THE IMPORTANCE OF THE POLISH EASTERN PROVINCES FOR THE POLISH REPUBLIC

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP08C01297R000400260001-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 37
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 21, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: March 1, 1945
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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THE IMPORTANCE OF
THE POLISH EASTERN
PROVINCES FOR THE
POLISH REPUBLIC
by .
DR. W. WIELHORSKI
POLISH LIBRARY
1944
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CIA-RDP0800 1297R000400260001-1 NCE OF
THE POLISH EASTERN PROVINCES
by
DR. W. WIELHORSKI
translated by
J. SAPIEHA
FOR THE POLISH REPUBLIC
KSIAZNICA POLSKA
THE POLISH LIBRARY
HOPE STREET, GLASGOW
1944
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THE IMPORTANCE OF
THE POLISH EASTERN PROVINCES
FOR THE POLISH REPUBLIC
AN expose given at a meeting of the Polish Association for
the North-Eastern Provinces, in Edinburgh on the 3 r St of
October, 1942.
It is quite an embarrassing question to speak of the
importance of the Eastern provinces for the Republic.
These areas, now jeopardised by foreign covetousness,
constitute half of the area of Poland. The question
therefore needs an answer similar to that, for example, as
to whether one half of the human body is necessary to keep
the other half alive. In one half we have the kidneys, in
the other, the liver ; part of the brain matter included in
one half controls certain organs and components of the
other, etc. A harmonic whole is only possible by preserving
both parts intact and in full collaboration. From their
very nature, they constitute an indivisible organic whole,
while the inter-relation of the two symmetrical parts is
based on complete mutual dependence. Either of them,
taken separately, would be incapable of satisfying the
common requirements of human existence.
The genius of a nation moulds its own life in the world
surrounding it ; it tethers nature to its will. On the other
hand, external factors, together with neighbouring human
groups, react in their own way and develop the qualities
of the individual, who himself determines the conditions
of his social and personal life.
Surroundings not only evolve the individuality of a
whole nation, but also constitute the chief basis for its life.
Thought, will and the action of human muscles are the
reagents to external reality.
On this account, therefore, the bond existing between
an ethnical group and its soil is something which cannot be
broken. It has its own intrinsic logic which is as real as
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CIA-RDP08C01297R000400260001-1 en out of its native area
and thrown into new natural conditions of existence, ceases
to be itself ; a process of metamorphosis follows and its
face soon begins to alter-the result is sometimes atrophy ;
a deep change is, however, inevitable.
In the course of history, only such groups have been able
to survive and attain a definite national physiognomy in
Europe as have found appropriate conditions of terrain.
We Poles have many faults and assets-elements of strength
as well as traits of weakness. We possess, however, a very
definite national characteristic, which is our ethnic charac-
teristic ; no one has ever doubted that. History has
moulded our individuality. It has been able, for a thousand
years, to weave a yarn of State existence, starting from the
settlements of our early ancestors. It has been able
successfully to preserve our characteristic psychic features
as well as our native soil in the face of many a foreign
aggression-this is also a certainty. Facts are always
stronger persuasives than arguments, however clever and
intricate they may be.
The above facts also furnish sufficient proof that our
geographical position, generally recognised as difficult,
is nevertheless good enough to ensure existence. The
open plains lying between the Baltic Sea and the Carpathian
range are to-day the birthplace of a nation of Poles who
have every right to consider themselves as the heirs to these
lands ; we have enough grounds for that title. We sur-
vived there; we are there now and will continue to be
there. We must, however, fully realise the meaning which
the material foundation possesses as regards the existence
of our nation. We should understand the importance of
every particular component of our land. Only then will
we be able to defend it successfully from our enemies.
The Poles inhabit part of a great domain which con-
stitutes a geographical and political unit of major importance
in Europe and for Europe. This domain is like a bridge
between the Baltic and Black Seas in the area where the
continent is at its narrowest between them. Over this
bridge lie the shortest, and therefore the cheapest, com-
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A map of Poland's frontiers with the Carpathian range as
the natural frontier in the South. The outlet to the sea was
very inadequate for a nation of 3 5 millions.
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CIA-RDP08C01297R000400260001-1 lies of Northern Europe,
situated in the Baltic Basin, and the markets of the Balkans
and the Near East. This Baltic-Pontic Bridge possesses,
moreover, an important junction of waterways, which up
till now has not yet been adequately developed in the
Vistula and Dniester basins. In this junction, the exact
location of which is on the Carpathian foothills which
distribute the tributaries of the San and the Dniester, he
incalculable economic possibilities for the future.
