The purpose of this dissertation is to present the significant achievements and activities of this chaplain in many areas of his life. He is not a person well known and has not gained a rightful place in the Polish historiography. The author of this dissertation attempted to analyze the role of chaplain in the functioning of the Polish Legions, the battle for Przemyśl and pastoral work in the Polish Army. Also considered the impact of the priest chaplain on the activities of the peasant movement, attempted to determine the degree of the impact of journalism Socio-political face of ideological and programmatic opposition government. The author did not omit the question of the position of chaplain in the structures of conspiracy Lvov under Soviet occupation.
The aim ot the article is to analyze the barriers that hinder the development of active civic attitudes in Poland. The author reflects on three areas, corresponding to her research hypotheses. The first area concerns trust, which has remained at similarly low levels in Poland for years. The author argues that behavior and attitudes implied by a higher level of trust can successfully regulate cooperation among people, which may replace legal provisions in many fields.The second barrier is an area of religiousness, specific to Poland, which catalyzes citizens' activity. The third area of analysis pertains to the quality of political discourse in Poland, which becomes more and more suffused with agression with the aim of attracting attention of potential constituents rather than substantive discussion.
A Hundred Years of the Project Method in PolandThe text presents the development of the project method in Polish education throughout the last century. The project method was introduced into Poland after regaining independence, and it was implemented during the inter-war period (1918–1939) in some schools, both in urban and rural environments. Nevertheless, the method was at that time treated as a pedagogical novelty andexperiment, rather than a natural part of school life. After 1945, education, like other aspects ofsocio-political life, was influenced by the communist propaganda, and the project method, supporting autonomy, democracy and empowerment, was not promoted as a valuable educational approach. After 1989, when progressive trends appeared in Polish schools, the project method gained somepopularity but it was not until 2008 when it was granted national and formal recognition. Then, the new core curriculum was developed, and the project method became an obligatory part of school reality. The revival of the project method was connected with the alarming findings concerning social capital in Poland. In this situation, making students cooperate within projects seemed aremedy for the decreasing social capital. As the author points out, formal introduction of the method does not necessarily mean its effective accomplishment, which should be accompanied by spontaneity and authentic engagement. What is more, as the author shows, after decades of theabsence of this method in Poland, and the lack of the relevant socio-cultural background, teachers might find it difficult to implement a project so as to contribute to the increase of social capital. All these areas need further investigation. Nevertheless, the author hopes that the text will contribute tobetter understanding of contemporary challenges and opportunities related to the implementation of the idea of projects in Polish education. ; A Hundred Years of the Project Method in PolandThe text presents the development of the project method in Polish education throughout the last century. The project method was introduced into Poland after regaining independence, and it was implemented during the inter-war period (1918–1939) in some schools, both in urban and rural environments. Nevertheless, the method was at that time treated as a pedagogical novelty andexperiment, rather than a natural part of school life. After 1945, education, like other aspects of socio-political life, was influenced by the communist propaganda, and the project method, supporting autonomy, democracy and empowerment, was not promoted as a valuable educational approach.After 1989, when progressive trends appeared in Polish schools, the project method gained some popularity but it was not until 2008 when it was granted national and formal recognition. Then, the new core curriculum was developed, and the project method became an obligatory part of school reality. The revival of the project method was connected with the alarming findings concerningsocial capital in Poland. In this situation, making students cooperate within projects seemed a remedy for the decreasing social capital. As the author points out, formal introduction of the method does not necessarily mean its effective accomplishment, which should be accompanied by spontaneity and authentic engagement. What is more, as the author shows, after decades of theabsence of this method in Poland, and the lack of the relevant socio-cultural background, teachers might find it difficult to implement a project so as to contribute to the increase of social capital. All these areas need further investigation. Nevertheless, the author hopes that the text will contribute tobetter understanding of contemporary challenges and opportunities related to the implementation of the idea of projects in Polish education.
