THE POLISH STATE DURING THE INTERWAR PERIOD IN FRANCISK BUJAK’S VIEWS (BASED ON THE MAGAZINE “WIEŚ I PAŃSTWO”, 1938¬ – 1939)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24919/2519-058X.23.258973Abstract
The purpose of the study is to elucidate the specifics of Franciszek Bujak’s views on the Polish state functioning during the interwar period – the founder of the Lviv School of Socio-Economic History. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, systematicity, scientificity, verification, authorial objectivity, moderate narrative constructivism, as well as the use of general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization), special and historical (historical and genetic, historical and typological, historical and systemic) methods. The scientific novelty consists in the reconstruction of F. Bujak’s views on the peculiarities of state-building processes in the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Conclusions. Franciszek Bujak, the founder of the Polish School of Socio-Economic History, one of the most authoritative researchers of interwar Poland, left behind not only scientific but also journalistic heritage. An active participant in the “intellectual” competition for the restoration of historical Poland, in particular as a consultant at the Paris Peace Conference, F. Bujak had even some experience in politics as the Minister of Agriculture. He witnessed the formation and transformation of the political system of the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and witnessing influenced his interests and was reflected in his scientific and journalistic work.
F. Bujak, a native of a peasant family and a longtime member of “the People’s Party”, paid special attention to the problems of the state’s relations with peasants, the most numerous social stratum of that time. Considering the state as the highest degree of social organization based on coercion, he advocated harmonization through solidarity. F. Bujak interpreted solidarity as the best model of state organization, believing that solidarity of society members is the primary and determining factor in the state success.
Reflecting on the social order in interwar Poland, sandwiched between two totalitarianisms – Bolshevik and fascist – F. Bujak paid attention to the peculiar “Polish totalitarianism” of J. Piłsudski, in which there was preserved the appearance of democracy. The researcher considered “classical” totalitarianism impossible in Poland due to the incredible diversity of the Polish society. As for the latter, F. Bujak was mostly interested in issues related to the peasantry, which he considered not only the economic but also spiritual basis of the state. The researcher considered the problems of the peasantry in opposition to the nobility as a privileged part of society, which also underwent significant transformations. In this context, one of the urgent tasks he considered overcoming the prejudices of the state towards the peasants and the peasants towards the state. The latter, in his opinion, was possible only by raising the educational and cultural level of the peasantry.
Key words: Rzeczpospolita II, state, scientific press, magazine “Wieś i Państwo”, Polish historiography.
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