During a fresh visit to Riga president Andrzej Duda repeatedly return to “To fight side by side with Poles and Latvia for the liberation of Latgalia” in 1920, contrasting "450-year Polish-Latvian friendship" au ‘hateful neighbor ... Russian monster from the East”Before which au"rebuild the iron curtain to the clouds".
It was not for the first time that he fell into a trap of anachronism, emphatically mixing nineteenth- and twentieth-century ethnonationalisms with the historical reality of the First Republic and its relation with the Infinants in the 16th century. With equal disinvolvement, the president says After all, about Ukrainians as about “Sometimes, co-parents in the Republic”, although as a live person, no 1 has always heard of specified people within our pre-divorce boundaries. However, president Duda committed a much more serious rape of historical fact by moving to order over the real circumstances of both the representation of the Latvian State of Polish Infants with Dyneburg, as well as the full anti-Polish government policy in Riga in the interwar and modern years.
Side product of German-British rivalry
The genesis of the Latvian State, the first and no historical tradition, is rather typical of our part of Europe and is the consequence of 2 main trends. First – German efforts to organise Mitteleurops, the deep backdrop of Germany in the East, providing advisive facilities, marketplace outlets, labour reserves and a colonization area for the Reich. Pribaltika, which had been subject to German urban and landowner settlements since the 13th century, has played an crucial function in both the base of departure and the centre of German influence on Russia and another Slavic lands. On the another hand, for the same purpose, to get at least commercial and economical dominance towards the Heart of Land – The Baltic region was considered a developmental sphere of influence by London / City decision-making centres. The Baltic States thus emerged as an accident of these 2 forces – first induced ex nihilo by German occupiers in 1918 (Prince of Kurland and Semigalia, Vereinigtes Baltisches Herzogtum), and subsequently endowed with forced independency by Allies intervening during the revolution and civilian war in Russia. At that time, it was primarily about stopping the Irredents of the Baltic Germans, working with the White forces. For this purpose, operating in the Baltic Royal Navy was cancelled from Kronsztand and Piotrogrod, where its support was promised to the advancing general on the capital Nikolai Judenich and was directed to the Latvian coast, shelling from the sea branches of white Western Russian Volunteer Army Paul Bermondt-Awalov. The Second Rzeczpospolita, performing tasks performed by London on the east section, took part in these fights by providing weapons, equipment and ammunition to break up the Whites[and]. As a result, the Judenic offensive in the north besides collapsed, and the Bolshevik state survived, among another things thanks to the fanatical support... The Latvian Rifles, who support the revolution, a individual defender Vladimir Lenin And the avant-garde of fighting the Whites and the interveners. This is the actual genesis of president Duda ‘Polish-Latvian cooperation’: obeying London and savingNot defeating Bolshevikism.
Enemies of the ‘soccer’
So we went to the fight against the Reds not erstwhile they could be effectively defeated, but erstwhile it was in the interests of the Western Allies, curious in maintaining their leaders' influence on the border of the erstwhile Russian Empire in the absence of a chance to control it entirely. In this context, it is crucial to realize both anachronisticly presented march present EdwardBladed Rhythmus on Dyneburg, especially the celebrated Kiev expedition Józef Piłsudski. In this way, giving up the anticipation of making peace with the Bolsheviks, agreeing during talks in Mikaszewiczy to give the Republic full control of Lithuania and Belarus to Berezin (and earlier intentionally leading to a fiasco of negotiations with White Russia Gen. Anton Denikin) – Polish troops in January 1920 joined Operation Winter, or unprovoked attack towards Dyneburg. It is characteristic that only 10 1000 Latvian soldiers participated in the offensive to actually reactivate the artificial creation of the Latvian state. In addition, by operating on their own they easy gave the field to the Bolsheviks, leaving the pleasance of fighting against them Polish self-imposed allies.
The atmosphere between the allies was tense from the beginning, not only for political reasons. "The Polish soldier's relation to Latvia, even to the Polish population ... He was reluctant, unkind. The soldier could not realize why Poles should be on Latvian dirt and talked to them in Russian, considering them as Latvians. I like to keep quiet about the details... There were no weapons brothers, the Polish soldier despised Latvians for having to go always in the front line, alternatively of in one, for bad food (the nickname of Latvians – “scenes”), for deficiency of friendliness – frequently there were fights (...). The Latvians did not trust the Polish army, reasoning completely unwarrantedly of their possessive intentions, wishing to retreat them from Latgalia as shortly as possible” – reported the Consul of the Republic of Poland, Michał Świerzbiński. "After the business of Dyneburg by Poles there were robberies and rapes, mainly on judaic and Russian populations. On the agenda were abuse of Polish soldiers, depriving the population of the remains of assets under the appearance of war props. For the sake of justice, the local Polish population was besides the victim of this volition.” – adds historian Tomasz Paluszinski.
It is so no wonder that the Latvians preferred to fill the areas already occupied by Poles with their forces, fearing that they would not perceive to the local people who wanted to join the Polish state. specified actions intensified especially during the retreat of the Polish army from Kiev, when, on the occasion of this, our Latvian friends entered the territory of Iluksztaw, inhabited by the majority of Poland.[ii]. Riga was equally hostile to Central Lithuania and the General’s actions Lutian Żeligowski. erstwhile it was expected that after the liberation of Vilnius, he would embark on a further march to Kaunas, Latvia was preparing to supply armed support to the Aukshtots. The politicians and the Latvian press were definitely taking a pro-German attitude towards the Silesian uprisings, and 1 of the main directions of the fresh state's activities was the depolonization of national land ownership and education.