Through Poland and Roumania, which too forms part
of the above-mentioned bridgeway, run also the shortest
railroad communications between the Baltic and the Black
Sea-the Dantzig (Gdansk)-Constanza railway. In the
days gone by all the commercial vectors leading from the
` amber' coast of the Baltic to the centres of the Byzantine
civilisation led through Poland. The western road led
through ' The Moravian Gateway ' to the west of the Tatra
range and through Silesia and was called the ` Roman
Route '. The eastern road followed the Rivers Dnieper
and Dvina and was known as `The Greek Road'. In the
present era these have been superseded by rail- and air-ways
and by short stretches of inland waterways. One of these
was the projected Vistula-Dniester canal.
The possession by Poland of the water junction between
the Rivers San and Dniester, in the South, is one of the
essential natural conditions for her national existence, just
as her southern border must be based on the full length of
the Carpathian range. Both are of cardinal importance.
They are, moreover, just as obviously as the Vistula estuary,
safeguarded by sufficient areas of defensive territory on both
the sides of Gdansk and Gdynia.
Who deprives Poland of any of these factors, whether in
the North or the South, simultaneously endangers those
natural components which take away, once they are lost, the
economical foundations for a Polish State and consequently
the possibilities of political existence. Owing to a lack of
natural borders in the East and the West, such a State can only
survive if strongly based on the Baltic and the Carpathians-
the only strong border-elements of the North and South.
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CIA-RDP08CO1297R000400260001-1 "the Piast dynasty in the
fourteenth century laid the foundations of the Polish State
in the South by securing the Eastern Carpathians and
gaining control over the San and Dniester waterways.
In the fifteenth century the first Jagellons fortified our
State in the North, by reuniting Pomerania with it and
securing the Vistula delta with Gdansk (Dantzig). From
that moment the true power of Poland, as an independent
State, began to flourish.
At the moment we are witnessing a bid for uncontrolled
expansion by the Germanic national group which is
endeavouring to occupy the Baltic-Pontic Bridge and
intends to gain control of the nations which inhabit these
areas and convert them into slave gangs. The war which
Hitler started with Russia in 1941 undoubtedly had this as
its chief motive.
If the Baltic peoples, the Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Hun-
garians, Roumanians, Greeks, Bulgars, and Yougoslavs
succumb to the Germans, the hegemony of the latter over
the rest of Europe will be ensured for many a year. The
native peoples of the geographical bridge spoken of above
should essentially be the masters of their own destinies.
Their efforts will have to be directed towards the formation
of a solid political system which will defend the independence
of every one of them, against aggression from whatever
direction it may come.
Poland occupies a dominating position on that bridge.
She is the keystone of the contemporary defence of that
Middle Zone of Europe, which is being called to life by
events. To deprive Poland of the position of an inde-
pendent power and thus subject her to the will of one
of her mighty neighbours, would destroy any practical
possibility of forming an effective defensive bloc in any
part of the Baltic-Pontic isthmus.
It could therefore have been anticipated that there
would be no dearth of cunning and deliberate efforts,
aimed at crippling Poland, territorially, to such an extent
as would again deprive her of the status of an independent
State.
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CIA-RDP08CO1297R000400260001-1 , we have strong reasons
for the belief that the idea of creating a stronger political
grouping of the nations of Central Europe, after this war,
should meet with the approval of the conquering English-
speaking powers-especially the British Empire. The
nations inhabiting this area of Europe constitute a natural
ally of Great Britain against any power seeking to gain
control over the continent. They are her ally for two
reasons : firstly on account of their burning will for
independence and secondly because of their economic possi-
bilities. The great majority of the nations alluded to have
furnished sufficient proof for this assumption in the course
of the last century. They formed strong political units,
full of vitality and energy, after having emerged from
recent political slavery. In politics only those who desire
to be free deserve to be aided. But here this condition has
been fulfilled.
At the same time the peoples of Eastern Central Europe
(the Balkan States), while undergoing their political
emancipation starting from the second half of the nine-
teenth century, had shown an extensive adaptability for
economic organisation, in which a high degree of dynamism
was evident. It should be noted that there were sub-
stantial obstacles to be surmounted in that respect. To
induce the investment of substantial international capital
in the areas of the Vistula, the Danube, the Dniester and
the Niemen was a thankless and slow task. In the West
that part of Europe was considered `unsafe', and was made
to pay a high insurance premium for the alleged insecurity
of the investment. Due to this, sound and secure capital
was difficult to come by and in its place came a flow of
speculative investment on harsh and rapacious terms.
The native economic capabilities of each particular State
thus, in effect, thrown on their own resources, acquired a
very favourable light against a background of such un-
favourable conditions. Resourcefulness, diligence and
adaptability to surmount adversities helped these nations
(at least in their great majority) and became universally
recognised.
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P t. N 0
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A map of the river Vistula with its main tributaries, which
gather the majority of waters from the East.