Der Artikel beschreibt und fasst die Auswirkungen der Wiedervereinigung auf das deutsche Parteiensystem nach 1990 zusammen. Zu den wichtigsten Konsequenzen der Vereinigung gehören: 1) die Entstehung einer neuen Partei (die PDS, seit 2007 Die Linke), welche die Interessen der Ostdeutschen Bevölkerung vertrat; 2) darauffolgende Bildung einer Fünfparteiensystem nach 1990; 3) unterschiedliche Wahlpräferenzen der West- und Ostdeutschen und die Herausbildung eines spezifischen regionalen Parteiensystems in den neuen Bundesländern (das Modell 3+, d.h. CDU, SPD, PSD/Die Linke + eventuell andere Parteien); 4) die Abschwächung beider großen Volksparteien und Verlust ihrer Dominanzposition innerhalb des deutschen Parteiensystems nach der Bundestagswahl 2009; 5) Relevanzverlust der FDP; 6) größere Veränderungsdynamik auf der deutschen politischen Szene. Das Ergebnis der Bundestagswahlen vom 22. September 2013 brachte große Veränderungen auf der politischen Szene Deutschlands. Beide Volksparteien, insbesondere CDU/CSU, gewannen zum Teil die verlorenen Positionen zurück, hauptsächlich auf Kosten der mittleren Parteien, FDP befand sich zum ersten Mal außer Bundestag und auf der deutschen politischen Szene erschien eine neue Partei – AfD. Nach der Wahl entstand das Modell 4+2 (vier Parteien: CDU/CSU, SPD, Die Linke und die Grünen, die im Bundestag vertreten sind + FDP und AfD, die knapp unter Sperrklausel waren) und die Große Koalition von CDU/CSU und SPD übernahm die Macht. Diese Konstellation schien eine Zeit lang beständig zu sein. Dennoch wurde die Position der beiden regierenden Parteien (insbesondere der CDU) seit dem Ausbruch der Migrationskrise abgeschwächt und der Einfluss der AfD, die konsequent gegen die Willkommenspolitik der Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel opponieren, wurde allmählich stärker.
The aim of presented article is to examine regularities in the geographical distribution of support for the new political parties in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. At the beginning of the study, nationwide results of analyzed parties were compared with results achieved in territorial units. On this basis, the author created an indicator showing the average profit (or loss) of a new grouping in relation to the share of votes at the national level. Subsequently, the author calculated the Pearson's correlation coefficients to evaluate the relationship between results of new political parties in the first elections they gained parliamentary seats. The results of the analysis show that only in case of Czech Republic, it is possible to distinct the territorial units where citizens are more likely to vote for new parties. Nevertheless, most of differences in the geographical distribution of support for new parties in analyzed countries arise from three interrelated factors: the specificity of the territorial unit, ideological autoidentification of population inhabiting a particular territorial unit and popularity of party leaders.
The article is part of the introductory chapter of a monograph on the subject: The Word of Jahwe about Nations in the Books of the Prophetic Writers. The author gives a review of the opinion of the exegetes of our century, on the question of whether the prophets were interested, and to what a degres, in political metters especially in those which concerned the relationship of the chosen people to its neighbours. The opinions of the exegetes in this matter are of a very wide range, from the extremity (the prophets are agents of foreign powers or they are utopians) — to level — hea ded opinions generally prevailling today, according to which the prophets were men of God engaged in political affairs in so far as the necessity of taking an interest in those problems was dictated by their mission and calling. The author considers that this statement is of great importance for further studies, because it should facilitate the correct interpretation of the prophecies of those men of God as to foreign nations.
