Documents on the history of Polish-Soviet relations 1918-1945, Volume I 1918-1926

Book edition
70,00 PLN
E-book
30,00 PLN
Scientific editing: Mariusz Wołos, Jan Jacek Bruski
Translation: Russian: Jan Jacek Bruski, Katarzyna Chimiak, Adam Jaskólski, Mariusz Wołos, Piotr Zemszał, French: Mariusz Wołos
Publisher: The Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding
Edition: 1st
Publishing date: 2021
Binding : Hardback
Format: 150 x 245 mm
Number of sites: cz. I: LXXXVIII + 752; cz. II: 950
ISBN: 978-83-66883-03-1 (całość); 978-83-66883-05-5 (cz. I); 978-83-66883-06-2 (cz. II)

Part 1: Poland between the ‘white’ and the ‘red’ Russia (November 1918 - March 1921)

Part 2: A search for normalisation (April 1921 - May 1926)

We are presenting the result of several years of intensive work of a team of researchers specialising in the history of Polish-Soviet relations in the first half of the 20th century.

The history of Polish-Soviet relations between 1918 and 1945 became a key element of the "historical policy" pursued by the Kremlin, which used it to seek not only its own legitimacy in the past, but also to formulate neo-imperial slogans. This process has been increasingly more noticeable for the last two decades, albeit with varying intensity, accelerating sharply from 2014 onwards, after Russia's use of force against Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea.

The queries to collect the materials were conducted in numerous countries, which is largely due to the fact that Polish documentation is located in many states. Project participants examined archival materials in institutions in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Poland, but also in the United Kingdom, the United States, and finally in Ukraine, where the collections of Soviet documents constitute a vital supplement to Russian archival records. Diplomatic documentation predominates among the published documents, yet it is supplemented by sources of military and police provenance, texts of a journalistic nature, and even press articles.

 

The opening point of the volume is November 11, 1918. This is also the date of the first of the published documents. On this date, Poland, reborn after the Partitions, appears on the map of Europe as an independent entity on the international arena, even if the date in question is rather symbolic. The final date is that of May 31, 1926, which is also largely conventional. This is due to the events that had taken place a dozen or so days earlier, namely Józef Piłsudski's return to power in a coup d'état and the reaction of the Soviet Union to this event and its immediate aftermath.

The book was prepared as part of the project "Collecting source materials for Polish-Soviet relations" funded under the programme of the Minister of Science and Higher Education called "National Programme for the Development of the Humanities" in the years 2014-2020.