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it is, 11UWCVCi, ca~ciiuai ay after this war this area
should be so strengthened politically as to ensure favourable
conditions for western investments and long-term loans
to aid post-war reconstruction, in order that too high rates
of interest be no longer demanded to recompense capital
jeopardy.
The political consolidation of the nations concerned,
from the Gulf of Finland to the Aegean Sea, will enhance
in the whole world the idea of their solidity as independent
political organisms, worthy of enjoying confidence in
long-term relations with the great money markets of the
world.
Again, the nations of the Baltic-Black Sea Bridge and
the Balkans tend to be the allies of Great Britain on account
of their geographical position, inviting Great Britain to
base the elements of future European security on that part
of the continent as a highly important area for every
purpose, including that of maintaining her control over
the seas. In this case both the Baltic and the Mediterranean
are involved.
In days gone by, control of the seas could be maintained
by holding, islands and narrows. Gibraltar, Malta, Suez,
Singapore, etc., were keys of ocean control.
The problem of the defence of such fortresses and their
effective strength to withhold an assault by an enemy fleet
depended on the range and power of the guns placed on
the respective coasts. The adjacent land areas were
almost irrelevant as far as the ruling of the seas was con-
cerned. The advent of the modern aeroplane has ended
this epoch once and for all.
Modern strategy, on both land and sea, will in future be
dependent on air power, operating in conjunction with
fleets or land armies, and air power requires great land areas
capable of holding and defending small islands and penin-
sulas as bases for its operations. Thus there will be a need
for a widespread network of aerodromes, military garrisons,
factories, plants, air schools, etc.
The nations ranging from the Gulf of Finland to the
Balkans could provide Great Britain with an ideally planned
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CIA-RDP08CO1297R000400260001-1 )n wnicn au the elements
vi iuLuic xcU11LY auu Luivjcaii ucfence could be adequately
founded, air defence in particular. A strong air force
based on this area would be able to control the German
plain in the West, the Baltic Sea from the North and the
Mediterranean from the South. If a plan on this basis
were to be brought into effect, there would undoubtedly
never be a repetition of the experiences of this war, so
terrible for all the allies. The Germans would never again
find themselves able to invade Crete or Norway.
The nations situated between Germany and Russia,
ranging from the Gulf of Finland to Greece, occupy an area
of 6oo,ooo square miles, with a population of over a hundred
million. This is something on which air defence can well
be based. Moreover-and this point is of paramount
importance-the area concerned is inhabited by peoples
whose interests are in no way and at no point contradictory
to those of Great Britain. This state of affairs opens
great possibilities of development.
In the light of the above reflections, the matter of the
territorial integrity of the Polish Republic, in the boundaries
existing till 1st September, 1939, acquires a specific character
for the future. We know of plans of shifting the Eastern
boundaries of Poland to the Rivers Bug and San. What
would be the consequence of this in the fields of defence,
economics and population? What would be the results
firstly for Poland and secondly for all the nations inhabiting
this area of Europe?
The Soviet-German Demarcation line of the 28th
September, 1939, breaks the Polish State area by a line
running zig-zag from north to south, along the Bug and
San rivers. It leaves, to the East of this boundary, 70,000
square miles, i.e. 51.6 per cent of the area of Poland as it
was on 1st September, 1939, and, according to a reckoning
made for the same date, 13.2 million inhabitants. The
Soviet occupation also intercepted about a million people,
both civilian and military, evacuated to the Eastern areas
from other parts of Poland, before the advancing German
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ZALESIENIE? POLSKI
WDL WOJEw6DZTw
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ZAL?S/EN/E gREO'N/E (Op 20 DO 25%)
ZALC:/EN/E JUKE (PON,ZEJ 20,%)
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A map showing the location of forests in Poland. The thickest forests are
in the East, North East and South East of Poland.
t3
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CIA-RDP08CO1297R000400260001-1 ------------,-here were over 14 million
people, i.e. 40 per cent of the population of Poland, on the
part of Poland occupied by the Soviet authorities.
Should, after this war, a new boundary similar to the one
described above, be imposed on Poland, the diameter of
that State, which was before the war some 400 miles in a
straight line from West to East, would be reduced to zio
miles in the North and about 16o klm. in the South. Its
length from North to South, which reached 6oo miles, as
the crow flies, from the Dvina to the Carpathians, would
now come to barely 320 miles in straight line, along the
new borderline.
The fraction of the Polish State allowed to remain in the
West would find itself in an absolutely hopeless strategic
position. Modern mechanised war entails the necessity
of possessing substantial areas for adequate manoeuvre,
both in defence and attack. Should Poland be halved in
the way described above, the belt of territory left would be
too narrow, reckoning from East to West, to allow for
undertaking any tactical operation on a large scale. More-
over this territory would by no means be able to undertake
the organisation of an independent air defence system,
being too shallow for such an enterprise.
