Gennadii Korolov University of Warsaw, Institute of History, National

Gennadii Korolov University of Warsaw, Institute of History, National

Gennadii Korolov
University of Warsaw, Institute of History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
“Between Germany And Russia”: Oskar Halecki’s Conception Of History Of “East-Central Europe”
1. Introduction. Key question.
“The making of Europe” this suggestive expression used by Oskar Halecki (1891-1973), the most
prominent polish historian in 20th century, in context to “the organization of Europe became at once the
chief problem of her history…” 1 Within the scope of this research proposal is his historical views on
European history, particularly on East-Central European history. Halecki was an author of the history of
the Jagiellonian Union and the concept of “East-Central Europe”. The last definition is still a dominant
notion of the strategy of “self-describing” of history; used by many historians, who conduct research on
the history of the “Other” Europe.
The intellectual biography of Halecki is unknown in contemporary Ukrainian and more broadly in
the Russian-language historiography. Oskar Halecki's works in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus remains known
only among historians-specialists, which further proves the importance of this study. It is worth noting
that his texts comprehensively have not been translated into any of East Slavic language. Although these
nations were the main objects of Halecki's researches.
I am convinced that the new outlook on Oskar Halecki's conception of history of East-Central
Europe be useful in the ongoing dialogue of difficult matters of the Polish-Ukrainian history.
For this reasons, I will present the overall panorama of Halecki’s historiographical vision on history
of East-Central Europe. In my view, this kind of research is long overdue in Polish- and English-written
academic publications. It focuses on the historiographical sources by Halecki, and his discusses with
Russian émigré historians in the USA. He had never responded on the conclusions of Soviet historiography,
which he justly considered as a non-scientist sphere, but rather a typical ideological phenomenon.
Imperialism, panslavism, and communism his main tools for analysis of East-European history. I agree with
Rafał Stobiecki’s viewpoint, that Halecki was a multi-historian, which researched problems in different
fields and historical periods 2.
Oskar Halecki accepted and relied on idea of Polish messianism, especially myth of antemurale
Christianitatis. It is a notion meaning a bulwark of Christianity, which considered Poland and Poles as
defenders of the West's frontiers against the “barbaric” and “despotic” East or Asia 3. So, I shift from the
East-Central European history to the question of his reception and development in the context of Polish
“Slavic idea”, Russian panslavism and German imperialism.
I will try to show, how the political ideas of Pan-Slavism (also Russian “special path”) and
German Sonderweg appeared to have been important issues in Halecki’s conception of history of EastCentral Europe? These ideas in the public and intellectual debate in interwar Europe are considered as a
formation of modern national identities. Halecki had taken an active part on the polemics on the future
of Central and Eastern Europe where he ardently defended the principal Polish interpretations of EastEuropean history.
2. Methodological approaches
The project proposal is based on the biographical approach that helps to explain the basic
historiographical ideas of Halecki. His works interpreted and correlated with a broad intellectual and
1
Oskar Halecki. Federal traditions in Central Eastern Europe // New Europe. December 1, 1940. P. 11.
Rafał Stobiecki, Oskar Halecki na tle emigracyjnej historiografii polskiej // Oskar Halecki i jego wizja Europy. T.
1. Warszawa-Łódż, 2012. S. 225.
3
Janusz Tazbir, Polskie przedmurze chrześcijańskiej Europy. Mity a rzeczywistość historyczna [Polish bulwark of
Christian Europe. Myths and historical reality] (Warszawa, 1987), p. 5.
2
political context relevant in different periods of life. In this case I using a history of ideas. What are the
contexts affect the meaning of Halecki's texts and their changes in accordance with the ideological
demands?
I try show how the language of “self-description” of history, which proposed by Halecki, to
formulated the any ideas as part of various academic communities, not just offer the scientific version of
the past, but also changing the ideological sense of the present and predict the future.
3. Relevance in view of state of research
This problem did not consider in historiography, only in the narrow sense or separate views.
Therefore, were several serious researches about Halecki’s opinion on East-Central Europe and Russia? 4
Nevertheless, I would like to mention Miroslaw Filipowicz works 5. His interest to the text of Halecki are
clearly: as a historian and director (from 2005) of Institute of East Central Europe in Lublin could not to
research this theme. Halecki together with Pope John Paul II and editor of journal “Kultura” Jerzy Giedroyc
are patrons of the Lublin’s Institute. So, Filipowicz makes a right conclusion, that Halecki was not a
historian of Russia 6. Nevertheless, I should admitted, that he was a historian of Ancient Rus. As Filipowicz
has commented that Halecki perceived Russia as a specific Eurasian continent, which in some historical
periods has a crucial influence on Europe and Poland as well 7. It would be also important to put Halecki’s
ideas into a context of Polish historiographical tradition of writings on Russia 8. Some German historians
have been sounding about the Halecki’s conception of “East Central Europe” 9.
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