THE PROBLEM OF MULTICULTURALISM ON THE EXAMPLE OF BELARUSIAN, LITHUANIAN, JEWISH, SILESIAN AND TATAR MINORITIES IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE SECURITY OF POLICY IN THE SECOND POLISH REPUBLIC (original) (raw)
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Humanities and Social Sciences quarterly, 2015
Reborn in 1918, from the very outset, the Polish State was confronted with the necessity of coping with an important internal issue-the one regarding the relations between ethnic Poles and the representatives of other nations who after 1923 became new citizens of the Polish Republic. Three basic factors seem to have determined the way in which the problem under discussion was dealt with in the inter-war period: 1/ the ratio of Poles to non-Poles and social differences between the two groups; 2/ interference of external forces; 3/ disputes which arose between those who opted for the building of mono-ethnic nation State and those who wished to see the restoring of a multinational Republic similar to that existing before the partitions in the 18th century. During the Second World War the problem of how to regain independence became again of crucial importance for all Poles. The problems connected with the ethnic minorities had quite naturally moved to the margin of political considerations. The Polish leaders stressed the need to grant national minorities the right to develop their cultural activity and secure for them the freedom of religious practice. The German minority, however, was excluded from this offer. It was demanded that the Germans as bearing responsibility for the suffering of the Polish people, should be forced to leave Poland. The effects of social-mechanisms that were decided in Yalta caused Poland to become a mono-ethnic state. The factors that determined it were as follows: 1/ the Nazi Holocaust which nearly occasioned the total physical annihilation of the Polish Jews community; 2/ displacement of the Germans from the lands granted to Poland; 3/ the lack of choice of a "new mother country" among Ukrainian, Byelorussians, and Lithuanian people, and automatic ascription of Soviet nationality to the former citizens of the Republic of Poland those of Slavic but non-Polish descent; 4/ settlement of the expelled Poles from behind the eastern border into the so-called "Recovered Territories". In turn, the imperative of integration and willingness to implement the rules in force in the structure of United Europe defined the status of national minorities in Poland after 1989.
research material as well. The analysis and evaluation of theses source documents had an additional input in the matter of research on how the national minorities had affected the internal security of the Second Republic of Poland. The content provided suggests that the influence of many actions of the Ukrainian and German minorities actually destabilized the inner situation in the Second Republic. The nature of activities of the both minority groups, however, was fundamentally different. The Ukrainian minority often referred to the paramilitary operations and assistance of military organizations for spreading terror and political forcing of their demands. Whereas, the German minority benefited from measures of political propaganda and agitation inspired from Germany. Its political parties and various associations often smuggled anti-Polish contents, in the spirit of the German policy of revisionism.
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In the early 90s, significant changes in the political and geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe occurred inter alia the collapse of communist rule and the collapse of the Soviet Union. All these processes have caused also social, legal and organizational changes of the situation of national minorities in Eastern Europe. There have been the liberalization and empowerment of national minorities. After 1990 began to be formed many organizations which were connected with social, educational, cultural or political life of national minorities. But on the other hand the result of these changes was a revival of old conflicts in Eastern Europe.
National minorities in Polish politics and its eastern neighbors
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Ikinci Dunya Savasi'ndan sonraki siyasi degisimler sonucunda yuz binlerce Polonyali dogu Polonya sinirini terk etti. Bu topluluklarin eski Polonya topraklari ile olan iliskileri ve Sovyetler Birligi'ne dahil olmalari eski SSCB'deki en buyuk Polonyali azinliklardan birini meydana getirdi. 1989'dan beri devam eden siyasi degisimler ile Litvanya, Belarus ve Ukrayna'nin bagimsiz bir devlet olarak ortaya cikisi, Polonyalilarin farklilasarak su anda uc farkli ulkede yasamasina neden olmustur. Litvanya, Belarus ve Ukrayna'daki siyasi degisimler bu ulkelerdeki Polonyali azinligin mevcut durumlarinda farkliliklarin yasanmasina sebep olmustur. Litvanya, Polonya ile birlikte Avrupa Birligi ve NATO uyeligine giden yolu onayladi. AB mevzuatinin yukselmesine ragmen, ulusal duyarlilik Litvanya'daki Polonyali azinligin konumunun bozulmasina neden oldu. Baskan Lukashenko'nun iktidar varsayimi, Belarus'taki Polonya kuruluslarinin ticari faaliyetlerinin azaltilmasin...
2013
"Many changes in political affiliation during last centuries caused that East European countries are inhabited by many minorities. Nowadays the national minorities are quite important part of different societies but they have also different functional possibilities. In different countries they have different legal status which influence on their situations. Nowadays Poles are the largest national minority in Lithuania (about 235 thousands people of 3 millions population) with many organizations. In opposite Lithuanian minority is not so large in Poland (about 8 thousands people of 38 millions population) but they also have got their own institutions. The presentation will be a comparison of the demographic, political and legal activity and education of both national minorities. In the other hand it will be a comparison of contemporary situation of both nations in opinions of the leaders of Polish organizations in Lithuania and Lithuanian organizations in Poland. It will be based on empirical researches. The conclusion of the presentation will be assertion if and how the different legal, demographic, institutional situation affect on the behavior of Lithuanian and Polish national identity and on the relations with the inhabited country and the nation. "
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