National Democracy Totally Explained

Everything about National Democracy totally explained

Narodowa Demokracja (National Democracy), also known from its initials ND as "Endecja," was a Polish right-wing nationalist political movement most active from the latter 19th century to the end of the Second Polish Republic in 1939. A founder and ideologue was Roman Dmowski. The movement effectively ceased to exist with the end of World War II. During the interbellum Second Republic, it was a strong advocate of Polonization policies.

Origins

The origins of the ND can be traced to the 1864 failure of the January 1863 Uprising and to the era of Polish Positivism. After that Uprising – the last in a series of 19th-century Polish uprisings – had been bloodily crushed by Poland's partitioners, the new generation of Polish patriots and politicians concluded that Poland's independence wouldn't be won on the battlefield but through education and culture.
In 1886 the secret Liga Polska (Polish League) was founded, in 1893 renamed Liga Narodowa (the National League). From 1895 the League published a newspaper, Przegląd Wszechpolski (The All-Polish Review), and from 1897 it had an official political party, Stronnictwo Narodowo-Demokratyczne (the National-Democratic Party). Unlike the Polish Socialist Party (PPS), the ND advocated peaceful negotiations. Influenced by Roman Dmowski's radical nationalist and social-Darwinist ideas, National Democrats turned against other nationalities within the Polish lands, most notably the Jews; anti-Semitism became a key element of ND ideology.
During World War I, while PPS, under the influence of Józef Piłsudski, supported the Central Powers against Russia (the Polish Legions), the ND first allied itself with the Russian Empire (supporting the creation of the Puławy Legion) and later with the Western Powers (supporting the Polish Blue Army in France). At war's end, many ND politicians enjoyed much more influence abroad than in Poland. This forced them to share power with Piłsudski, who had much more support in the military than they did. Still, due to their support abroad, ND politicians such as Dmowski and Ignacy Paderewski were able to gain backing for some Polish demands at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and in the Treaty of Versailles.

Second Republic

In the newly independent Second Polish Republic, the ND was represented first by Związek Ludowo-Narodowy (the National Populist Union), and from 1928 by Stronnictwo Narodowe (the National Party). A chief characteristic of ND policies was their emphasis on Polonization of minorities: ND politicians such as Dmowski and Stanisław Grabski contributed to the failure of Piłsudski's proposed Międzymorze federation and of the alliance with the Ukrainian leader Symon Petlura, and to the alienation of Poland's ethnic minorities. After Piłsudski's May 1926 Coup d'État, the ND found itself in constant opposition to his Sanation regime. To fight the Sanation movement, the ND created Obóz Wielkiej Polski (the Great Poland Camp).
Simultaneously the ND emphasized its anti-Semitic program, aimed at excluding Jews from Polish social and economic life and ultimately at pushing them to emigrate from Poland. Antisemitic actions and incidents – boycotts, demonstrations, even pogroms – organized or inspired by National Democrats mounted in the 1930s . The most notorious actions were taken by radical young NDs who formed the fascist-inspired, antisemitic National Radical Camp (ONR)

World War II

During World War II, the ND became part of a coalition which formed the Polish Government in Exile. It was closely linked with the Narodowe Sily Zbrojne (National Armed Forces), an underground organization which became a part of the Polish resistance movement. ND armed organizations fought not only against Nazi Germany but also against the Soviet Union. Both occupying forces regarded members of the movement as their mortal enemy, and its leaders were killed in mass executions, in concentration camps and in the Katyn massacre. Among those killed are:

Leopold Bienkowski (father of Zygmunt Witymir Bienkowski, arrested by the NKVD in early 1940, died in a Gulag near Arkhangelsk in 1941,
reverend Feliks Bolt, a senator of the Republic of Poland, died in Stutthof in 1940,
Tadeusz Fabiani, a lawyer, shot at Pawiak in 1940,
Stanislaw Glabinski, died in NKVD prison in Lubyanka in 1940,
doctor Wincenty Harembski, shot in NKVD prison in Kharkiv in 1940,
Tadeusz Zygmunt Hernes, journalist, killed in Katyn massacre,
reverend Marceli Nowakowski, shot in Warsaw in December 1939,
Stanislaw Piasecki, writer, shot in Palmiry in June 1941,
reverend Jozef Pradzynski, died in Dachau in 1942,
Michal Starczewski, murdered in the Katyn massacre,
Tadeusz Szefer, murdered in the Katyn massacre,
Jan Szturmowski, murdered by the Germans in September 1939,
Jan Walinski, murdered by the NKVD in Kharkiv in 1940,
Jan Wujastyk, murdered in the Katyn massacre,
Czeslaw Jozwiak, murdered by the Gestapo in 1940 in Dresden prison,
Jozefat Sikorski, murdered by the Gestapo in the Berlin-Plotzensee prison in 1942,
Antoni Wolniewicz, murdered by the Gestapo in the Berlin-Plotzensee prison in 1942.

War's end

After the war, when Poland found itself controlled by Polish communists and the Soviet Union, most remaining ND either emigrated to the West or continued an ultimately futile struggle against the Soviet occupation. Others joined the new regime – most notably, the ONR-Falanga leader Boleslaw Piasecki, who co-organized a regime-controlled Catholic movement.

Today's Poland

Since the fall of communism, when Poland became once again a democratically governed country, several political parties have sought to re-establish some ND traditions; their adherents prefer to call themselves the "national movement" (ruch narodowy). Currently the only significant party that declares itself a successor to the ND is Liga Polskich Rodzin (the League of Polish Families), founded in 2001 by Roman Giertych, son of Maciej Giertych; it received 8% of the parliamentary vote in 2001, rising to 16% in 2004, then failing to receive the necessary 5% of the vote in 2007 and losing all of its parliamentary seats.

Notables

Władysław Konopczyński

Maurycy ZamoyskiFurther Information

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