Literature and poetry
The year 1920, despite all the contradictions, was an important and rich year in Polish culture, especially in literature. The war did not disturb the creative work of the most active writers, although the vast majority of them did not shirk their patriotic duties. We usually learn about their work for the benefit of national culture “by the way”, for example by reading “Przedwiośnie” by Stefan Żeromski, probably the most widely known novel about the war of 1920 today.
Stefan Żeromski worked in the Propaganda Department of the Volunteer Army, and in October 1920 he became a member of the Civic Executive Committee for State Defense. On the hottest days of August, he also visited the troops fighting near Warsaw, and the visit to Wyszków on August 19, during which the writer heard the account of a local priest, became the basis for a classic anti-communist short story, “At the rectory in Wyszków”.
In 1920, in Stefan Żeromski’s notebooks, the first notes were already created, from which “Przedwiośnie” would be born. The last novel of the master of Young Poland was not published until 1924, but the first descriptions, which would become scenes of young Baryka’s fight on the anti-Bolshevik front, were probably written hot during the visit of Polish troops in the summer of 1920.
However, the Polish literature of 1920 might not have spoken about the armed struggle directly, and at the same time related to the same subject. Summer of Forest People, the best-known novel by Maria Rodziewiczówna, seems to be a story as far removed from the turmoil of war as possible. However, to the adventures of three friends who spend the summer in the wilderness, they are much closer to the trenches of the war than it may seem. This novel summarizes the scout spirit in the literature of the early twentieth century and describes in an artistic way the path of the youth to patriotism, through admiration for the native nature, life according to scout ideals and the need for self-improvement. Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz called the novel by Rodziewiczówna “the great, the greatest hymn to Polishness after Pan Tadeusz”.
Parallel to the literary premieres in Poland, the struggle of Polish writers took place on other fronts of the cultural war. Although a bit “late” for the Battle of Warsaw, the premiere of the book “Beasts, Men and Gods” from the late 1920s, Ferdinand Ossendowski’s fictionalized diaries from the revolution period, must not be underestimated. This text, published in Poland in 1923 as “Through the country of people, animals and gods” became an international bestseller and one of the strongest anti-communist voices, so important in the Western world underestimating the Bolshevik threat. Along with “Lenin” and “The Shadow of the Dark East,” other works by Ossendowski, these memoirs also became classics of domestic anti-communist literature, so badly exterminated in libraries during the communist era.
At the turn of 1919 and 1920, Joseph Conrad, or Józef Konrad Korzeniowski, publishes “Salvation” – a novel considered one of the writer’s best achievements. And although this is a story with a universal dimension, it does not distract the writer from Polish affairs in any way. Conrad is actively involved in organizing the American government’s loan to a struggling homeland, and uses his name recognition to remind us of the importance of the struggle against Bolshevism (however, hitting stubborn ground in both Britain and the US, humiliated by the defeat of the 1919 anti-Bolshevik intervention).
During the Polish-Bolshevik war, Jan Lechoń worked in the Press Office of the Commander-in-Chief. In 1920, the Warsaw skamandryta publishes his adult poetry debut, “Crimson Poem”. Lechoń’s poems are full of vividly devoted war horror, complicated love for the homeland, but also faith in the victory of both the spirit and the weapon of a young country. One of the poems is “Artillery Polonaise”, a hymn of praise to Ottokar Brzoz-Brzezina, deputy commander of the artillery of the defense of Warsaw. Simple but poignant phrases conveyed the spirit of August days:
This is our bastard artillery
Today it is knocking at dawn.
Neither asks who is with us today
Furious Steel Battery –
This is Major Brzoza, who are beating in the Moscow regiments.
When it comes to poetry, this time for a younger audience, the scenes of the triumphant Warsaw have become a permanent element of the ideas of children raised in the Second Polish Republic. Artur Oppman, a poet, reactor and legionnaire, born and passionate of Warsaw, in his poem “White Lady” laid out the principles of Polish historiosophy for young people. He spliced the defeat of the capital in 1794 and the powerless, guilty Stanisław August with the victorious soldiers of August 1920, returning to the city to announce the true end of the captivity.