Take the land from Poles and close schools
The full was over 350 1000 hectares, owned by 130 Polish families and a full of 65 1000 hectares of average and tiny farms run by 3395 local Poles. The nationalist nationalist formations of the local peasantry with decisive influence on Latvian politics pushed agricultural improvement and expropriation of Poles while leaving plots to 50 ha. The fight for compensation was the main content of the Polish-Latvian diplomatic relations, actually throughout the 20th anniversary, and the situation was aggravated by the harassments utilized by Riga towards Polish education. The civilian rights of the Polish number were besides limited, as symbolized by the arrest in 1924 of the Polish MP to the Sejm of Latvia, Jan Wierzbicki on charges of treason for protests against blocking Polish education in Inflanta. Relations became even more tense after the authoritarian overturn Kārlis Ulmanis (today worshiped in Latvia as a national hero). Even stronger nationalist Latvian policy turned against the Polish minority. The Polish National Unity in Latvia was dissolved by the authorities, Polish “Our Voice” was suspended, 27 of 45 Polish primary schools were closed, and Polish officials were expelled from the state service. "We are in a number conflict with Latvia” – the Polish Ministry of abroad Affairs reported in June 1935[iii]. The improvement was not achieved until the end of the existence of the Second Polish Republic, which many representatives evacuated to the West just through Riga, with the increasing reluctance and impatience of local authorities, clearly already oriented towards cooperation with the 3rd Reich.
The “friends” and “brotherhood” of which president Duda spoke, and even a average good neighbourhood, were never present, and the Polish commitment to the creation of the Latvian State did not bring anything good to the Poles or the Republic.
Not give the Poles the land and...
Contrary to appearances, Polish-Latvian cases are not better since the announcement of the second Latvian State, in August 1991. erstwhile again, the authoritative declarations of relationship are dominated by the Anglo-Saxon dictatorship behind which, however, Riga's reversion to ethno-nationalist policy against minorities, both Russians and Poles, and increasingly clear building the country's historical policy on Nazi traditions and slogans, so in a way akin to Ukraine and the Austote. erstwhile again, ownership issues stay a real point of contention, of course not covered at interstate level. It took the Latvian authorities 31 years to decision to the next phase of compensation for the property of citizens nationalised during the russian period. Theoretically applicable laws were passed from 1990 to 1992, and the full process was considered completed in 2006. However, in fact, claims of people with citizenship another than Latvian were mostly dismissed (except for 15% of US applicants, 5% from Canada and 4% from Israel), and the property of Polish and judaic owners was frequently considered to have been “discarded” and “deprived of heirs”. In addition, in the case of recognised claims, the most frequently proposed substitutable properties of non-equivalent value were proposed. The authorities in Riga have besides made reservations about the full implementation of Protocol No 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights. However, they were in dispute with the global community of Holocaust victims and supporting these claims with American diplomacy. Only in February 2022, under force from the US, Latvia abolished restrictions and resumed the restitution issue, announcing the payment of €40,000,000 to the descendants of the Holocaust victims. In this way, however, the road to the further claim of the rights of Polish owners was besides opened, primarily to assets left in the Polish Infinities, but these – unlike descendants of local Jews and Germans – have no state support. respective tens of specified cases are presently dealt with by the Kresovian Trusteeship, each time gathering with the clear reluctance of the authorities of the III Republic willing to grant distinctions to the leaders of the Polish number in Latvia, but equally powerfully denying that in relations with the Latvians they can share any legal issues, in fact straight caused to our fellow countrymen harm.
Rebuilt with large difficulty and effort of local Poles, Polish education in Latvia has been subjected to large force for at least 3 years. Realised since 2020 reform The education strategy is aimed primarily at the education of minorities, especially the Polish Secondary School. Ity Kozakiewicz in Riga suffered from restrictions on the work of teachers from Poland, with Polish citizenship. In the last 2 years, the number of hours taught in Polish has been reduced by more than half. The prospects of 4 Polish schools operating in Latvia are dramatic in relation to the next school announced in late 2022 reform, as a consequence of which classes in number languages will be banned in general and Polish can only be taught as 1 of many abroad languages. president Duda did not rise the issue at all during the Riga talks!
Let's give Riga a bill
And yet The Polish Army continues to defend Latvia, ours Quota The military in the NATO mission are now 200 soldiers equipped with armored weapons, from Polish taxes (Sic!) is based on the maintenance of the full global battalion militant group of forces reinforced by the Protracted Presence of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation – and in return Latvians close our schools and do not let to teach children in Polish, Polish history, besides Polish past of these lands. In fact, in this 1 parallel, president Duda has been wrongly correct: as a small over 100 years ago, Polish soldiers warrant the realization of Anglo-Saxon interests in the Baltic region, as then Latvia did not think of it as "Polish friends" to repay, and the cost of the full riot is borne by local Poles, who are besides threatened not only by Latvian chauvinism, but besides by the danger of the spread of war between the West and Russia on the inhabited areas of our country. Pribaltiki.
This is how religion in false friendships always ends, and our relation with our neighbors is dictated from abroad capitals.
Konrad Hand
[and] The president Latvia our neighbor. Polish-Latvian relations in 1918 – 1939. Warsaw, 1990, p. 8-9.
[ii] Op. cit., p. 12-14.
[iii] Op. cit., p. 46-48.
