Europas Platz in Polen: Polnische Europa-Konzeptionen vom Mittelalter bis zum EU-Beitritt byClaudia Kraft; Katrin SteffenReview by: Piotr S. WandyczSlavic Review, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Summer, 2008), pp. 453-455Published by:Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27652862 .

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Book Reviews 453

temporary paintings and statues, postage stamps, and even three items from a deck of

playing cards. She records how people of various nationalities and political and religious

allegiances have viewed Vytautas and his actions from the fourteenth to the twentieth cen

tury. This source base contributes to research on royal imagery; political-religious allegory (such as the Anglo-French propaganda adapted by the Bohemians to feature Vytautas

for their own ends); neo-Latin poetry; Jesuit theater; Tatar, Jewish, and Karaite political

identity; and many other topics. That said, as a historical study, rather than as an

antiquarian melange, the book is

seriously flawed. It is difficult to tell how the author distinguishes description (of actions

or words) from (deliberately forged) images. There is no convincing evidence that Vy tautas was the creator of this image (other than the obvious fact that he and his actions

form the basis for the images others created). We do not learn when Vytautas was given the soubriquet "magnus"; Aeneas Piccolomini merely states that the grand duke's renown

(nomen) was great (magnum) in his day. The text does not mean that Vytautas's name was

"the great" (248,274). The author exhibits a weak grasp of source criticism, historical context, and chronol

ogy. She uses sixteenth-century xenophobic Muscovite propaganda as evidence of what a

Lithuanian ruler intended in the fifteenth century. We are presented with a reference to

Jogaila's formal entry into Krakow in 1386 (based most probably on accounts relating to an

event of 1447, as the author acknowledges) to provide by analogy an account of Vytautas's formal entry into Vilnius in 1392 (for which there is absolutely no evidence, other than

the author's misunderstanding of Jan Dlugosz's account of that year). The author avoids difficult issues of textual authenticity (Risalei Tatari leh), even

though such probable forgeries remain relevant to her topic (Tatar fidelity to the Lithu

anian state from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries). Although Johannes Voigt him

self was clear, his 1836 interpretation of Dlugosz's interpretation of Vytautas's intentions

is quoted as words uttered by the grand duke himself, allegedly recorded in a published

letter of 5 December 1428, which gives no such details. This tendency to be inattentive to

the sources is not rare in Lithuanian scholarship (Justinas Karosas, a professor

at Vilnius

University, recently announced publicly that academic truth is not relevant when scholars

and politicians are under pressure), but such vices must be rooted out from professional

studies.

There is a brave attempt to analyze the symbolism of the frescoes that were barely visible on the walls of Trakai Castle in the early nineteenth century, and the illustrations

published here are useful, but a triangular hat could be worn by a Christian bishop, ajew, a

Tatar, a Muscovite, or even a Lithuanian, so how do we determine exactly what these faded

images meant? How do we even know they were created for Vytautas (rather than for his

brother Zygimantas or his second cousin Kazimir)?

The author herself offers baseless clich?s about absolute rule in Vytautas's Lithu

ania. R. Petrauskas's insights into the role the Lithuanian nobility played in governing the

Grand Duchy in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries are, in effect, passed over. Studies

by Alvydas Nikzentaitis and Dangiras Maciulis of the images of Vytautas and the ways they were manipulated in the twentieth century have been as good as ignored.

In sum, this book is indeed useful, but it is a pity that the author has taken the easy

way out of analyzing a complex and interesting topic.

Stephen C. Rowell

Lietuvos istorijos institu?as, Vilnius, Lithuania

Europas Platz in Polen: Polnische Europa-Konzeptionen vom Mittelalter bis zum EU-Beitritt.

Ed. Claudia Kraft and Katrin Steffen. Einzelver?ffentlichungen des Deutschen Insti

tuts Warschau, no. 11. Osnabr?ck: Fibre Verlag, 2007. 261 pp. Bibliography. Index.