W niniejszym artykule autor analizuje procesy kształtowania się politycznych systemów w państwach Kaukazu Południowego. Wskazuje przy tym na patologiczne zjawiska funkcjonujące w elitach władzy oraz w systemach politycznych tych państw. Analizie poddane zostały także konflikty w Górskim Karabachu, Abchazji i Osetii Południowej, które nadal dominują w życiu politycznym Armenii, Azerbejdżanu i Gruzji. Są podstawą ideologii i programów politycznych elit walczących o władzę, a także znacząco wpływają na styl przywództwa. W politycznej walce znaczącą rolę odgrywały elity wojskowe, które szybko awansowały na szczyt władzy. Autor próbuje wyjaśnić, jak konflikty w Górskim Karabachu, Abchazji i Osetii Południowej wpływają na proces transformacji ustrojowej państw regionu. Kolejnym aspektem analizy jest odpowiedź na pytanie, jak tradycja, kultura, psychologia, styl życia i interesy politycznych elit Armenii, Azerbejdżanu i Gruzji wpływają na rezultaty pokojowego uregulowania konfliktów. ; The Author analyses proces of the formation of political regimes in Southern Caucasus. He points to the pathological phenomena in the functioning of power elites and political regimes of those states. The Author analyses the influence of conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia on the domestic and foreign policy of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. He proves that the described conflict for many years dominated in the political life of this country and was a basis of the ideology and the programs of elites struggling for power. In the struggle of the elites, the military elites played the main role, while being an important path to advancement to the peaks of power. The author tries to explain the influence of the Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia question on political transformation of the states in conflict. Another important thread of the analysis is to search answers to the question, how tradition, culture, psychology, life styles and political interests of elites in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia affect the course and the effects of a peacemaking process aimed solving the Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The aim of the article is to describe the processes of local communities mobilization in the face of (small) schools liquidation in the rural areas. The author focuses on those cases of local activism which resulted in the formalization of undertaken activities and the establishment of local associations willing to lead local schools. The article presents determinants of social mobilization processes, pointing to the important role of local authorities (executive bodies) and teachers perceived as leaders of local activism. Based on the results of qualitative research conducted in selected rural municipalities in Poland, the author identifies three models of local activism leading to the creation of local (grassroots) associations that act as school governing bodies. Two of the identified models of activism are of a cooperative nature, based on the co-action of local authorities and the local community. While third one is non-cooperative. In this case, the mobilization of the local community and the formation of the association resulted from the lack of community acceptance for the decision of the municipality related to schools liquidation. Theoretical frameworks of the article are based on the concept of local governance, assuming the active participation of nonpublic actors in the process of public tasks implementation. The author also refers to the concept of public participation and presents selected definitions of social activity. The article is based on empirical research conducted in the form of semi-structured interviews and available statistical data (GUS). The author used the following methods: the literature review method and elements of the comparative and systemic methods. ; Celem artykułu jest opis procesów aktywizacji społeczności lokalnej w obliczu likwidacji szkół na obszarach wiejskich, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem tych, których efektem była formalizacja działań i powołanie stowarzyszeń prowadzących szkoły. Autorka koncentruje się na uwarunkowaniach procesów aktywizacji społecznej, wskazując na istotną rolę władz lokalnych (organów wykonawczych) oraz nauczycieli, jako liderów lokalnej mobilizacji. Bazując na wynikach badań jakościowych prowadzonych w wybranych gminach wiejskich, wskazuje na trzy modele aktywizacji prowadzącej do powstania oddolnych stowarzyszeń prowadzących szkoły. Dwa ze zidentyfikowanych rozwiązań mają charakter kooperatywny, oparty na współpracy władz lokalnych i społeczności lokalnej. Jeden zaś niekooperatywny, w przypadku którego władze gminy nie wspierały społeczności lokalnych w tworzeniu oddolnych stowarzyszeń, które podjęłyby się prowadzenia szkół. W tym przypadku aktywizacja społeczności lokalnej i powstanie stowarzyszenia były rezultatem braku akceptacji społeczności dla decyzji władz gminy. Ramy teoretyczne artykułu wyznacza koncepcja współrządzenia na poziomie lokalnym (local governance), zakładająca aktywny udział podmiotów niepublicznych w procesach realizacji zadań publicznych. Ponadto autorka dokonuje przeglądu definicji aktywności społecznej i partycypacji publicznej. W artykule wykorzystane zostały wyniki z badań empirycznych prowadzonych w formie wywiadów półustrukturyzowanych wśród 60 interesariuszy lokalnej polityki oświatowej oraz danych zastanych (GUS). W badaniu wykorzystano takie metody jak analiza literatury przedmiotu oraz metoda porównawcza.
