Graduation Year

2016

Publication Date

Spring 4-22-2016

Comments

Professor Horwitz has my gratitude for being my adviser on this project.

Abstract

Abstract

This paper explores the fate of Poland during, and immediately after, the Second World War and examines the question of Western betrayal of Poland. This paper looks into why some Poles felt, and continue to feel, a sense of betrayal by their allies during the war. The main focus of this paper is how the Poles came to understand their fate and position in the world during and after World War Two. The thesis of this paper is that Poles define their national narrative in the modern era as glorious victimhood and that this definition of glorious victimhood is how Poles understood their situation during and after World War Two. In pursing this aforementioned thesis, the paper presents sub-narratives of victimhood, martyrdom, and betrayal in the history of Poland from the First Partition of Poland (1772) to the imposition of communist rule following World War Two (1948). The Warsaw Uprising (August-October 1944) provides a case study for the Polish experience of World War Two and the narrative of glorious victimhood. This case study focuses on the degree of Allied support and intervention, along with the failures of the Polish Government-in-Exile and the Polish Home Army during the Warsaw Uprising.

Disciplines

History

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