with Pilsudski’s death, that post would have to be filled by one of his followers. Polish nationalists were able to regain some power as well, reestablishing their relationship with Pilsudski's successors once their leader was gone.

The ideals of Dmowski lived on even after the mass slaughter of the Second World War showed the world how destructive nationalism and anti-Semitism could be. In his book Heart of Europe, Norman Davies describes how the interwar leader’s philosophies were useful to the founders of the socialist People’s Republic of Poland: Not only was Dmowski friendlier toward the Russians, nationalism would help create a foundation for the new Polish state. Although the Communists sang the praises of internationalism, the Russians’ appeal to nationalism in what they called the “Great Fatherland War” showed how powerful it could be in gathering public support for a regime. Davies speculates that Polish nationalism could also serve another purpose, insulating the Poles from the power of their new Russian masters.

Roman Dmowski and Jozef Pilsudski represented two differing philosophies regarding the nature of the historic Polish state. While the leftist Pilsudski ruled Poland between the World Wars, the views of his conservative rival Dmowski came to the fore when the Communists needed an ideology to help support their unpopular regime. In the 10 years since Communism ended in eastern Europe, Poland has pursued a course more akin to Pilsudski’s: The multinational European Union, which Poland hopes to join, falls in line with his philosophy. After two World Wars and half a century of Communism, Poland’s national ideologies have come full-circle.