The Polish Republic, reduced to the above dimensions,
would only have 6o per cent of its present population. It
would therefore fall to the rank of a ' Small State ' whose
effective forces would render any major defensive action
impossible. Such defence requires besides substantial
man-power at the front, a still larger inland army, working
on the soil, in industry, in the transport system and for the
maintenance of the fighting forces. An effort such as
would be required by the exigencies of modern war, would
be too great a task for a Poland reduced by half. She
would have become a political non-entity incapable of
undertaking her own defence.
A much diminished area and small resources of man-
power would reduce Poland to a role of a typical ` buffer
state' without any military individuality of her own.
Poland would become, as a fatal consequence, part of the
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CIA-RDP08CO1297R000400260001-1 powerful neighbours,
subordinated to him from the military, and hence from the
political point of view.
Under such conditions, Poland would no longer possess
any attraction for her Northern or Southern neighbours on
the Isthmus between the Baltic and the Black Seas. Geo-
graphically disfigured and reduced to a fraction of her
former whole, she could no longer be the pillar of any
political edifice in the Middle Zone of Europe. The
Western strip of her territory is, in itself, too narrow to
carry such a construction and in these conditions there
would be no chance of a successful organisation of this
part of Europe ; it would find itself crippled from the
very outset.
The above reflections provide adequate proof that the
existence of every sociological group, known as a nation,
is closely bound up with its natural surroundings. A
reduction of its territorial basis automatically reduces the
vital activities of its organism and a major amputation
foreshadows its extinction. An analysis of the structure
of Poland within her boundaries of 4th September, 1939,
i.e. before the war, shows that her possessions in the East
constituted only the barest minimum of her vital needs,
whereas in the North-West she was deprived of even the
most essential geographical elements.
At the peace treaty, signed at Riga on the i8th March,
1921, the newly re-born Polish Republic consented in the
greatest possible measure to a compromise as to the
territorial settlement with the other contracting party.
She assured herself of the barest minimum of breathing
space in the East and the minimum of conditions of defence
and in consequence also of life and constructive develop-
ment. A further reduction of these historically Polish
territories in the East would render her prospects of an
independent existence wholly illusory.
The actual possibilities of the defence of its territories
is a vital problem of every country. In the history of the
world, all states who did not possess physiographical
conditions for defence, or lost them in the course of
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CIA-RDP08CO1297R000400260001-1 Levitably failed to survive.
At the moment, this is the very danger which hangs over
Poland.
The results of halving Poland would be no less fatal for
the other nations inhabiting the Baltic-Pontic Isthmus.
The Eastern frontier of Poland, thus reduced, would not
extend in the North beyond the present borders of East
Prussia. The Baltic States would thus be faced by com-
pletely new geographical conditions. The Polish-Russian
border, up till now, formed a prolongation towards the
South of a nearly straight, longitudinal line running from
the Gulf of Finland along the Estonian-Russian and
thereafter the Latvian-Russian frontiers. In the South,
Polish territories, namely the districts of Vilno and Suvalki,
formed an understructure for Lithuania and Latvia, con-
stituting with them a solid, closed area based, from the
North and West, on the Gulf of Riga and the Baltic.
In the circumstances which would thus ensue only
Lithuania would have a small sector of her Western frontier
adjacent to Poland and only then on condition that East
Prussia had become united to the latter. In such a con-
juncture, however, this would be less than probable. The
weak never enjoy any advantage in politics ; more often
it is they who are called upon to make sacrifices. Should
the Baltic States, therefore, forfeit their structural support
from Poland, they would find themselves embraced on
the South and East by Russian territory. The maintenance
of their independent status would be a hopeless cause, being
paradoxical both from the geographical and the political
points of view.
That is the state of things, therefore, which is obviously
one of the aims of those who are endeavouring to deprive
Poland of her Eastern half. Such would be the outlook in
the North.
In the South, the new layout of the Polish national
borders would no longer be based on the Eastern Car-
pathian range. The watershed between the Rivers San
and the Dniester would fall outside Polish territory.
Roumania would cease to be Poland's neighbour and
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Hungary wouia nna nerseu an immediate neighbour of
Russia. The natural geographical and political continuity
of the European isthmus would cease to exist. For it is
impossible not to assume that the amputation of Poland's
eastern provinces would not be followed by its natural, and
politically much more plausible, consequence, namely the
depriving of Roumania of the provinces of Bukovina and
Bessarabia ; it is much less distasteful to take away terri-
tories from adversaries than from allies.
From Tallin and Riga in the North, down to the Danube
in the South, totally new conditions would ensue. Part
of the nations of the area referred to would forfeit immedi-
ately, openly and entirely, their independent existence ;
part, territorially curtailed, would temporarily retain the
character of nominally independent states : in reality they
would nevertheless have to resign themselves to being not
only dependent but vassal.
