Władysław Studnicki

Who was Władysław Studnicki?

Władysław Gizbert-Studnicki, a Polish politician and publicist, was born in 1867 in Daugavpils and died in 1953 in London. Throughout his life, Studnicki was famous for his strongly pro-German stance.

His political career started in late 19th century in the Socialist organization Proletariat, for which Russian authorities sent him to Siberia. After returning to Poland, he became activist of the Polish Socialist Party, but left it, choosing the national movement, in which he was the main ideologist. However, unhappy about pro-Russian program of the nationalists, deserted them and in 1904 wrote a book “From Socialism to Nationalism”, in which Studnicki explained reasons for change of his ideals.

In 1910 he authored another publication “Polish Case” in which presented the need of reconstruction of Poland, based on support from Germany and Austria-Hungary. Also, at that time Studnicki came up with a concept which stipulated changing the dual, Austro-Hungarian Empire into the Austrian-Hungarian-Polish federation. He was strongly anti-Russian, emphasizing that Russian Empire occupied 80% of the territory of the 1772 Rzeczpospolita.

In the course of time, Studnicki became one of the most important pro-German politicians in Poland. On May 10, 1916 he met Hans von Beseler, a Governor of the Congress Poland, to whom he presented a project of an independent Poland, with eastern borders on the Dvina and Berezina rivers and western borders as for 1914, leaving Poznan, Bydgoszcz and Upper Silesia in German hands. Later, he became member of the Temporary Council of State, a German-sponsored government, existing in Warsaw in the years 1916–1918.