Full title: Sobering voices? Experts of Eastern Europe in Poland (1921-1940)

Author: Dr. Estelle Bunout

Abstract/summary:

The Riga Treaty produced a broad national diversity in the new Polish society. Between the challenges of geopolitical diplomatic confrontations and the cohabitation at the individual scale, the state faced the question of what it meant to organise a multinational society, especially in the Eastern territories of the Second Republic. It is in this context that several institutions were created, based on private and state initiatives, which aimed at preparing the upcoming political elites with dedicated expertise on Eastern Europe. These institutions also intervened in the public debate via press and journals. In this paper, I would like to discuss the core message of these institutions and their actors: their constant effort to explain the elements underlying the political conflicts that marked the society of the Polish Second Republic.