24.50, paper.

Poland has always been in Europe but not always of Europe. What is the essence of Eu

rope and what constitutes "Polishness"? What are the west and the east? How was the

complex relationship between the two conceptualized by the Poles over the centuries?

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454 Slavic Review

The twelve authors of this collective volume discuss such questions, and a short review can

hardly do justice to the richness of the material presented and the sophistication of the

interpretations. Published in the series of the German Institute in Warsaw, this work is certainly topi

cal and timely. The recent problems faced by the European Union, the accusations that

Poland is the most unpredictable member, the emotional reactions on the part of Polish

diplomacy, and unfortunate Polish-German tensions need to be understood in a histori

cal context.

The introductory chapter by the editors Claudia Kraft and Katrin Steffen raises the

basic issues the subsequent authors discuss from various angles. The tension between na

tion and Europeanism is surveyed over the centuries, and the authors ask under what

conditions the two identities can coexist. They point out that Poland's 1989 "return" to

Europe was not the first in its history. Poland has been both affected and deserted by Eu

rope, and Polish perceptions of Europe have been characterized by both continuity and

change. Kraft and Steffen recall such keywords as bulwark, heterogeneity, and freedom. Their

conclusion is that Poland's accession to the European Union meant for the latter not only a

geographic extension but a renewal.

The chapter by Maria Janion focuses on the concept and the myth of Polish eastern

confines (Kresy) and examines its positive and negative impact. She mentions the link

between Sarmatism and orientalism and points out that the eastern frontier was a zone

rather than a barrier even in respect to the division between Roman Catholicism and the

Eastern Rite. She stresses the heritage of partitions and messianism that weighed on the

Polish perception of Europe, Germans, and Russians.

The next chapter by Christian L?bke describes Poland's emergence from a "grey

zone" mainly through impulses coming from the west?acceptance of Christianity and

economic and constitutional transformation?to the status of a truly sizable heteroge

neous member of the medieval community. In a

chapter on the sixteenth century, Janusz Tazbir stresses that while most Poles

would identify themselves as Christians, the educated elite in fact introduced the phrase "we Europeans" earlier than in the west. While Polish writers asserted that Poland was part

of European culture?as symbolized by close ties with Erasmus of Rotterdam?it boasted

of its own literary language. The Poles believed that Poland was a granary and a bulwark

shielding Europe. Hence the Europeans would never let Poland perish. In the chapter on

the Enlightenment, Andreas Lawaty discusses the interpretations in Polish historiography of the nature of the Sarmatian versus the Europeanist controversy. For Lawaty, to treat this

purely in terms of backwardness versus modernization would be an oversimplification, and

he draws attention to such concepts as reformed republicanism, "enlightened liberty," and a "mild revolution."

Maciej Janowski's chapter raises the question of what was typically European and typi

cally Polish in the nineteenth century and argues that Polish backwardness was a delayed west European phenomenon. In this regard he uses the phrase "Koexistenz von Ungle

ichzeitigkeiten" (co-existence of inequalities, 133). He also criticizes the current misun

derstandings about Polish nationalism and believes that to treat messianism as a parochial

deviation is grossly misleading. Janowski concludes by characterizing the Polish develop ments as

typically peripheral but without a doubt European, perhaps more so than ever

in the past. His last thought-provoking remarks about the merits of center and periphery deserve separate treatment.