In his book author explains social and political phenomena that are connected with political change in local conditions in Poland in 1989. As yet there has been no empirical study that would consider first partly free election to the last parliament of People's Republic of Poland in local conditions. In 1989 there were 108 electoral constituencies in Poland to the Sejm elections, and free election to the Senate were conducted in 49 provinces of Poland. Chojnice was a capital city of election constituency no. 14 to the Sejm and a part of election to the Senate conducted in Bydgoszcz Province. As over the time social issues are perceived through stereotypes and tend to be mythologized, it seems important to author to show such events and phenomena on firm basis. It is worth emphasizing that results from 1989 elections in local conditions are generally unknown. Poles do not know results in their local constituencies because nearly thirty years after the elections official results from local constituencies still have not been not published anywhere. Thus, this study is based on primary sources, newspapers from that time, literature of this particular issue. The analysis and synthesis is based on a number of theoretical perspectives: behaviorism to describe interaction between political actors – electoral system – party systems; political process and political change; Joseph Schumpeter's assumption that political competition is of fundamental importance for the democracy; Samuel Huntington's theory of third wave of democratization. All the data is analyzed in quantitative perspective. There is no hypothesis as the study is a descriptive and explanatory one. Its main goal is to highlight earlier unknown phenomena. This study is about local politics in a one-party state during the time of political change, so author refers to the politics on state level from that time. The most important questions refer to: continuity of activity of new social movement members from the time of the carnival of Chojnice "Solidarity" in the years 1980-1981 and their involvement in 1989; political negotiations and emergence of political leaders during that time; political will of citizens to take part in political change and their will to change the political system; attitudes of political actors from PUWP and "Solidarity"; individual nature of facts from that time taken under consideration from the perspective of local reality; attitudes of local regime members towards political change; results of elections in Chojnice constituency on 4th and 18th June 1989; differentiation of political behavior in Chojnice constituency; picture of society of that time; influence of cultural and ethnical identity as well as people's ties (mainly with Catholic Church) and roots on their political choices. Political behavior is one of the main category of this study. Author highlights not only electoral system but also describes process of political leaders' emergence on local scale. In this perspective election campaign is portrayed as a political fight between candidates of Citizen Committee of "Solidarity" and candidates of Polish United Worker's Party (PUWP) and its political satellites. As a matter of fact, author stresses the importance of category of the legitimization and shows that members of PUWP (in Poland known as PZPR) were not totally delegitimized by citizens in 1989 election in Chojnice constituency. In fact, PUWP was mostly legitimized by Poles in the northern part of Bydgoszcz Province during that election. The study consists of the following parts: introduction, 8 chapters, summary, bibliography, index and appendix. The first chapter describes electoral system and law that was enforced in 1989. The second one analyzes political climate and political situation around elections to the Sejm and the Senate. The third chapter is also mostly analytical one. Author describes local communists apparatchiks' attitude towards political change. The fourth chapter shows the process of political leaders emergence from both sides of the political conflict. The fifth chapter describes personal features of candidates to the Sejm and the Senate. The sixth chapter shows election campaign. The seventh one shows election results. The eighth chapter describes political attitudes and behavior of citizens in Chojnice constituency. In the appendix readers may find results from constituency districts of Chojnice town, and Chojnice country. As a result of this study some unexpected conclusions emerged after empirical study, for example: one of the most prominent one is that citizens of People's Republic of Poland do not reject totally PUWP and its monopoly for power and authority; paradoxically candidates from "Solidarity" movement were not selected as democratically as candidates from PUWP ; deep differences in political attitudes in Chojnice constituency depended on the scale of people's religiousness and the tradition of political opposition in town, as well as on ethnic groups; the highest support for political change was among Kashubians, whereas the lowest in the groups called Krajniacy and Borowiacy.