One by one an armed detachment,
Infantry, cavalry, even in formation,
Returns to the walls of the capital from the war,
From the victorious war with the Bolshevik!
And although this poem was first published in the collection “Legendy warszawskie” from 1925, it reflects well the spirit of Varsovians celebrating the victory, having a sense of great historical justice, rendered after more than one hundred and twenty years.
Cinema and celebrities
Experiences with the Bolsheviks immediately inspired young Polish cinema. Even in 1920, films were made that directly referred to the ongoing conflicts. Three silent black and white pictures were released in cinemas: “The Hero of a Polish Scout” (premiere on November 3), directed by Ryszard Bolesławski, “We will not give the land, where our family comes from” (premiere on November 20), directed by Władysław Lenczewski and “For you, Poland ”(premiere on September 25) directed by Antoni Bednarczyk. Of the three, only the last one has partially survived (about half an hour of fragments left). Although “We will not give the land from where our family came from” (also known under the titles: “Martyrdom of the Upper Silesian people” and “Bloody struggle in Upper Silesia”) spoke about the struggle for the southern and western border, the context of its premiere was clear: national mobilization is still necessary and despite the military success in the summer, the focus must still be on maintaining unity and fighting together to defeat the enemy and gain due recognition in the world.
Dziś trudno nam ocenić walory artystyczne nieistniejących już filmów. Warto jednak zauważyć, że istniejące od ledwo dwóch lat państwo było w stanie wyprodukować i obejrzeć te patriotyczne obrazy, mimo setek z pozoru ważniejszych spraw, angażujących społeczeństwo.
As for the activities of public authorities and celebrities, especially in the West, their efforts are an integral part of the success of 1920. Although it is commonly believed that the Polish cause did not win the victory it deserves in the hearts of Western societies on the eve of the Battle of Warsaw (the lack of uniform support from allied public opinion to support military anti-Bolshevik camp, and thus the disappointing results of the conference in Spa), it is worth remembering that the greatest successes of the Polish advocacy had been achieved earlier, and 1920 was the time to use the accumulated resources. The mobilization of the Polish diaspora in France, the countries of the British Empire, the United States and many other countries brought tangible benefits to the national cause, with the organization, recruitment and equipment of General Haller’s Blue Army. It is the personal popularity of Ignacy Paderewski, Józef Konrad Korzeniowski, or indirectly Mari Skłodowska Curie, Henryk Sienkiewicz and other ambassadors of Polish culture that translated into both, if not sympathy, then friendly neutrality of Western societies, and the mobilization of Polish immigrants around the world.
Roses were planted
Much can be written about the inspiring role of Victoria in the culture of the interwar period. It is worth starting here with rich prose, essays and diary literature, directly or indirectly anti-communist. Authors such as Sergiusz Piasecki, Wacław Kostek-Biernacki, or Ferdynand Ossendowski, are commonly associated with their surnames and, unfortunately, very little known for their works. Elements inspired by war in the achievements of well-known artists, such as Stanisław Witkiewicz’s “Nienasycenie” or the aforementioned “Early Spring”, do not always sound loudly enough.
However, the most important result of the victory over Bolshevism in the culture of the Second Polish Republic … was the culture of the Second Polish Republic itself. A miraculously saved country, struggling with hundreds of economic and political challenges and problems in the field of artistic creativity, has achieved an unquestionable success. It would not be possible for a union republic conquered by the troops of the world revolution. Each success of an artist writing, composing or painting in free Poland is, in its own way, a late salvo in the war of civilization against the Bolshevik revolution. Therefore, we will never fully understand the most important aspects of the 1920 victory, including those in culture. Fortunately.