The area surrounding the Baltic-Pontic Isthmus would
be partially broken up and would cease to constitute a solid
political structure with any bearing on future European
events. It would however become a passive object, a
roadway, through which dissolving currents could freely
flow westwards and southwards and, primarily, towards
the Mediterranean narrows. This is the final word on the
situation.
A short survey of the above conditions sufficiently
explains the inevitable consequences of dividing Poland
in two, from North to South and depriving her of her
Eastern half. The whole natural structure of that sector of
Europe would thus fall into ruin, both in the North and
South of Poland. The independence of the nations of this
region would cease to exist. It is therefore to be fully
expected that the attack will continue, with full force,
against the frontiers of Poland. A breach in the central
sector of the isthmus would decide the resistance of the whole
front and would entail an upheaval affecting both flanks.
Let us imagine in turn what would be our conditions of
life in a country with her Eastern boundaries running on
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14
o p
Cn (u
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uic uuc vi uic iuvcib Lug auu an and who, as mentioned
above, would be deprived of 5 i?6 per cent of her territories
and of about 40 per cent of her population. Let us realise
what the loss of these territories would mean to us. To
do so, we shall have to make a review of the economic
resources of our Eastern provinces.
In the first place the loss of sources of motive power so
vital to our young national economics, just rising to life
in the pre-war period and so cruelly crushed since the out-
break of the war, would be sorely felt. The reconstruction
of our economic life will need plenty of labour and capital
to master and exploit all hidden sources of energy. The
latter are irreplacable treasures. The Eastern provinces
of Poland contain 5,060,000 ha. i.e., 56.6 per cent of the
country's forests. This one figure is sufficient to show how
the loss of these areas would affect our supplies of fuel and
timber-both indispensable items in the period of post-war
reconstruction. We would also lose half our supplies of
peat, invaluable as fuel, and raw material for our chemical
industries, most of which is to be found in the Eastern
provinces.
The water power originating in the Eastern Carpathian
range and the possibilities of exploiting the water power of
the river system of the Dniester, Prypec and Niemen are
estimated at 42 per cent of the entire amount of Polish
` white coal', which more or less corresponds to i,6oo,ooo
H.P.
As regards fluid fuel, the modern form of energetic power
most in demand, 8 5 per cent of Polish oil and natural gas is
to be found East of the River San at the foot of the Car-
pathian mountains and the whole of Polish ozokerit in
the same region. The loss of this area would, in this
respect, be disastrous for Polish economic life.
Apart from the above our Eastern provinces have in the
district of Kalusz rich potassium mines and, in the valley
of the Dniester, deposits of phosphates.
Poland remained a backward country as far as installed
roads were concerned. She will urgently need material
for their construction and repair and the demand for it
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'CIA-RDP08001297R000400260001-1
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 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/21 :
CIA-RDP08CO1297R000400260001-1 :st of its kind, lying only
a few yards under the surface and therefore the cheapest
to exploit, is the so-called `Volhynian stone ' found in the
districts of Sarny and Kostopol. Granite, basalt and other
kinds of hard crystalline rock found in these regions con-
stitute the best and elsewhere not available material for
road-building and used to be transported as far westward
as Silesia for the construction of highways and large
buildings.
Finally the only supplies of kaolin adopted for use
available in Poland are also situated in the Volhynian
border area, on the banks of the River Slucz.
These sources of energy and mineral resources will be
needed for re-building and industrialising Poland and for
the construction of a network of modern highways. The
eastern part of Poland has 5,000 miles of railway lines, i.e.
38-4 per cent of the country's total railway system, and
about 13,000 miles of highways, i.e. 30.5 per cent of Poland's
total.
Poland's Eastern half is above all an agricultural country
with very large possibilities of development in this field.
The reconditioning of the soil, if conducted by the State on
a large scale, and the advancement of agricultural technique
could do wonders in this respect. It would at least double
the production of arable land and treble the output of
meadows and pastures.
Of the country's total the threatened Eastern Areas
comprise 4z per cent of the orchards, arable lands and
gardens and 63 per cent of the meadows and pastures.
Because of their climatic conditions and especially because
of the fertility of their soil these lands are of priceless
importance to agriculture and to all industries affiliated
with it.
The rich black soil of Volhynia and Podolia, representing
one half of the most fertile soils in the country, is well suited
for the intensive cultivation of wheat, barley, sugar beet
and rape-seed. It has climatic conditions unique in
Poland for the production of hops. The valley of the
River Dniester and certain parts of Pokucie and Podolia,
zz
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MAPKA
WAZNIEISZYCH UrU
KOLEJOWYCH
-q. . s. ;. I...
