Parliament and parliamentarism in building and transforming Czechoslovak statehood

The study focuses on the importance of the Parliament’s involvement in construction of the Czechoslovak state. With the exception of the German occupation, as the legislature of the Czechoslovak Republic, the National Assembly played an important role in affecting its republican and democratic character. The article discusses two of the most important stages of the formation of the Czechoslovak statehood. First is the Interwar period when the Czechoslovak statehood demonstrated features typical of parliamentary democracy with assumed parliamentary power, followed by the 1960s when the common state of the Czechs and Slovaks developed on a federal level.

Sister Maria Józef Franciszka – Irena née Jezierska Tyszkiewicz (May 22, 1887 – April 23, 1964).

Article devoted to the countess Irena Tyszkiewicz (1887–1964) – founder and creator of the Library of Religious Knowledge in Warsaw – private library functioned in the outbuilding of the palace belonging to her family at 6 Litewska Street in Warsaw. She collected about 20 thousand books, including 3 thousand books for children. The library were used also as a place for discussion meetings by the most important Catholic intellectuals of the interwar period in Poland. Library was opened between 1919 and 1939 and later operated underground until 1944, when was destroyed by the Germans. After the Second War library was renovated in 1956 also by Irena Tyszkiewicz (then she was already sister Maria Józef Franciszka in the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters Servants of the Cross) and began operating as the Primate’s Library of Religious Knowledge. This library, still operating in the Monastery belonging to the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters Servants of the Cross at 9/11 Piwna Street in Warsaw, has become a model for other religious libraries created in many cities in Poland. In the years 1919–1939, Irena Tyszkiewicz was also involved in the activities of the Society for the Care of the Blind founded by Mother Elżbieta Czacka and other related institutions. Among others, she was a co-founder of a bookshop and the „Verbum” Publishing House. In this article to trace her life archival materials collected in the archives of the Franciscan Sisters Servants of the Cross (AFSK), Father Władysław Korniłowicz (AWK) and Mother Elżbieta Czacka (AMCz) were used.

The Slovak question played a key role in the foreign policy implemented by the Second Republic of Poland during the interwar period. Representatives from the most important currents of the Polish interwar political scene highlighted the significance of the relations between Warsaw and Bratislava, as evidenced by the presence of this issue in the programmatic documents, journalism, memoires and speeches of particular politicians. Slovakia was the object of interest among many socialists, nationalists, Christian-Democratic politicians, conservatives, and peasants. Also, the leading activists of the Piłsudski’s Camp, who from the very beginning had a clear yet not always precise vision of Polish diplomatic measures in this respect, largely dealt with the Slovak question. It should be emphasized that the distinctive feature of Piłsudski’s political thought during the interwar period was broadly construed mid-European consolidation. The aim of the article was the analysis of the foreign policy of the Piłsudski’s Camp towards the Slovak question between 1918 and 1939, with special focus on the conditions of Polish-Slovak relationship, the mutual attitude of the Polish authorities and Slovak autonomists towards each other, the role of Slovaks in Polish integration projects as well as the relations between the Second Republic of Poland and the Slovak in the years 1938–1939.

The main purpose of this article is to attempt to show the collective biography of Polish women parliamentarians of the interwar period through an insight into their emotions and feelings, to show the “emotional communities” presented by Barbara Rosenwein. In this text I will focus on the main problems of the political activity of Polish women parliamentarians in the interwar period. Source materials produced by women, mainly ego-documents and public documents created by them, will be used to develop this topic. The study will analyze the individual experiences of women parliamentarians. Their emotions, opinions and reflections on parliamentary work will be taken into account. The paper will also discuss selected biographical aspects of the women parliamentarians, such as their age, education and political views, which undoubtedly had an impact on their opinions and emotions. Polish women parliamentarians of that time had to struggle with many problems. Reluctance to place women on candidate lists was a common occurrence. Moreover, women had to meet numerous social expectations. First of all, they were required to be mothers and wives who were responsible for family life, that is, the private sphere. Furthermore, women were seen more as social activists than as politicians. At the same time, men considered women’s issues less important, which was evident in parliamentary discussions. The main research questions were: How did women perceive their own political activity? political activity? What problems did politically active women face?