The remaining five chapters deal with developments in the twentieth century. Stepha nie Zloch examines "Polish Ideas of Europe and Europe Plans" in the interwar period. At

times both her approach and choice of emphasis seem debatable. Slawomir Lukasiewicz

examines the different plans for a new European order in the aftermath of World War II

and singles out the attempt by Polish and Czechoslovak governments-in-exile to create a

postwar federation in east central Europe. The next chapter is written by three authors: Jos? M. Feraldo, Paulina Guli?ska

Jurgiel, and Christian Domnitz. Feraldo discusses the early postwar years and shows how

the Polish communists used nationalism to gain legitimacy and how they presented the USSR as a

guardian against German revisionism. Feraldo pays some attention to the Polish

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Book Reviews 455

emigration and its European-federalist position and emphasizes the role of Catholics at

home, especially of "Tygodnik Powszechny." Gulinska-Jurgiel covers the changing focus of

communist propaganda from 1960 to 1970 with its stress on western threats to European

stability and security. The Rapacki Plan is seen as symptomatic for this phase. While attacks on German revisionism intensified under Wladyslaw Gomulka, the United States came in

creasingly to be presented as the great enemy. Guli?ska-Jurgiel contrasts this official stand

with the attempts at German-Polish reconciliation undertaken by the Catholic Church and intellectuals. Discussing the mounting crisis from 1976 to the collapse of communism, Domnitz stresses the growing debates about Europe and east central Europe in the op

position circles. Europe is seen as a Europe of nations that cannot fully understand itself

without Poland. The Communist Party's attempts to resort to European rhetoric are seen

as desperate

moves to strengthen its position. Klaus Bachmann explores current Polish European concepts in detail. He insight

fully examines the debates about Poland and the European Union, the stand of the Eu

roskeptics, and different visions of Europe. Domestic concerns and demagoguery greatly affect these debates, and the issues are often misunderstood by the public and awkwardly handled by Polish diplomats.

"Poland or Freedom in the Heart of Europe" the concluding essay by Gesine Schwan, the president of Europa-Universit?t Viadrina, tells the story of the author's growing inter

est in Poland and her deep understanding and empathy for its problems. It is a fitting conclusion to this valuable book, which aims to bring Poland closer to the Germans in the

European context and to promote their mutual cooperation.

Piotr S. Wandycz

Yale University

A Clean Sweep? The Politics of Ethnic Cleansing in Western Poland, 1945-1960. By T. David

Curp. Rochester Studies in Central Europe. Rochester: University of Rochester Press,

2006. x, 270 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $85.00, hard bound.

In this detailed and closely argued account of how Polish communists consolidated their

power in postwar western Poland, T. David Curp advances one thesis in particular: that

Poland's radically revised territorial makeup?in particular, the Grand Alliance's deci

sion to turn several German provinces (minus their 9 million inhabitants) over to Po

land?amounted to a "national revolution" that led to a marriage of convenience (or, as he sees it, a remarkable degree of national solidarity) between Iosif Stalin's minions

and the traditionally anticommunist society of western Poland, with its strong National

Democratic, Catholic, and agrarian traditions. Even (or precisely) the most aggressively nationalist and xenophobic elements in prewar Polish society, such as the Polish Western

Union (PZZ), were welcome partners in the campaign to secure the newly acquired lands.

After a couple of years, however, the "Stalinists" in the ruling party began to overreach and

upset the recently established sense of national solidarity. In Curp's terminology, the poli cies pursued after 1948 were "socially and culturally revolutionary" but "anti-nationally

counterrevolutionary" (107). In particular, they called into question the commitment to

national homogeneity, the leading role of the church, and the rights of settlers to the

property only recently seized from the Germans; and thereby set the stage for the Poznan

"revolution" of 1956.

Curp confines his study to two regions, roughly equivalent to the present-day regions of Great Poland and Lubusz, which represented two very different faces of postwar "west

ern Poland." He has much more to say about the former region, mainly because it was part of prewar Poland and already had an overwhelmingly Polish population. The expulsion of its small remaining German minority, which less radical prewar methods (and "ethnic

self-cleansing") had already reduced from 34 percent in 1918 to 9 percent by 1931, had

only a marginal impact on Great Polish society as a whole. By contrast, Lubusz and its

composite replacement population were almost entirely the product of ethnic cleansing; here the regime had a freer hand, and fewer traditional forces to deal with. The contrasts

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