RADZ
PIOTRKE
OLKUS2
NRAKQ
- 6RAKICA PAIISTWAPOLSKI[W
KOLCJC
A map showing the main Polish railway tracks, binding the
Western and the Eastern parts of Poland.
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 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/21 :
CIA-RDP08C01297R000400260001-1 operation of the sun, are
especially suited for the cultivation of the vine, and the
intensive production of peaches, apricots and other delicate
types of fruit. The cultivation of tobacco in Poland was,
to the extent of 8o per cent, confined to these districts.
Let us add that the tobacco industry was a very important
item in our economic life and developed most favourably
in the last pre-war years. Finally, all the country's pro-
duction of poppy-seed, sunflowers, water melons, pump-
kins, etc., is concentrated in its South-western region, on
the River Dniester.
Poland's production of the raw materials required by
her textile industry also is centred in her Eastern districts,
flax being produced mainly in the North-eastern sector,
including the basin of the River Prypec, and hemp in the
South-eastern part of the country. Neither flax nor hemp
is cultivated on any important scale in the Western part
of Poland.
These areas, especially after the draining of the soil in
the basin of the River Prypec, will be Poland's chief
purveyor of milk, butter, fats, meat and leather. They will
not only supply the Western industrial centres of the
Republic but also make an important contribution to that
branch of export. Obviously before attaining that result
we will have to accomplish great improvements in drainage,
animal breeding and organisation. The results we had
already obtained in this field give great encouragement for
the future. The possibilities open to us are very large.
What we said above is just to show that the most
important branches of our economic life are closely linked
with our Eastern provinces. There is no place for a more
detailed picture. We trust, however, that this outline will
be sufficient to prove that our Eastern provinces with their
own peculiar economic features and their tasks to fulfil, are,
as regards their supplies of fluid fuel, timber, peat, textile
raw materials and their agricultural, fruit growing and
cattle raising possibilities, a harmonious fulfilment of the
Western part of the country with which they form one
economic unit. The Western counties of Poland, rich
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CIA-RDP08001297R000400260001-1
U
cC
U
U
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CIA-RDP08C01297R000400260001-1 re the centre of the heavy,
the textile and the chemical industries. Their density of
population (i 17 per sq. klm. according to the census of
1939) is twice that of the Eastern provinces (65 per i sq.
klm.).
Thus, the danger we fear consists of a cut through a living
body, producing drastic consequences for the economic life
of both parts concerned.
Now for questions of population. In the Eastern part
of Poland three-fourths of the population (75?z per cent as
compared with the average figure of 61.3 per cent for the
whole of Poland) were deriving their living from agriculture,
forestry, fruit growing, fishery, etc. Only i 8 ? i per cent
(against the average figure of 29 per cent of the Polish
total) were employed in handicraft, industries, mining,
commerce, and civil services (social insurances, transporta-
tion, health service), 8o?8 per cent of the Eastern population
of Poland belonged to the countryside, the residents of
towns and boroughs amounting only to i9?z per cent.
The country's ancient civilisation has imprinted its
mark upon the villager's life and psychology. Irrespective
of whether they speak Polish, Ukrainian or White Ruthenian
in their homes, they all feel strongly bound up with the
Slav ethnography of a recent epoch-one for all the three
national groups. These analogies and similitudes are best
illustrated by the folklore of these regions.
National costumes, decorative art, industry and archi-
tecture in the material order, and customs, legends, tradi-
tions, and beliefs in the spiritual, formed a genuine sub-
stratum for modern intellectual culture, and Western
Christianity has for centuries been shaping the souls of the
people. To-day their attitude towards all problems of
social life and economic need is practically identical
regardless of national groups.
The Roman Catholic Church and legislation modelled
on Roman law have been the factors responsible for the
development of the people of this part of Poland for many
centuries.
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CIA-RDP08CO1297R000400260001-1 the population of these
provinces was 58-8 per cent Catholic (Roman and Greek),
and 29.3 per cent Orthodox, Roman Catholics amounting
to 3 3.4 per cent and Greek Catholics to 25.4 per cent. In
consequence two-thirds of the population were within the
sphere of Latin ascendancy. Before 1839, the year the
government of the Tsars suppressed the Uniate Church in
the lands it had seized from Poland, the percentage of the
Orthodox population was evidently much lower.
A feature common to the whole rural population is the
clearly outlined individualism in economic life, a strong
feeling for personal property and family tradition. Rural
collective property (frequent in Russia) never was known in
Poland, this probably being the reason for the hostility of
all the landed peasantry to any plans for the socialisation of
the land. The peasant's economic selfishness, based on
a family background, takes its roots in the continuity of
age-old traditions of the Western Slavonic nations. There
are no differences in this respect in the feelings of the
Orthodox and the Catholic.
