The Piast Concept is a political idea of the Polish state based on its initial territories under the

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule in Pol ...

, containing a mostly Polish population. It holds that Poland, composed of primarily Polish parts in the West during the Middle Ages, was a solid Westernized state and was equal to other Western European countries. For its supporters, the Piast Concept is mainly identified with Westernization, attachment to Europe and its ideas, close relationship with Western countries, and pragmatism in international relations while avoiding unwise adventures in the East.

Development of the Piast Concept

Jan Poplawski developed the Piast Concept in the 1890s. It formed the centerpiece of Polish nationalist ideology, especially as presented by the National Democracy Party, known as the Endecja, which was led by Roman Dmowski. The concept was also supported by Polish peasant parties.

Jagiellon Concept

A rival Jagiellon Concept was endorsed by the interwar governments dominated by

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

. It looked to the grandeur of Poland under the Jagiellonian dynasty in the later Middle Ages, which linked Poland–Lithuania,

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

under Polish kings. The Jagiellon Concept focused on the underdeveloped eastern territories inhabited chiefly by

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

Lithuanians Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

, and

Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...

After 1940

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

at the 1943

Tehran Conference The Tehran Conference (codenamed Eureka) was a strategy meeting of the Allies of World War II, held between Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from 28 November to 1 December 1943. It was the first of the Allied World Wa ...

discussed with

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

and

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

new post-war borders in central-eastern Europe, including the shape of future Poland. He endorsed the Piast Concept to justify a massive postwar shift of Poland's frontiers to the West. After discussions over many months, Britain and the United States agreed with Stalin on the new borders, but the

Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent Occupation ...

remained opposed. After 1945 the Communist government adopted the Piast Concept, using it to support their claim that they were champions of Polish national interests. Calling the newly acquired formerly German territory the Recovered Territories, the Communist regime made an effort to justify the acquisition in terms of the Piast Concept. After the Communist regime ended, Poland pursued a western-orientated foreign policy, in line with the ideas of the Piast Concept.

Criticism

Geoffrey Hosking and George Schöpflin argue that the Piast Concept "rested on a simple and persuasive historical myth". They summarize the essence of this "myth" as follows: Historian

Norman Davies Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a British and Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Profes ...

says that Dmowski based his vision of Poland on the "primitive" Piast period, "uncorrupted by alien influence".{{cite book, author=Norman Davies, title=Heart of Europe: The Past in Poland's Present, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yWi-WLvY_v0C&pg=PT197, year=2001, publisher=Oxford University Press, page=197

Notes

1. Ewolucja systemu politycznego w Polsce w latach 1914-1998. T. 1. Odbudowanie niepodległego państwa i jego rozwój do 1945 r. Cz. 1, Zbiór studiów 1999. Polska myśl zachodnia XIX I XX wieku Czubiński Antoni Political history of Poland Polish nationalism (1795–1918) Aftermath of World War II in Poland