Polska racja stanu w refleksji Adolfa Bocheńskiego i Juliusza Mieroszewskiego: implikacje współczesne
Polish Raison d’état as Seen by Adolf Bocheński and Juliusz Mieroszewski

Summary/Abstract: In the 18th century the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had found itself sandwiched between two European superpowers, Russia and Prussia, which soon partitioned it among themselves and Austria. The short period of national independence after World War I ended with the outbreak of World War II. All this impacted on the way Polish political thinkers defined the Polish geopolitical raison d’état. The article examines the ideas of two prominent authors, Adolf Maria Bocheński (1909–1944), whose main work appeared in 1930s, and Juliusz Mieroszewski (1906–1976), a political commentator for the Paris-based Kultura. The former tried in vain to find a way out of the Polish interwar geopolitical predicament; the latter speculated about conditions that could lead to the restoration of Poland’s independence. He predicted the demise of the Soviet bloc and the USSR itself, as well as the reunification of Germany. He also suggested the best course for Polish foreign policy in the new situation. His ideas strongly influenced the way post-communist leaders perceived Poland’s strategic interests in the new Europe.

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