The last census in the Eastern provinces of Poland
showed io?z per cent Jews and o?8 per cent Protestants,
mostly German and Czech colonists. There was also a
small percentage of Calvinists among the native Polish
population, historic remnants of the age of the Reformation.
The census of 1931 gave the following division according
to mother-tongue :
Polish - - - - - - 39.9 per cent
Ukrainian - - - - - 34.5
White Russian and other local dialects
14.5
Jewish - - - - - -
8.7
Lithuanian - - - - -
o?6
German - - - - - -
o?6
There were no more than 130,000 people, i.e. i?o per cent
of the entire population who spoke Russian as their native
language.
The national consciousness of the urban population can
be said to have been crystallised, but that population was
27
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CIA-RDP08CO1297R000400260001-1 tal. The rural population
was the decisive factor.
Fifty years ago the feeling of ethnical identity was
awakened. In the neighbouring districts, formerly under
Austrian rule, the same development began one generation
earlier, thanks to constitutional liberties and a higher level
of education.
The data concerning the native languages of the Eastern
provinces of Poland show that the population there
ethnically mixed with a relative majority of Poles, obtaining
40 per cent.
The second place in the language and nationality index
is occupied by the Ukrainians with 34.5 per cent and third
by the White Russians with 14.3 per cent. The ethnical
element responsible for the organisation of life in the Soviet
Union and expected by some people to assume the leadership
in this part of Poland is represented by exactly one per cent
of the population.
It is true also that the conception of religion, morals,
economics and of the relations between State and citizen,
brought in to Poland from the East and propagated by
new-comers from the U.S.S.R., proved to be definitely
adverse to the local population.
The rule of the Soviets in the area in question would mean
something quite different from fostering civilisation and
cultural life of various ethnical groups, its ultimate aim being
the education of the so-called ` Soviet citizen '. The policy
of the Soviets within their own Union is-from a national
point of view-a process of Russification carried out by
methods condemned not only by Western Europe but even
by pre-revolutionary Russia.
When after the first world war the Russian Army and
bureaucracy left the country, the number of remaining
Russians was negligible : a very small number of merchants
and men of the professions in towns, some land-owners
and, here and there in the countryside, a village of Russian
colonists. That was all.
Tsarist Russia failed in her 1zz years' rule over the
Eastern provinces of Poland (1793-1915) to Russify the
z8
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CIA-RDP08CO1297R000400260001-1 is similar in the Baltic area.
The natives of Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have
not only succeeded in preserving their individuality but
entered upon a period of distinct national regeneration.
In that period the Poles of the Eastern provinces have
consolidated their positions in these areas, the Ukrainians
and the White Russians have gradually awakened to national
consciousness. Attempts to colonize the country with a
Russian urban and rural population met with complete
failure. The figure of 130,000 Russians in a total of
13,000,000 makes that sufficiently clear.
If Russia obtained satisfactory results in the Russification
of the natives of Asia, all her attempts to do the same in
Europe with nations inhabiting the lands to the West of her
and conquered in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
have never been successful and ended after four generations
in a big fiasco.
These facts are of fundamental importance. We have
to keep them in mind especially now in view of recent
historic developments.
The explanation of the failure of the Russification of the
banks of the Dzwina, Niemen, Prypec and Vistula is very
simple. There is too little in common between the men-
tality of the Russians and the natives of these lands. The
Poles, the White Russians, the Ukrainians and all the
nations of the Baltic area have a Western mentality, a strong
sense of personal dignity and a clearly outlined individuality.
They want to be shown respect and confidence in public life
and be allowed freedom of initiative especially in the field
of economics. Their minds were shaped by Roman
jurisprudence and Christian doctrine and they can fit into
a democratic organisation. Therefore the various shades
of Eastern tyranny and totalitarianism which condemn
individuality would never find the slightest response in
their souls.
Poland has never been attracted by Russia and this is
why, in spite of large funds spent on the Russification
policy of compulsory attendance at Russian schools and
pressure exercised in this respect by the Army and the
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This is the way how timber is being floated through the
Augustow Canal which joins the rivers Niemen and Vistula,
over the Augustowski Lakes.
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 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/21 :
CIA-RDP08CO1297R000400260001-1 -d during the 122 years of
Russia's rule over the Eastern half of Poland. Human
souls are not easily won by brutality. This is one of the
fundamental laws of psychology.
The policy of the Tsars aimed at an extermination of the
Polish element. The Kosciuszko insurrection (1794), the
Napoleonic Wars (1807-1812), the period of conspiracies
(1846-1848), and finally, the insurrections of the nineteenth
century provided ample excuses for the reprisals in which
the Russian Government revelled. Nevertheless, and in
spite of executions, mass transportations to Siberia, con-
fiscations of property, deprivation of citizens' rights, etc.,
the Polish population not only remained in the majority
in the Eastern provinces but retained there its due place as
the leading factor in intellectual and public life.
