Próby wykształcenia tożsamości narodowej u ludności słowiańskiej na Polesiu w pierwszych latach II Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (1920–1928)
The attempts of the Slavic population to form a national identity in the Polesie region during the first years of the Second Polish Republic (1920–1928)

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the evolution of the national identity of the Slavic population inhabiting the Polesie voivodeship during the first decade of the Second Polish Republic. Research has been carried out by consulting the original archives of the Polish administration, press of the Polish Socialist Party and accounts of key witnesses. These sources clearly show that, when Polesie was integrated into Poland after the First World War, in 1920, many inhabitants of the region (the so-called “Poleszucy” and “tutejsi”) did not consider themselves Belarusian in the national sense. These “nationality unconscious” people progressively came to consider themselves as members of a Soviet Belarusian nation as a result of the struggle between Polish, Belarusian and Ukrainian political organizations. This research highlights the fact that national identity is neither determined by ethnic affiliations nor can be ascribed to an ethnic group against its will.

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