The Polish Mission to Liberia, 1934–1938

Constructing Poland's Colonial Identity

Bibliographic Data

ID8958222
AuthorsPiotr Puchalski (0000-0003-4530-959X, University of Wisconsin–Madison, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume60
Issue4
Pages1071-1096
Publication date2017-03-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Historical Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-246X • E-ISSN: 1469-5103
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0018246x16000534
OpenAlexW2596370551
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited14

The Polish mission to Liberia (1934–8) was a series of diplomatic, commercial, and scientific initiatives carried out by Poland's Maritime and Colonial League and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Contextualizing the mission in terms of contemporary attempts to construct Poland's colonial identity, this article argues that Poland's colonial lobby imagined their presence in Liberia as a unique form of colonialism, distinct from its Western counterparts. Many participants in the mission considered Poland to have a special moral mandate in Africa by virtue of its own experience as a recently occupied nation. The grandiose visions of Liberia as a Polish colony and unfulfilled economic promises, however, contributed to the ultimate termination of the mission in 1938. The Poles’ concept of colonialism obscured their plausible objectives in Liberia and distracted them from executing their economic plan. The construction of a Polish colonial identity was a perfect means of rallying patriots around the flag and creating domestic support for Poland's maritime projects, but a colonial ideology was a double-edged sword in foreign affairs

Art · Colonialism · Identity (music · Ideology · Mandate · Ministry of Foreign Affairs · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · SWORD · Vision · African history and culture studies · Anthropology · Engineering · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · History · Law

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