The Polish element in this area is represented in all
classes and it is utterly wrong to believe, as some are apt
to do, that it is confined only to that of the land-owner.
In 1921 there were in the seven Eastern voievodships of
Poland about 7, 5 00 Polish estates of more than 5o ha. each.
This means that some 30,000 Poles belonged to the so-called
land-owners' class. It would only be right to suppose that
as a result of the parcellation of big estates conducted in
these areas for the last twenty years the number of the local
Polish population should have diminished. Meanwhile
we know on the strength of the estimates for 1st September,
1939, that the number of Poles in the Eastern part of Poland
totalled 5,270,000. For Eastern Galicia only, this figure
in 1931 was 2,100,000 for the countryside and 770,000 for
the towns. The Poles in these provinces belonged to all
classes and professions, the Ukrainians and White Russians
being represented in the rural and the Jews in the urban
(handicraft and commerce) population.
Poland's progress Eastward in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries was a natural result of the Polish-Lithuanian
Union, and she advanced peacefully as a pioneer of Christi-
anity and civilisation. She never had any aggressive
tendencies and used her sword only for defensive purpose.
Polish civilisation had no difficulty in assimilating the
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of
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CIA-RDP08C01297R000400260001-1 ation of the newly united
lands and allowed them every opportunity to distinguish
themselves in the service of the Republic. Many leading
characters of Polish history were of mixed Polish-Ruthenian
or Polish-Lithuanian origin.
There was a perfect unity between Poland and her new
Eastern provinces which eagerly accepted the Western culture
brought them. Lithuanian regional patriotism went side by side
with a genuine attachment to the Polish language, customs, and
civilisation. The most illustrious statesmen, celebrated
scientists, poets and martyrs, who died for common ideals, were
born of this union. If we only quote the Royal Prince St.
Casimir and St. Andrew Bobola (who both are to-day the
venerated patron Saints of these areas), Wasyl and Konstanty
Ostrogski, Chodkiewicz, Z6lkiewski, King John Sobieski,
Reytan, Kollgtaj, Kosciuszko, the Princes Czartoryski,
Chreptowicz, Czacki, Naruszewicz, the brothers Sniadecki,
Traugutt, Niemcewicz, Moniuszko, Mickiewicz, Slowacki,
Pilsudski, Paderewski, Orzeszkowa, Rodziewicz6wna,
Emilia Broel-Plater, etc., etc., the list will be long enough and
there are still many, many others whose names are well known
all over the world and famous in the history of Poland.
The most striking feature of these illustrious Poles of the
Eastern provinces was probably a combination of out-
standing intellectual capacity with an iron will, perseverance,
and personal courage in the struggle for their ideals. These
vast border lands became the nursery of strong characters
and, in relation to the Western parts of Poland, a bastion
against Muscovite, Tartar or Turkish invasions. A per-
petual state of war, hardship, and privation-such was the
school of life these gallant men went through.
They handed down to posterity traditions of the most
faithful and uninterrupted service for the country and as
models to more thousands and millions of men, who were
or still are performing their hard everyday duties with true
heroism in their souls. They were responsible for the
prominent share in the insurrections of the nineteenth
century taken by the population of the Eastern and especially
the North-eastern provinces.
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CIA-RDP08C01297R000400260001-1 ian, Ukrainian and Jewish
population, evacuated to Russia during the world war,
returned to the Eastern provinces of Poland in ig2o and
1921. The Poles had been the most successful in sending
the evacuation orders of the Tsarist authorities. After her
rebirth the Republic of Poland opened her frontiers to all
these re-emigrants irrespective of their nationality.
They settled again in their old homes and, for twenty
years, had every opportunity to work in peace. Poland
had nothing against the return of her national minorities
to provinces which she again took under her rule after an
interval of a hundred years. She believed they would be
no obstacle to the administration of the country.
What happened twenty years later was entirely different.
As soon as, in the autumn of 1939, the Red Army invaded
these areas, more than one million of the native population
of various nationalities, but with a majority of Poles, was
transported to Russia by the Soviet authorities. It was
thought wise from a political point of view to remove
about io per cent of the population previous to making any
attempt to master the country. Deportations in the first
place affected all social leaders and the educated classes.
It is easier, as a rule, to enforce a new political system
in a country deprived of its leaders. Therefore there is no
ground for wonder at these measures. But, on the other
hand, it would be worth while to compare the systems of
policy as towards their population of the two countries
representing two different systems of government and
probably more : two different centres of intellectual culture
and civilisation.
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MAP DIVISE)N
,q-xmu. a / 4('/
F,j UU I DUST OFFICE
/iltc.u
PRI\TLD IN GREAT BRITAIN BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LT.,
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, GLASGOW
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PRICE ONE SHILLING
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