In the dissertation entitled "Communication determinants of organizational changes in Polish political parties at the turn of the century" the author has made a detailed analysis of the relationship between the political communication and the internal organization of Polish political parties. The dynamic technological development made a progress in manners and forms of communication. Making new perspectives and opportunities in making interactions, including through inventing and popularization of the Internet, have been reflected in the world of politics. Using the knowledge of Polish and foreign scientists it is important to emphasize that, on the one hand, a decrease of identification with political parties and, on the other hand, an increase of professionalization of political activities run by the management of political parties have occurred in the reality at the turn of the century. The main purpose of modern political parties is their organizational survival and development. The essence of the political activity is to establish interactions with voters in order to identify their opinions, adjust them to their own election program and shape their previous preferences. Combining together theses two conclusions, it should be noted that political communication allows constructing tools and methods by means of which political parties can be well managed, which ensures their survival and development. The dissertation consists of fiver chapters. In the first chapter the author has analysed the functioning of the democratic system, in which all considerations collected in the dissertation have been embedded. The considerations have been, however, adapted to the overall context of the dissertation. In the second chapter the author has considered the issues concerning the evolutionary character of political parties. It is also important to emphasize that the considerations are focused only on political parties at the turn of the century. The third chapter discusses the issues presented in the second chapter, but in a detailed way. It contains the key management conceptions for political parties which according to the author are important to be implemented in parties whose main purpose is long-term survival and development. The fourth chapter includes the issues associated with the political communication. In the last chapter the author has collected the whole empirical knowledge gained during the interviews with the main politicians from Polish political parties. The interviews gain an insight into managerial processes in seven Polish parties: 1. Platforma Obywatelska RP; 2. Prawo i Sprawiedliwość; 3. Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe; 4. Ruch Kukiz'15; 5. Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej; 6. Twój Ruch; 7. Nowoczesna Ryszarda Petru. The last chapter contains fifteen individual interviews. There were two criteria regarding the process of selecting the respondents. The first factor was their knowledge about managerial and communication processes in political parties they are associated with. The second fact was their experience gained during their political activity. The main purpose of these two criteria was to come to the representative conclusions for political parties as a whole organization, not only for their regional branches. Every interview had a detailed scenario which influenced on a scope and quantity of gathered information. The average interview lasted two and a half hours. During this time the author of the dissertation gained from ten to thirty one pages of the detailed information. To achieve the dissertation's purposes mentioned in previous paragraphs, the author has presented a series of hypotheses: 1. The most effective shaping of the development of countries and societies as well as skilful managing of public resources is achieved if political parties are well managed, in particular by conducting an effective human resources policy, which means the ability to recruit qualified supporters and members who are able to construct an election program ensuring long-term survival and development, skilful fundraising for statutory purposes and creating a strategy of development for a political party perceived as an organization which exists in the changing and rivalry environment; 2. Political parties whose main purpose is to perform public functions must construct an election program that is the most suited to the needs and expectations of potential voters. The election program needs also to be presented in the most preferred form for potential voters. The election program must be more convincing than the offers presented by other political parties; 3. In the political rivalry at the turn of the century political parties need to pick up the potential and skills indispensable in the process of shaping electoral preferences. The possibility of influencing on the decision making process in the country is associated with the proper selection of the communication tools and methods; 4. The good management of political parties is associated with an organizational structure which allows establishing interactions between politicians and voters, which makes it possible to create political programmes suited to the most preferred, from a political party's point of view, segments of the electorate, influence on electoral attitudes as well as construct a political offer more persuasive for a voter than the counterpart created by political rivals; 5. The main purpose of every political party, perceived as gaining influence on the decision making process, can be achieved only by creation effective communication methods and tools, which are the most important in political parties and can also have an influence on political party's organizational structure; 6. The level of the citizen's knowledge in the countries which adopted a representative democratic system is directly proportional to the level of the social and economic development in these countries. The progress of the representative democratic system is possible in most cases due to creation of effective communication methods and tools; 7. The political evolution of modern societies, among which is should be mentioned, the decreasing level of the permanent identification with political parties determines an evolution of organizational structures of political parties and ways of creating political processes. Nowadays the political communication is a factor which allows interpreting electoral preferences and adjusting all political activities to them; 8. The evolution of the modern societies leads to the evolution of ways of creating political processes, especially by their assimilation to the activity based on methods and forms known from the commercial market.
Striving to become a world leader in political and economic terms, the European Union has been pursuing development policy based on the development of information society, building an innovative knowledge economy and protecting the environment and its resources for nearly two decades. The development and modernisation of the European Union and its Member States are currently dependent on the effects of the implementation of the Europe 2020 socio-economic development strategy pursued since 2010. The author of the study is interested in the prospects for the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy. Analysing the degree of the realisation of selected indicators of the strategy and socio-economic determinants of the development of the European Union and its Member States the author attempt to resolve the issue of the possibility of full implementation of the strategy by 2020. ; Dążąc do uzyskania pozycji światowego lidera w wymiarze politycznym i gospodarczym Unia Europejska od blisko dwóch dekad stara się realizować politykę rozwoju opartą na rozwoju społeczeństwa informacyjnego, budowie innowacyjnej Gospodarki Opartej na Wiedzy oraz ochronie środowiska naturalnego i jego zasobów. Rozwój oraz modernizacja Unii Europejskiej i jej państw członkowskich zależą obecnie od efektów wdrażania realizowanej od 2010 r. strategii rozwoju społeczno-gospodarczego Europa 2020. Przedmiotem zainteresowania autora pracy są perspektywy wdrażania strategii Europa 2020. Analizując stopień realizacji wybranych wskaźników strategii oraz społeczno-gospodarcze uwarunkowania rozwoju Unii Europejskiej i jej państw członkowskich autor opracowania próbuje rozstrzygnąć kwestię możliwości pełnego wdrożenia interesującej go strategii do roku 2020.
