Endecja
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Poland |
 This article is part of the series: |
|
|
See also: Economy, Foreign relations |
|
Other countries • Politics Portal |
Endecja (from abbreviaton (ND) of its Polish name, Narodowa Demokracja (National Democrats), also known as National Movement (Ruch Narodowy)) was a Polish right-wing political movement most active from middle of the 19th century to the end of the Second Polish Republic in 1939. Among its most important founders and ideologues was Roman Dmowski. The movement effectively ceased to exist with the end of Second World War. During the times of the Second Polish Republic it was a strong proponent of polonization policies.
Contents |
[edit] Origins
The origins of the endecja can be traced to the failure of the January Uprising in 1864 and the era of the positivism in Poland. After the uprisng, last in the series of several Polish uprisings in the 19th century, was bloodily crushed by the partitioners of Poland, the new generation of Polish patriots and politicians decided that Polish independence will not be won on the battlefield but through education and culture.
In 1886 the secret Liga Polska organization was founded, in 1893 renamed into Liga Narodowa. From 1895 Liga published its own newspaper (Przegląd Wszechpolski), and from 1897 it had an official political party, the Stronnictwo Narodowo-Demokratyczne. Unlike the Polish Socialist Party, endecja advocated peaceful negotiations.
During the First World War, while PPS, now under influence of Józef Piłsudski, supported the Central Powers, endecja first allied itself with Russian Empire (supporting the creation of the Legion Puławski), and later, with the Western Powers (supporting the Blue Army). After the end of the Great War, many endecja politicians had much more influence abroad then in Poland. It forced them to share power with Piłsudski, who had much more support in the military then they had. Still, due to their support abroad, endecja politicians like Dmowski and Ignacy Paderewski were able to gain support for some Polish requests at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and the Treaty of Versailles.
[edit] Second Polish Republic
In the newly independent Second Polish Republic endecja was represented first by the Związek Ludowo-Narodowy party, and from 1928 by Stronnictwo Narodowe. Among the chief characteristics of endecja policies was the stress on polonization: it was endecja politicians like Dmowski and Grabski who contributed the failure of Piłsudski's Międzymorze federation, the alliance with Symon Petlura, and the alienation of ethnic minorities in Poland.
After Piłsudski's May Coup of 1926, endecja found itself in constant opposition to the pro-Piłsudski Sanacja. To fight the Sanacja movement, endecja created the Obóz Wielkiej Polski organization.
[edit] Second World War
During WWII became part of a coalition which formed the Polish Government in Exile. Closely linked with the controversial Narodowe Sily Zbrojne (National Armed Forces) an underground organization which became a small part of the Polish resistance movement. Due to endecja anti-minority policies, its armed organizations were engaged in combat not only against the Nazi Germany, but also against the Soviet Union and organizations of various Polish minorities. Due to that, they had little support and many enemies.
[edit] After the war
After the end of the war, when Poland found itself under the control of Polish communists and the Soviet Union, remains of endecja either emigrated to the West, or continied the eventually futile fight against the Soviet occupation.
[edit] Modern Poland
After the fall of communism when Poland became a democratic country, several political parties tried to reestabilish some traditions of the endecja movement. Currently the only significant party which declares itself a successor to endecja is the Liga Polskich Rodzin, founded in 2001. Since then, in various elections, the party has gathered from 8% to 16% of votes.
[edit] Notable members
- Roman Dmowski
- Jędrzej Giertych
- Jan Ludwik Popławski
- Zygmunt Balicki
- Marian Seyda
- Ignacy Chrzanowski
- Władysław Konopczyński
- Stanisław Kozicki
- Leon Mirecki
- Adam Doboszyński
- Roman Rybarski
- Zygmunt Wasilewski
- Władysław Grabski
- Stanisław Grabski
- Jan Mosdorf
- Feliks Koneczny
- Józef Haller
- Tadeusz Rozwadowski
- Wojciech Korfanty
- Maurycy Zamoyski
- Józef Świeżyński
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding Polish Wikipedia article as of 1 June 2006.