Victor Cădere (born 1891) was a Romanian lawyer, civil servant, diplomat and politician. He participated as an officer in the war with Bulgaria (1913) and in the I-st World War (1916–1918). Then he was at the peace conference in Paris as part of the Romanian delegation. In the years 1919–1921 he was dealing with the repatriation of Romanians from the USA and Russia. After returning to the country, in 1925, he began an academic career, which he continued with interruptions until his death in France in 1981. At that time, he was an activist of the peasant party and a member of the Chamber of Deputies. In the years 1930–1932 he held high official positions in the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior. In 1932, he began his career as a diplomat. His first post was Warsaw, where he was to watch over the matters of the Romanian-Polish alliance securing both countries against the threat from the USSR. Before he actually took office, however, he became the Romanian negotiator on the non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, but risked Nicolae Titulescu – an influential diplomat and politician who opposed them and soon became Cădere’s superior, i.e. the minister of foreign affairs. After settling in Warsaw, the new MP tried to work for the development of the alliance. However, he encountered obstacles on the part of Titulescu, who wanted to loosen his ties with the Republic of Poland and bring him closer to Moscow. This affected the fate of Cădere, who was dismissed in July 1935. His diplomatic career slowed down. He took up another post – in Belgrade – only after the fall of Titulescu in 1936, then he was a member of parliament in Lisbon (1941–1944). From 1945 to 1967 he stayed in Romania. In the years 1952- 1956 he was imprisoned by the communist authorities. In 1967 he remained in exile in France.

Social activity of railway workers’ associations in Poland in interwar period

The aim of the article is to present the activities of railwaymen’s associations and social activity in the period of the Second Polish Republic. Railwaymen belonged to numerous and very diverse social organizations, engaged in charity, cooperative, and sports work as well as local and national initiatives. Railway workers’ associations were one of the forms of supporting the Polish state in solving important social and living problems. Their activity is an excellent example of social commitment – the implementation of educational and cultural, social and living as well as health and recreational goals, not only of the railway community but also other social associations of the interwar period. The article presents the social activity of railwaymen undertaken within the associations, with an indication of their theoretical and legal foundations and practical ways of achieving their goals. The article is based on printed sources, including statutes and reports, normative documents, articles from magazines published in the interwar years referring to the issue under study, and contemporary studies. The presented examples of associations indicate that they played an important role in the socio-political, economic, educational and cultural life of the interwar period. The activities of railwaymen undertaken within the associations initiated many useful actions, which became a creative factor that had a positive impact on the life of this professional group.

Some features of economic development of village in the Eastern Galicia in 20–30 years of the 20th century

The article deals with the agrarian policy of the Polish government of the interwar period, which was intended to reform the agricultural system to increase productivity of agricultural production, the development of commodity-money relations and the activation of cooperative movement. The governmental policy has led to the formation of a land market, creating conditions for the origin of independent farms of different types and sizes, which were based on a private property of land. The main component of the agricultural policy of the government was colonization, which was intended to strengthen the eastern borders of the Second Polish Republic by creating economies of the colonists. They have become a social and political support for the government on the “Eastern lands.” This state policy influenced hostilely on millions of the local Ukrainian population. In despite the understanding of a significant number of Polish politicians and scientists such activities harm to the interests of the state, during the interwar period colonization of the land remained the main direction of agricultural policy. The Polish government has openly ignored the problems of the Ukrainian village, which led to a tangle of economic, national and social troubles that impacted on the Polish-Ukrainian aggravation of interethnic relations.

Romania and the alliance with Poland 1918–1921. The article presents Romania’s stance on the alliance with Poland in 1918–1921. Bucharest’s interest in concluding such an agreement resulted mainly from the assessment of the Soviet threat to Romania.