Between Odra and Dniepr rivers. Geopolitical thought of national democracy until year 1922

The subject of the article is geopolitical conception of a political movement called national democracy. It was created in the period prior to the World War I, and it was developed and assimilated during the war and after it until Poland gained independence and shaped its borders. The most significant matters in this area are works of one of the founders of the national movement, Jan Ludwik Popławski, (1854-1908) who defined original vision of new Poland. His ideas were developed and put into life by Roman Dmowski, who was undoubtedly the leader of the formation. The creators of the political doctrine of the new movement deviated from the traditional idea of Poland’s position on the map of Europe. They did not confine themselves to the recollection of previous Polish borders nor knowledge connected with the place where Polish ethnic people lived. While they were looking for the answer to the question of the image of an independent country they were rather wondering whether such a country needed to have a good economic development. Jan Popławski was the first to state the thesis that future Poland should be created on the basis of the line Śląsk – Pomorze including Vistula basin (certainly not only). As a condition sine qua non of independence Popławski acknowledged a wide access to the Baltic Sea. Ethnographic conditions of the most important areas of Śląsk and Pomorze were not an opportunity but a challenge because it was essential to oppose German colonization also in the East Prussia. This vision, which put the main targets of Polish geopolitics in the west, was the centre of the position of national democracy during the World War I