The author of the article puts forward a thesis that the period in the international relations that came after the Cold War has already been completed and we are now in another one, to which he gives the name of the Post-Lisbon order. So far, in the discourse on the international relations it is called the post-Cold War order, without a clear distinction of its timeframe. The author, who presents a theoretical introduction of the definition of the international order which he perceives as a way of determining the relationship between international actors, who also presents the most important provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon and the New NATO Strategic Concept (adopted in Lisbon), called the new period a post-Lisbon order. By analyzing the presented problems the article constitutes an attempt to prove the thesis which was put forward at the beginning. ; Autor w artykule stawia tezę, że okres w stosunkach międzynarodowych, który nastąpił po zimnej wojnie został już zakończony i obecnie znajdujemy się w kolejnym, któremu nadaje nazwę okresu postlizbońskiego. Dotychczas w dyskursie nad stosunkami międzynarodowymi jest on nazywany pozimnowojennym, bez wyraźnego wyznaczenia jego ram czasowych. Autor poprzez teoretyczne wprowadzenie o ładzie międzynarodowym, jako sposobie określania relacji między podmiotami międzynarodowymi oraz przedstawienie najważniejszych postanowień Traktatu z Lizbony oraz Nowej Koncepcji Strategicznej NATO (przyjętej w Lizbonie) stawia tezę, że nowy okres należy określać mianem ładu postlizbońskiego. Celem artykułu jest zbadanie prawdziwości tego założenia. Artykuł, dzięki analizie przedstawionych zagadnień stanowi próbę udowodnienia postawionej na początku tezy.
The article presents the view that in modern Ukrainian literature about Europe, Europeans or Europeanism, has not quite central, but what is true and not peripheral place. Most likely, this topicis logically rooted in literary texts, which resembles more philosophical reflections on the present and future of Ukraine, is the search for the appointment of Ukraine in the modern world and contemporary culture. The author tried to prove that European values of Ukraine in the works of contemporary literature only for certain conditions can shape moral basis and customs of its customers. The author concludes that European values of contemporary Ukrainian writers is also linked with the content of songs, especially those that paint a picture of a man and his country, presenting their various problems, present their fate and life situations or political. ; W artykule przedstawiono pogląd, że we współczesnej ukraińskiej literaturze temat Europy, Europejczyków czy europejskości, posiada całkiem nie centralne co prawda, ale i nie peryferyjne miejsce. Najprawdopodobniej ten temat jest logicznie zakorzeniony w tekstach literackich, co więcej przypomina filozoficzne rozważania nad teraźniejszym i przyszłym losem Ukrainy, jest poszukiwaniem mianowania Ukrainy we współczesnym świecie i współczesnej kulturze. Autor starał się udowodnić, że europejskie wartości Ukrainy w utworach współczesnej literatury tylko pod pewnymi warunkami mogą kształtować podstawy moralne i obyczajowość swoich odbiorców. Autor wysnuł wnioski, że wartości europejskie według współczesnych ukraińskich pisarzy łączą się również z treścią utworów, w szczególności zaś tych, które malują obraz człowieka i jego kraju, prezentują ich najróżniejsze problemy, przedstawiają ich losy i sytuacje życiowe lub polityczne.
