The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1925-04-29

peasant
prepared BY the National Geographic 80
ciety, Washington. ID. CD
Poland's recent vehement protes
against any move toward a readjust
ment Of the Polish-German frontier I!
easily explained by the old adage, "A
burnt child breads the fire" The las
time Poland's boundaries were tam
pered with they were 'readjusted" sc
radically that the country-long one OF
the most powerful Kingdoms in Europe
was wiped out of existence for near
ly a century and quarter
But Poland's spirit did not die while
Its territory and its people were oil
vided among Russia, Austria and Ger
many. Generations of the sternest
repression ever practiced upon any
people still left the Pole with his heart
set on the one desire of his life-Po-
land restored. In spite OF the efforts
of three Of the worlds most powerful
governments to assimilate them and to
incorporate them into their own bodies
polite, 2OO00,OOO Poles hoped and
longed for and dreamed of the day
when their country should resurrect
itself and make itself vital force in
the civilization Of the future. That
great day came for Poland after the
World war when the greater part Of
Its old territory was gathered to-
gether and the republic of Poland was
created, becoming the sixth nation of
Europe both in area and population.
In size the old Poland, before the
partition. outranked nearly every ma
ton of the continent. Before the
World war Russia alone Of the Euro
pean nations was larger than Poland
was at her greatest In population she
stood at the forefront Of Europe. I'm
partitioned Poland had an area Of 2S2,-
900 square miles, and the lands that
once lay within her boundaries now
support a population of approximately
5O0OO,00O In area she was larger
than Great Britain, Italy, and Greece
combined
Poland was three times partitioned,
and these partitionings were read
justed between the Practitioners by the
congress of Vienna in 1915. Where
the original partitions had given Rus
sia $4,000 square miles, Prussia 54,
600 square miles, and Austria $4,000
square miles, the reapportionment of
the Vienna congress gave Russia 220,-
500, Prussia 10000, and Austria $4,000
square miles.
Poland, In the days of her greatest
area, extended from point within so
miles of Berlin, on the west, to the
meridian Of the Sea of Azov on the
east; on the north 1t reached nearly to
the Gulf of Finland and on the south
down to the Khanate of Crimea. In
those days, Warsaw, next to Paris, was
the most brilliant city In Europe.
Suffered Repression.
The Poles who came under the gov
eminent of the three partitioning pow
ers, suffered repression in varying de-
grees. For long time the Poles in
Russia were forbidden even to use
their native tongue. Even the railway
employees could not answer questions
asked In Polish The word POLISH
Itself could not be used In the news
papers. For while no letter could
be addressed in Polish.
The national dress was forbidden,
even as carnival costume or in his
torical dramas in the theater The
coat of arms of Poland had to be
erased from every old house and from
the frame of every old picture. The
singing of the national songs was
strictly taboo.
Germany tried in every possible way
to transform her Poles into Germans.
1t used the Russian tactics in quench-
ing the fire of their nationalism, but
with no better success than Russia
had.
There were laws forbidding the use
Of Polish In public meetings, and
Polish children who refused to answer
the catechism In German were pun
lshed.
Austria never treated her Poles as
the Russians and the Prussians treated
theirs. Where those countries sought
TO destroy the spirit of Polish national
ISM, holding II to be perpetual
menace to Russian and Prussian insti-
buttons, Austria proceeded upon the
theory that this spirit, carefully d.
'ected, became more source of
strength to the government than a
source of weakness. So the Poles Of
Austria were as free to sing their ma
ional songs as the people Of our own
South are free to sing Dixie. They
we're as much at liberty to glorify their
)ast and to speak their native tongue
is though they were free and indie
pendent. Except that they must pay
hair taxes to Austria and serve In |