Vidurio Rytų Europa XX amžiaus antrosios pusės lenkų išeivijos federalistinėse regioninėse koncepcijose

Abstract

The most prominent representatives of the federalist concept among Polish emigrants of the second half of the 20th century are considered to be historian Oskar Halecki (1891–1973) and editor / politician Jerzy Giedroyc (1906–2000). They made a tremendous influence on the Polish historiographical and geopolitical thought. The present article is dedicated to their activities and has formulated the concepts meant for the substantiation of the federal past of East Central Europe and the independence of the region. The developments of World War II and post-war periods conditioned a half-century long dualistic division of Europe into the democratic West and the Communist East, which left a deep imprint in the world historiography. Disagreeing with the dualistic representation of Europe, O. Halecki suggested his own concept: he summarized the discussions of historians and politicians of the first half of the 20th century concerning such concepts as Eastern Europe, Slavic Europe, Central or East Central Europe. This was reflected in his publication “The Limits and Divisions of European History”. In it, he suggested dividing Europe not into two or three but into four parts – Western, Eastern, West Central and East Central.