Artykuł jest komentarzem do nowej książki Andrzeja Nowaka Pierwsza zdrada Zachodu. 1920 – zapomniany appeasement (Kraków 2015). Monografia ta daje nową analizę międzynarodowych aspektów wojny polsko-sowieckiej (1919–1920). Znaczenie tej wojny było i jest bardzo często spychane na margines historii Europy, podczas gdy były to zmagania decydujące dla przyszłości kontynentu europejskiego, a przede wszystkim ładu wersalskiego. Nie sposób sobie nie wyobrazić jego załamania i sowietyzacji przynajmniej wschodniej i środkowej części Europy, gdyby wojna ta zakończyła się klęską armii polskiej. Książka Nowaka nie jest jednak analityczną monografią wojny polsko-sowieckiej, lecz studium nad ustosunkowaniem zwycięskich mocarstw Zachodu wobec tego konfliktu. Wśród tych mocarstw decydujące znaczenie odrywała Wielka Brytania. Autor doszedł do przekonania, iż w polityce tej wolno widzieć prefigurację późniejszego appeasementu z lat trzydziestych XX w. Rząd Zjednoczonego Królestwa czynił w 1920 r. wszystko, aby doprowadzić do ugody polsko-sowieckiej, która w istocie rzeczy byłaby równoznaczna z hegemonią sowiecką nad odbudowaną Polską. Zwycięstwo armii polskiej w bitwie nad Wisłą udaremniło ten plan. Monografia ma w tytule sformułowanie "zdrada", ale książka – jak napisał we wstępie do niej jej Autor – nie jest "traktatem moralnym". Nie jest usiłowaniem sądu nad twórcami polityki mocarstw cudzoziemskich, które nie mają obowiązku służyć interesom Polski. Jest wyłącznie analizą pewnego zjawiska z polityki międzynarodowej. A zjawisko to nie jest zamkniętą kartą historii. Może się ono powtórzyć w naszych czasach. Książkę może spotkać zarzut, że jest polonocentryczna. Tak wszakże nie jest, bowiem Autor ma świadomość uwarunkowań polityki brytyjskiej i zawsze stosuje zasadę audiatur et altera pars. Książka Nowaka udokumentowana została nieznanymi (lub słabo zbadanymi) archiwaliami brytyjskimi. Autor wprowadza pojęcie brytyjskiego appeasementu wobec sowieckiej Rosji w roku 1920. Daje wnikliwą rekonstrukcję podejścia elit Zachodu do odrodzonej Polski, analizuje dzieje dwudziestowiecznej wyobraźni politycznej. Ukazuje także znaczenie polskiego zwycięstwa nad Wisłą w nowym świetle. Za jego sprawą ład wersalski został ocalony i uzupełniony pokojem ryskim (1921), czego często nie dostrzega historiografia narodów Zachodu. The First Treachery of the West. On the book by Andrzej NowakThe paper is a review of the new book by Andrzej Nowak Pierwsza zdrada Zachodu. 1920 – zapomniany appeasement (2015). The monograph provides a new analysis of the international aspects of the Polish-Soviet War (1919–1920). The conflict has often been marginalised in the history of Europe, while being decisive for the future shape of the European continent, and first and foremost for the Versailles governance. A collapse of the Versailles governance and sovietisation of at least Eastern and Central Europe are difficult to imagine but would have become a reality if the Polish-Soviet War had ended with a defeat for the Polish army. Nowak proposes a study of attitude of the winning Western superpowers to that conflict rather than an analytical monograph. Among the superpowers, Great Britain had the decisive voice. The author perceives the British policy as a prefiguration of appeasement applied in the 1930s. In 1920, the government of the United Kingdom used every effort to facilitate a Polish-Soviet settlement, what in fact would have turned into Soviet hegemony over reborn Poland. The victory of the Polish army in the Battle of Warsaw thwarted the plan. In spite of the word "treachery" in the title and as mentioned by the author in the introduction, the monograph is not a "treatise on morality". No attempt is made to judge the architects of foreign policies pursued by the world's superpowers, which have no obligation to serve the interest of Poland. The author merely undertakes an analysis of a phenomenon in international relations, which does not only belong to history, but continues to resonate throughout the world today. The book may be unfairly considered too Polocentric, yet the author shows awareness of the reality in which the British foreign policy was shaped, and always applies the audiatur et altera pars principle. The work is based on unknown or little examined British archive records. The author introduces the concept of appeasement towards the Soviet Russia in 1920. The book provides a thorough analysis of the attitude of Western elites to reborn Poland, and in this sense constitutes a review of the 20th century political imagination. It casts a new light on Poland's victory in the Battle of Warsaw. Owing to this victory, the Versailles governance was saved and strengthened by the Treaty of Riga (1921) – a fact which remains unnoticed in the historiography of Western nations.
