Visions of external and internal security in the political thought of peasant parties in the Second Polish Republic

Polish political thought of the interwar period basically focused on the achievements of two political camps: the right-wing one centered around National Democracy and its leader Roman Dmowski, and the Belvedere camp led by Jozef Pilsudski. The other political currents, except for the extremes, presented less comprehensive concepts of state and regional security, and both external and internal security. All serious political currents, excluding the extreme and nationalist ones, were united by the desire to fight for Poland’s national security. The unfavorable geopolitical position of the country and the threat coming from the two strongest neighbors (Germany, the USSR) were demonstrated. High hopes were attached to the idea of collective security, in particular, the activities of the League of Nations or regional agreements. The dangers to Poland’s internal security arising from the nationality structure of society (about one-third are national minorities and a large part of them living in compact clusters), social differentiation, including material poverty (the influence of extreme ideologies), district differences (the effect of partitions), and political divisions, were seen as great for Poland’s internal security.