Młodzież Królestwa Polskiego wobec zagadnienia niepodległości Polski w latach I wojny światowej
The youth of the Kingdom of Poland and the problem of Polish Independence during World War I

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to outline and analyze the attitudes of Polish youth from the Congress Kingdom towards the issue of Poland’s independence during the Great War. The attitude of the representatives of the young generation towards this issue is presented on the examples of the most important youth circles of the Polish Kingdom during the World War I: national and independence – the Polish Youth Association “Zet” and the Organization of Independence Youth “Zarzewie”; left-wing – the Union of Progressive and Independence Youth and the Union of Independent Socialist Youth; a circle of “revolutionists” and “internationalists” under the influence of the Social Democracy of the Polish Kingdom and Lithuania and the Polish Socialist Party-Left; finally – rural youth from the Bartosz’ Teams. The analysis covered political letters, declarations, appeals, diaries, as well as organizational activities and participation of young people in the Polish military action during the World War I. During this period, the majority of youth organizations of the Congress Kingdom – with the exception of a small circle of revolutionaries – unanimously raised the postulate of rebuilding independent Poland with the help of various means: through diplomatic channels, through the expansion of state institutions and as a result of the participation of the Polish soldier in the war struggles. They also shared the belief that the system of the reborn state should be based on democratic and self-government ideas, national and religious tolerance as well as social justice (or even socialist).

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