Ignacy Jan Paderewski

From POLAND : Key to Europe, 1938 by Raymond Leslie Buell

...      Dmowski in Europe and Paderewski in America carried on effective propaganda in favour of the Polish cause.

With the elimination of Russia, the Allies could now proceed to endorse the goal of Polish independence. President Wilson made Poland the subject of the next to the last of his Fourteen Points;¹⁹ and in a declaration of June 3, 1918 Britain, France, and Italy stated that the creation of a united Poland with free access to the sea constituted a condition of a just peace. Subsequently they authorized the formation in France of an autonomous Polish army, under the control of the Polish national Committee headed by Dmowski. This Allied recognition of the National Committee made possible the participation of Poland in the Paris Peace Conference — a right not granted to any Baltic country.

    ¹⁹   "An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant."

 

When Piłsudski was released from prison after the armistice, he was given full powers by the Regency Council in Warsaw. He now energetically proceeded to establish order in the country, evacuate the German troops, and form a government. His object was to win the support of the Left, believing that "revolution from the Left was always more dangerous than from the Right," particularly in view of the Bolshevik example to the north. Poland thus was in the hands of a former Socialist with a Left government, which probably saved it from Bolshevism; but the Allies had recognized the Polish National Committee, headed by a conservative, Dmowski.

This internal conflict threatened to undermine the position of Poland at the Paris Conference and to bring about civil strife at home. But through the mediation of Paderewski, both groups were brought together. Paderewski and Dmowski were recognized as the Polish delegates at the Peace Conference; the Polish committee recognized Piłsudski as the head of the government and Paderewski as Prime Minister, and agree to add ten Left members to its own list.

Apart from the arduous task of reconstruction and relief, Poland now was confronted with two major problems. The first was that of securing international recognition at Paris for adequate frontiers. The second was that of protecting its interests in the east.     ( pages 68-9 )

* * *

'In October 1937 a new political party, called the Polish Labour par;ty, was formed under the leadership of Ignace Paderewski and General Joseph Haller. This group opposes totalitarian ideas and "government by an élite."²³     ( page 107 )

    ²³ Letter of Paderewski to the first congress of the party on October 10, 1937.

New York * London : A. Knopf 1939.

From PILSUDSKI, 1941 by Aleksandra Piłsudska

A the same time [ca. January 1919] he invited Ignatius Paderewski, the great Polish pianist and composer, to hold the office of Prime Minister. Paderewski accepted the offer and immediately left Paris for Warsaw. I remember that when Pilsudski first told me of this I was rather surprised at his choice until he explained his reasons. Paderewski, he pointed out, had a supreme reputation both in Europe and across the Atlantic. From the point of view of propaganda abroad, of which Poland was badly in need, no man could be more suitable. Within the country he was not only universally beloved but he also possessed the merit of being known as a patriot but not as a party politician. The first National Government would obviously have to walk warily if peace was to be maintained between the rival parties, and Paderewski with his enormous personal popularity would be less likely to rouse hostility than any one else. The national pride in him would ensure him the co-operation and goodwill of all factions.

The opening of the Diet was fixed for February 1919,   . .   (etc).

PILSUDSKI : A Biography by his Wife,
by A. Piłsudska (with Jennifer Ellis),
New York : Dodd, Mead, etc. 1941, pp. 280-81.

Selected bibliographic, http://melvyl.cdlib.org

Author Paderewski, Ignace Jan, 1860-1941. Title Paderewski : myśli o Polsce i Polonii / [opracował zespół Marian Marek Drozdowski, Andrzej Piber]. Publisher Paris : Dembinski, c1992. Description 283 p., [4] p. of plates : ill. ; 22 cm. ISBN 2876650207

Author Paderewski, Ignace Jan, 1860-1941. Title Pamiętniki / Ignacy Jan Paderewski ; spisała Mary Lawton. Publisher Kraków : Polskie Wydawn Muzyczne, 1984. Description 474 [1] p. : ill. Note Translation of: The Paderewski memoirs. London : Collins, 1939. ISBN 8322402600

Author Paderewski, Ignace Jan, 1860-1941. Title The Paderewski memoirs / by Ignace Jan Paderewski and Mary Lawton ; new pref., discography, and bibliography by Stephen Citron. Publisher New York : Da Capo Press, 1980, c1938. Description x, 409 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. Series Da Capo Press music reprint series Note Reprint of the published by C. Scribner's Sons, New York. Includes index. Note Bibliography: p. 408-409. Discography: p. 405-407. ISBN 0306760460 :

Author Paderewski, Ignace Jan, 1860-1941. Title Archiwum polityczne Ignacego Paderewskiego. Zespół redakcyjny : Halina Janowska [et al.] Publisher Wrocław, Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1973-4. Description 4 v. illus. 24 cm. Note At head of title: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Historii. Part of documents in English or French. Since 1960, the entire political archives of Ignacy Paderewski are kept in the Archiwum Akt nowych. Cf. v. 1, p. xi. Correspondence in English, French or Polish. Note Includes bibliographical references. Contents t. 1. 1890-1918.--t. 2. 1919-1921.--t. 3 [1922-1934].--t. 4. 1935-1940.

Author Paderewski, Ignace Jan, 1860-1941. Title The Paderewski memoirs, by Ignace Jan Paderewski and Mary Lawton. Publisher New York, C. Scribner's Sons, 1938. Description x p., 1 ¹., 404 p. front., plates, ports., facsims. 24 cm. Note To August 1, 1914. "Later memoirs in preparation."