Chojnice's June '89. The local study of the shockwave process of democratization In his book author explains social and political phenomena that are connec-ted with political change in local conditions in Poland in 1989. As yet there has beenno empirical study that would consider first partly free election to the last parliamentof People's Republic of Poland in local conditions. In 1989 there were 108 electoralconstituencies in Poland to the Sejm elections, and free election to the Senate wereconducted in 49 provinces of Poland. Chojnice was a capital city of election constitu-ency no. 14 to the Sejm and a part of election to the Senate conducted in BydgoszczProvince. As over the time social issues are perceived through stereotypes and tendto be mythologized, it seems important to author to show such events and pheno-mena on firm basis. It is worth emphasizing that results from 1989 elections in localconditions are generally unknown. Poles do not know results in their local constitu-encies because nearly thirty years after the elections official results from local con-stituencies still have not been not published anywhere. Thus, this study is based onprimary sources, newspapers from that time, literature of this particular issue. The analysis and synthesis is based on a number of theoretical perspectives: behaviorismto describe interaction between political actors – electoral system – party systems;political process and political change; Joseph Schumpeter's assumption that politicalcompetition is of fundamental importance for the democracy; Samuel Huntington'stheory of third wave of democratization. All the data is analyzed in quantitativeperspective. There is no hypothesis as the study is a descriptive and explanatoryone. Its main goal is to highlight earlier unknown phenomena. This study is aboutlocal politics in a one-party state during the time of political change, so author refersto the politics on state level from that time. The most important questions refer to:continuity of activity of new social movement members from the time of the carni- val of Chojnice "Solidarity" in the years 1980-1981 and their involvement in 1989;political negotiations and emergence of political leaders during that time; politicalwill of citizens to take part in political change and their will to change the politicalsystem; attitudes of political actors from PUWP and "Solidarity"; individual natureof facts from that time taken under consideration from the perspective of local reali-ty; attitudes of local regime members towards political change; results of elections inChojnice constituency on 4th and 18th June 1989; differentiation of political behaviorin Chojnice constituency; picture of society of that time; influence of cultural andethnical identity as well as people's ties (mainly with Catholic Church) and roots ontheir political choices.Political behavior is one of the main category of this study. Author highlightsnot only electoral system but also describes process of political leaders' emergenceon local scale. In this perspective election campaign is portrayed as a political fightbetween candidates of Citizen Committee of "Solidarity" and candidates of PolishUnited Worker's Party (PUWP) and its political satellites. As a matter of fact, authorstresses the importance of category of the legitimization and shows that members ofPUWP (in Poland known as PZPR) were not totally delegitimized by citizens in 1989election in Chojnice constituency. In fact, PUWP was mostly legitimized by Poles inthe northern part of Bydgoszcz Province during that election.The study consists of the following parts: introduction, 8 chapters, summary,bibliography, index and appendix.The first chapter describes electoral system and law that was enforced in 1989.The second one analyzes political climate and political situation around elec-tions to the Sejm and the Senate.The third chapter is also mostly analytical one. Author describes local com-munists apparatchiks' attitude towards political change.The fourth chapter shows the process of political leaders emergence fromboth sides of the political conflict.The fifthh chapter describes personal features of candidates to the Sejm andthe Senate.The sixth chapter shows election campaign.The seventh one shows election results.The eighth chapter describes political attitudes and behavior of citizens inChojnice constituency.In the appendix readers may find results from constituency districts of Choj-nice town, and Chojnice country.As a result of this study some unexpected conclusions emerged aer empi-rical study, for example: one of the most prominent one is that citizens of People'sRepublic of Poland do not reject totally PUWP and its monopoly for power andauthority; paradoxically candidates from "Solidarity" movement were not selectedas democratically as candidates from PUWP ; deep differences in political attitudesin Chojnice constituency depended on the scale of people's religiousness and thetradition of political opposition in town, as well as on ethnic groups; the highest su-pport for political change was among Kashubians, whereas the lowest in the groupscalled Krajniacy and Borowiacy.
