Thread by @haravayin_hogh

Thread on the multinational origins & fall of the interwar 2nd Polish state.
Excerpts from Lukowski's "Brief History of 🇵🇱" - nothing specialist. but discussion of widely divergent strategies to recreate 🇵🇱, each with very different envisioned alliances were most interesting.🧵

The biggest movement for 🇵🇱 independence, the National Democrats, had very different ideas from Piłsudski's faction that won out after WW1.
The ND founder, Dmowski 1st aimed at autonomy under 🇷🇺. He saw 🇩🇪as the real threat to Polish culture. He was a hard-right Social Darwinist.

Dmowski believed if he could prove Polish loyalty to the Tsars, they would eventually use the promise of a united Polish vassal as a weapon against Germany.
Disappointments in 1905 & harshening of Russification policies lost him much support. Antisemitism became his crutch.

Situation of Poles in Prussia. Of the 3 post-partition Empires, They were simultaneously the most educated & discriminated against. The anti-Germanism of Dmowski's NDs found firmest support here, with the strongest Polish intellectual backing.

A common joke comparing government standards between the Austrians, Germans & Russians, whose borders all met in majority Polish territory:
A Jewish merchant complaining that German custom-officials never took bribes, the Russians always did, & with Austrians one was never sure.

Outbreak of WW1. At first, the majority of Polish sentiment was pro-Russian. The Tsar publicly announced as a war-goal for a reunified autonomous Poland under 1 monarch, something like Austria-Hungary.
Nobody expected all 3 Empires to collapse by the war's end.

Not to be outdone, Germany & Austria promised the same united Poland under their monarchs as Russia did. But they finally agreed on a small Polish vassal state to be used as a cannon fodder.
Dmowski's NDs got full allied blessing for a 🇵🇱-in-exile "Blue Army" to fight in 🇫🇷.

Unlike Dmowski's troops in France, Piłsudski' ordered his "Polish Legions" to refuse to take any loyalty oath to Germany. Piłsudski went to prison for this.
Overthrow of Russian Tsar in 1917 had 🇬🇧🇫🇷 declare Polish state as a war-goal. Piłsudski's 30k army kept fighting 🇷🇺anyway.

Dmowski's strategy became totally discredited by a second revolution in Russia, this time against the Provisional Government by the Bolsheviks.
On collapse of Austria-Hungary, its Poles declared a (non-Soviet) Socialist Republic, supported by Piłsudski.
End of WW1 & new 🇵🇱.

WW1 was over, but war with Russia (now the USSR) continued uninterrupted for Poland. Piłsudski's legions also destroyed & annexed the just declared West-🇺🇦Republic.
Russian Civil War. Dmowski wanted to intervene to support the Whites, but Piłsudski saw Soviets as the lesser evil.

In newly independent Poland, Dmowski's NDs demanded an aggressively ethnonationalist state, whilst Piłsudski tried to draw on traditions of the old 1700s tolerantly multinational Commonwealth.
Dmowski began losing control of his own radicals, who began assassinating politicians.

Piłsudski resigned leadership after beating the USSR to a stalemate in the Polish-Soviet War.
I skipped that section here as I feel that war is already well-known by my followers. Recommend book pictured for anyone wanting to explore it in depth.
Polish successes in early 20s.

Piłsudski returned to de facto return to rule Poland after getting fed up with politicians' squabbling.
By the 30s both USSR & Germany were recovering. Piłsudski signed treaties with both, knowing they would merely buy time. NDs (the most popular 🇵🇱 party) spent time Jewbaiting.

Polish GDP per capita roughly matched Spain on outbreak of WW2 (🇪🇸 now ranks 20 places above 🇵🇱).
Poland's post-Piłsudski foreign policy under Beck. He was deeply skeptical of Franco-British ability or commitment to protect Poland.
He was correct, but neither was he pro-German.

German plans for Poland in WW2. Hitler originally intended to turn into a minor dependent Slavic ally, on the model of 🇸🇰🇭🇷🇧🇬.
Poland's most popular party (the NDs) were also little different from National Socialists. Phoney guarantees from 🇫🇷🇬🇧 ensured quixotic 🇵🇱 obstinacy.

Hitler's Blitzkrieg on Poland. German casualties in the invasion were actually higher than those suffered in France in 1940! French uselessness in the phoney war.
End /🧵