State of danger: Internal security of the Second Polish Republic

The paper deals concisely with issues of the internal security in interwar Poland, especially those related to the political determinants. It contains a discussion of the chronology of the transformations that affected the state of security in the years 1918–1939. In the chronological overview of the changes, several sections can be distinguished: 1) the first months of the formation of the state when the public sentiments were also shaped by the extreme emotions being the effect of the end of the war and by the revolutionary movements in the neighbouring territories; 2) the culmination of the Polish-Bolshevik War in the summer of 1920 when the Soviet Army invaded the territory of Poland under the pretence of social revolution; 3) the relatively peaceful 1920s; 4) the Great Depression (in Poland 1930–1935) with a rapid increase in social unrest; 5) the last four years before the outbreak of WWII, characterised by variable intensity of internal tensions. Of key importance to the internal order was the activity of subversive organisations. The most important ones were the communist movement and the Ukrainian nationalist underground. Both took into account armed fight against the Polish state, either on an ongoing basis or in the future. The state of security was also influenced by legitimate political organisations (socialists, peasants’parties and nationalists) but the threat from them was only of a short-term nature and it was not an immediate effect of the decisions made by leaders of these communities. The state apparatus was forced to struggle against different threats to the internal security. The most severe forms were armed revolts, most of which took place in the early 1920s in the eastern provinces; some of them were provoked by the Soviet secret services. The whole interwar period was full of radical political demonstrations, protests against unemployment, and different forms of peasants’riots. The administration often proved unable to recognise the threats; however, the authorities never allowed the incidents to escalate into a wave of unrest that would jeopardise the national and social order.

The paper deals concisely with issues of the internal security in interwar Poland, especially those related to the political determinants. It contains a discussion of the chronology of the transformations that affected the state of security in the years 1918–1939. In the chronological overview of the changes, several sections can be distinguished: 1) the first months of the formation of the state when the public sentiments were also shaped by the extreme emotions being the effect of the end of the war and by the revolutionary movements in the neighbouring territories; 2) the culmination of the Polish-Bolshevik War in the summer of 1920 when the Soviet Army invaded the territory of Poland under the pretence of social revolution; 3) the relatively peaceful 1920s; 4) the Great Depression (in Poland 1930–1935) with a rapid increase in social unrest; 5) the last four years before the outbreak of WWII, characterised by variable intensity of internal tensions. Of key importance to the internal order was the activity of subversive organisations. The most important ones were the communist movement and the Ukrainian nationalist underground. Both took into account armed fight against the Polish state, either on an ongoing basis or in the future. The state of security was also influenced by legitimate political organisations (socialists, peasants’parties and nationalists) but the threat from them was only of a short-term nature and it was not an immediate effect of the decisions made by leaders of these communities. The state apparatus was forced to struggle against different threats to the internal security. The most severe forms were armed revolts, most of which took place in the early 1920s in the eastern provinces; some of them were provoked by the Soviet secret services. The whole interwar period was full of radical political demonstrations, protests against unemployment, and different forms of peasants’riots. The administration often proved unable to recognise the threats; however, the authorities never allowed the incidents to escalate into a wave of unrest that would jeopardise the national and social order.