Cultural significance of the Battle of Warsaw
The war with the Bolsheviks was presented in Polish propaganda as a clash of civilization: a conflict between Christian, Polish and Western culture and anti-culture: a formation devoid of not only good and truth, but also beauty. It was difficult for Poles to think otherwise when reading about the Vandal-like behavior of an attacking army, the devastation and profanations committed in the Eastern Borderlands and central Poland. And according to this conviction, the authorities of the reborn Poland knew that the fight against the Bolsheviks takes place not only on the physical level, thanks to rifles and cannons, but also on the non-material level. Leaving aside the metaphysical dimension of the struggle for a moment, let’s take a look at the intellectual and aesthetic dimension of the defense of the capital in the summer of 1920.
Soviet Russia in the 1920s fought hard against the opinion of a cultural black hole. Monumental modernist buildings (which until the party unified the socialist realist style in the 1930s were considered quite original), epic historical cinema (with the most recognizable title of the decade, “Battleship Potemkin” directed by Sergei Eisenstein from 1925), or original poetry of Russian futurism (Vladimir Mayakovsky , Alexei Kruczonych and others). It was, however, a good few years after the Treaty of Riga, rather as a homework assignment. The Soviet propaganda machine, developed primarily in the cinema, wanted desperately to make up the opinion of the modern Huns, with varying degrees of success.
This first total war, threatening not only states but the entire way of life and freedom of societies, was played on many levels. The great mobilization of Polish society, which made it possible to defend Warsaw, was possible on the one hand thanks to national unification, and on the other hand, thanks to maintaining peace, not succumbing to panic and defeatism. The struggle of the capital was not only the “Major Brzoza’s cannons fighting in the Muscovites”, but also the peaceful life of the Varsovians, supporting the functioning of the military base and showing the soldiers at the front that there was something to fight for.
Newspapers in the capital were published continuously, in circulation and a wide range of titles that are hard to imagine today. It was a time of much narrower media coverage than today. There were no radio stations (and only the idea of the Polish Radio Technology Society established in 1923 is being developed), no one in the world is thinking about television yet. As in other cities, the circulation of information and entertainment, apart from books and the press, is dominated by cinema related to it, visual representations (e.g. photoplastykon). Warsaw watches films in over a dozen (soon several dozen) cinemas and cinema halls, functioning in the circulation of world popular culture. Even in June 1920, the premiere of “Red Ace”, an American film, or rather an adventure miniseries, premiered in the USA in 1917. The screening, with full accompaniment of the orchestra playing film music, took place at 40 Nowy Świat.
The theater life did not die out. Despite the fact that the actors also tried to get involved in the military action, supporting morale with performances on the front line against the soldiers, the most important stage institutions of the capital were practically uninterrupted. For example, on May 12, 1920, the premiere of “Paper Lover” directed by Jerzy Szaniawski took place at the Reduta Theater, and on November 26 (this longer break results from the natural cycle of theater seasons), “Pomsta” was played for the first time, based on the drama by Władysław Orkan, directed by Juliusz Osterwa and Mieczysław Limanowski.
In August 1920, the Summer Olympics were held in Antwerp. There was no Polish representation at the competition, inaugurated on August 14, but it was the result of a conscious decision of the players and the Polish Olympic committee. Almost 90% of our team players were active soldiers, and although Marshal Piłsudski dismissed them from service for the time of the Olympics, the vast majority decided to stay in the country. In this situation, the performance of the Polish team was canceled, and the Poles had to wait for the Olympic performance until 1924, when they made their debut in Chamonix (winter games) and Paris (summer games). The decision to withdraw from the competition was accepted with respect and understanding by other teams, and the very fact of making preparations for the competition so far was considered a minor but important victory for Polish sport.
The soldiers who fought on the front lines were not doomed to the brink of a burning world. They fought for their own country, a state functioning normally, enjoying freedom and relative (for a post-war era) prosperity. It was an encouragement to fight as important as patriotic feelings and the conviction of historical right. The easiest way is to fight for normality.