Poland, 1918-1945: An Interpretive and Documentary History of the Second Republic [Paperback]

Peter Stachura (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 26, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0415343585 | ISBN-13: 978-0415343589 | Edition: 1

Based on extensive range of Polish, British, German, Jewish and Ukranian primary and secondary sources, this work provides an objective appraisal of the inter-war period.

Peter Stachura demonstrates how the Republic overcame giant obstacles at home and abroad to achieve consolidation as an independent state in the early 1920s, made relative economic progress, created a coherent social order, produced an outstanding cultural scene, advanced educational opportunity, and adopted constructive and even-handed policies towards its ethnic minorities.

Without denying the defeats suffered by the Republic, Peter Stachura demonstrates that the fate of Poland after 1945, with the imposition of an unwanted, Soviet-dominated Communist system, was thoroughly undeserved.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter D. Stachura is Professor of Modern European History and Director of The Centre for Research in Polish History at the University of Stirling. His research interests are in twentieth-century German history, with particular reference to the Weimar Republic, and Polish history, in particular the Second Republic. He has published extensively in both these areas. His books include Themes of Modern Polish History, Poland Between the Wars and Poland in the Twentieth Century.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (August 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415343585
• ISBN-13: 978-0415343589
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,357,171 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars slanted book about Poland, November 8, 2011

By 

Rachel (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Poland, 1918-1945: An Interpretive and Documentary History of the Second Republic (Paperback)

Poland, 1918-1945: An Interpretive and Documentary History of the Second Republic This is a book about Poland no question about it. Yet the same facts that Norman Davies the dean of a magnums opus on Poland is contradicted by Peter Stachura.
He truly blames the minorities for what happened in interwar Poland and in fact this is not so.
Poland became a nation of three dismembered parts and there was no way to make a parliament that would work with people who came trained with different view and different ways of making laws from the three partitions. Se J. jedruch's book about this aspect.
Stachura specially blames the Jews, but the Jews did not rebel like the Ukrainians in the 1930's making bombs. The Jews knew that they have lived in Poland for close to 800 years peaceful more than in other countries. There is a book called "When Poland began to Hate" and it is all tied with the nationalists and Roman Dmowski. It is the latter that slowly but surely infiltrated antisemitism into politics to a point of no return although he never held a seat in government during interwar Poland.

He has an example of the newspaper Neaz Prezlegad in which Jews are asking for their constitutional rights. Of course, they should when this was written Pilsudski was dead and they were attacking Jews in earnest. Stachura gives this as an example of an action against the state. NO so.

Stachura is supporter of Roman Dmowski, and he is entitled to his opinions, but that is not history. A very slanted view which is in accord with all his other books written about Poland.

Rachel

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars slanted book about Poland, November 8, 2011

By 

Rachel (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Poland, 1918-1945: An Interpretive and Documentary History of the Second Republic (Paperback)

Poland, 1918-1945: An Interpretive and Documentary History of the Second Republic This is a book about Poland no question about it. Yet the same facts that Norman Davies the dean of a magnums opus on Poland is contradicted by Peter Stachura.
He truly blames the minorities for what happened in interwar Poland and in fact this is not so.
Poland became a nation of three dismembered parts and there was no way to make a parliament that would work with people who came trained with different view and different ways of making laws from the three partitions. See J. jedruch's book about this aspect.
Stachura specially blames the Jews, but the Jews did not rebel like the Ukrainians in the 1930's making bombs. The Jews knew that they have lived in Poland for close to 800 years peacefully more than in other countries. There is a book called "When Poland began to Hate" and it is all tied with the nationalists and Roman Dmowski. It is the latter that slowly but surely infiltrated antisemitism into politics to a point of no return although he never held a seat in government during interwar Poland.
Stachura has an example of the newspaper Neaz Prezlegad in which Jews are asking for their constitutional rights. Of course, they should when this was written Pilsudski was dead and they were attacking Jews in earnest. Stachura gives this as an example of an action against the state. NO so.
Stachura is supporter of Roman Dmowski, and he is entitled to his opinions, but that is not history. A very slanted view which is in accord with all his other books written about Poland.

Rachel