Roman Dmowski
Roman Stanisław Dmowski (9 August 1864 – 2 January 1939) was a Polish politician, statesman, and co-founder and chief ideologue of the National Democracy (abbreviated "ND": in Polish, "Endecja") political movement. He saw the Germanization of Polish territories controlled by the German Empire as the major threat to Polish culture and therefore advocated a degree of accommodation with another power that had partitioned Poland, the Russian Empire. He favored the re-establishment of Polish independence by nonviolent means, and supported policies favorable to the Polish middle class. During World War I, in Paris, through his Polish National Committee he was a prominent spokesman, to the Allies for Polish aspirations. He was an instrumental figure in the postwar restoration of Poland's independent existence.
Quotes[edit]
- In relations with other nations, there is neither right nor wrong; there is only strength and weakness.
- Myśli nowoczesnego Polaka, 7th ed., 1953, p. 14.
- The nation becomes the master of its fate not only when it has many good sons, but also when it possesses enough strength to restrain its bad ones.
- "Podstawy polityki polskiej", Przegląd Wszechpolski (July 1905): 343, 349, 358-359.
- The only salvation for us is to stop being an incoherent, loose mob and to change into a strongly organized, disciplined army.
- "Walka o prawo i organizacja narodowa", Przegląd Wszechpolski, vol. 9 (June 1903).
- To be a Pole does not mean just to speak Polish or to feel close to other Poles, but to value the Polish nation above all else … [A Pole] must accept everything Polish, both good and bad, and must accept every period of the nation's history, both strong and weak.
- Myśli nowoczesnego Polaka, 7th ed., 1953, p. 26.
- Wherever we can multiply our forces and our civilizational efforts, absorbing other elements, no law can prohibit us from doing so, as such actions are our duty.
- Tomaszewski J. Kresy Wschodnie w polskiej myśli politycznej XIX i XX w.//Między Polską etniczną a historyczną. Polska myśl polityczna XIX i XX wieku.—T.6.—Warszawa, 1988.—S.101. Cited through: Oleksandr Derhachov (editor), "Ukrainian Statehood in the Twentieth Century: Historical and Political Analysis", 1996, Kiev
