„Kwestia białoruska” w Dzienniku Michała Römera. Na podstawie zapisów pomiędzy 25 marca 1918 a 6 marca 1920 roku
Journal Title: Przegląd Wschodni - Year 2016, Vol 14, Issue 54
Abstract
The author presents the views of Michał Römer (1880–1945) on the “Belarusian question”, on the basis of entries in his diary over a two-year period. Her starting point is the entry on 25 March 1918, the declaration of the Belarusian People’s Republic (BPR). The last entry she makes use of is 6 March 1920, when Józef Piłsudski, the head of the Polish state, largely lost the ability to make independent decisions on Eastern policy, due to a diplomatic note from the Entente forbidding Poland to carry out a plebiscite on the former lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Introducing the social situation on Belarusian lands, where the Polish I Corps was operating in March 1918, the author notes in his diary that national themes had been rather “hastily affixed” to basic social themes. Römer initially saw an opportunity to save White Rus through an agreement between the German authorities and the Polish Army in Russia. He judged the existence of the Polish I Corps positively and only changed his opinion three months later. He accused Belarus of passivity, as well as an almost non-existent will to fight for emancipation, both on the part of its people and its national idealist leaders. In March and April 1919, Römer – in keeping with Piłsudski’s ideas – was to be one of the executors of the program to federalize Poland and Lithuania. What is significant is that besides making contact with the Lithuanians, he was also meant to reach an agreement with the Belarusians. From fragments of Römer’s extensive entries it follows that he did not react enthusiastically to the “Lithuanian initiative”, but nonetheless accepted the offer of work made to him. Based on her analysis of these entries, Joanna Gierowska-Kałłaur is of the opinion that Michał Römer, in the role of Józef Piłsudski’s emissary to the Lithuanians in March and April 1919, did not have much of a chance at success in pushing the Polish federative line. Already at the mid-way point of 1918, his criticism in relation to Poles en masse became definitively sharper. In March and April 1919, Römer was simply a different person than the one he was still publically regarded as. He was an ex-member of Piłsudski’s legion harbouring deep feelings of resentment towards his former Commanding Officer. It has become widely accepted in literature that Römer only chose the so-called “Lithuanian option” after the actions of Gen. Żeligowski in 1920. Nonetheless, a detailed analysis of Römer’s diary leads to the thesis that Römer had rejected his Polish identity much earlier. Nonetheless, it is difficult to definitively conclude which “Lithuania” Römer had in mind, as he no longer even mentioned “Catholic White Rus”. With regard to Belarusian lands, Römer wrote in December 1919, “It is a land of paralysis and passivity”. Römer felt that the liberation of Minsk from the Bolsheviks, by the Polish Army in August 1919, was proof that the Lithuanians should rethink their concept of working towards and creating a national Lithuanian state and instead move in the direction of a future Belarusian-Lithuanian state. Römer was convinced – and here Gierowska fully agrees with him – that if Poland was unable to agree with Kovno, they would lose the war in the east. On 28 February 1920, after a circuit of the Eastern Lands (not kresy!) and consultation with all the groups (including the Belarusians) Piłsudski’s envoy, Maciej Glogier, sent the Head of State his conclusions on the upcoming plebiscite. On 6 March 1920, though, the Entente denied Poland (Piłsudski) from carrying out a vote for self-determination by the inhabitants of the former lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Authors and Affiliations
Joanna Gierowska-Kałłaur
Keywords
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