The Colonial Question and the Pre-Unification Peasant Movement (1918-1931) in the Second Polish Republic A Critical Discourse Analysis of Key Peasant Press Titles

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze, from a postcolonial perspective, the attitudes of the interwar peasant circles toward the so-called “colonial question.” This question is understood as twofold: internal colonization, particularly in the Eastern Borderlands, and Polish aspirations and projects related to overseas colonization. Drawing on a critical discourse analysis of key press titles published by the leading parties of the pre-unification peasant movement (the center-right PSL “Piast” and the center-left PSL “Wyzwolenie”), the article demonstrates how the colonial question was closely connected to major challenges facing interwar Poland, including agrarian overpopulation, land hunger, land reform, and migration. The article argues that although perspectives on internal colonization varied significantly among peasant groups based on political affiliations, there was near-universal opposition to overseas colonial projects. These were primarily perceived as efforts to circumvent fundamental land reform in Poland and to preserve the privileged position of large landowners.