Around the Idea of Compromise. The activity of the Polish Peasant Party „New Liberation” on the forum of the State National Council and Parliament (with a particular emphasis on education)

Abstract

PSL „New Liberation” tried to win the villages. It highlighted its association with one of the major pre‑war left‑wing peasant parties: PSL „Liberation”. Before the war it had gathered many village teachers, focusing its attention on the modernization and development of education. The „New Liberation” declared great concern for the state (including education); it emphasized the importance of religion; it ensured that in the new political realities, an educated peasant „should not be a laughing stock, as it used to be previously, but a citizen enjoying full rights”. The party emphasized the role of peasant educational organizations: „the tremendous importance of this work, which seeks to abolish the eternal harm suffered by the neglected peasant child.” „New Liberation” persuaded the peasants that they should abandon their rivalry with the Communists and Socialists. The aim was to cooperate on equal terms. But, the idea of „New Liberation” to partially represent the interests of the village in the parliament was unreal. The „liberators” failed to notice the insincerity in PPR policy. The aim of this article is to recall the main activities of the Polish Peasant Party “New Liberation” on the forum of the State National Council and Parliament.