The ‘Discrepancy between State and Ethnographic Frontiers’: Dmowski and Masaryk on Self-determination

Abstract

Precious little common ground can be found in the politics of Roman Dmowski and Tomáš Masaryk. Both in theory and in practice, these two East-Central European statesmen followed politically divergent courses. The foundation of Dmowski’s political ideology rested on social Darwinism while Masaryk’s Weltanschauung stood firmly on religious ethos. Dmowski displayed an authoritarian bent that evolved into full-scale flirtation with Italian fascism. In contrast, Masaryk was the staunch democrat. While Dmowski’s name has become synonymous with the worst anti-Semitic excesses of the Polish political right, Masaryk has obtained the reputation of being an opponent of anti-Semitism. In the new Poland, Dmowski faded into obscurity with the highest political office eluding him; Masaryk became president, and in due course elder statesman of the Czechoslovak Republic. Despite the formidable array of political differences, however, the views of Dmowski and Masaryk converge on the issue of national self-determination.¹