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Poland's Colonial Aspirations and the Question of a Mandate over Liberia, 1933–1939

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2021

Milena Skulimowska Open the ORCID record for Milena Skulimowska [Opens in a new window]
Milena Skulimowska*
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Abstract

This article examines Poland's political and economic involvement in Liberia in the 1930s in an attempt to address the question of how countries that were not classical colonial powers were engaging in colonialism. Interwar Poland was a newly established country struggling to achieve political stability and economic growth. Looking for a solution to the economic difficulties, Poland started to show an interest in obtaining colonies in Africa. This interest developed into the colonial movement. Poland attempted to establish a long-lasting economic and political presence in Liberia in the 1930s. This attempt failed; however, Polish involvement in Liberia demonstrates the effect that the idea of colonialism had on Polish society and the Polish government.

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The Historical Journal , Volume 65 , Issue 3 , June 2022 , pp. 730 - 749
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press.

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References

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55 Cordell Hull to F. D. G. Osbourne, 21 July 1934, TNA, FO 371/18042, pp. 102–3. McBride stayed in Liberia from 19 August to 4 September 1934. Yapp, 4 Sept. 1934, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/18042, pp. 223–8.

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60 Perhaps this is what Makarczyk was told by his Liberian counterparts, but European trading outposts existed in the coastal area. Liebenov points out that the elite tended to discourage Liberian business and encouraged the entrance of foreign groups at various levels of economic enterprise. Gus J. Liebenow, Liberia: the evolution of privilege (New York, NY, 1969), p. 92. Alternatively, this restriction mentioned by Makarczyk could apply only to the Liberian hinterland. Polish nationals had the right to enter the Liberian interior without a permit, which was required from other Europeans. Jan Hirschler, Ze Lwowa do Liberii: Wspomnienia z Afryki tropikalnej (Lwów, 1938), p. 99.

61 Janusz Makarczyk, Widziałem i słyszałem: Wspomnienia podróżnicze (Warsaw, 1957), pp. 72–3.

62 Białas, Liga Morska, pp. 212–13.

63 Hirschler, Ze Lwowa do Liberii, pp. 86–7.

64 Białas, Liga Morska, pp. 211–12.

65 Makarczyk, Widziałem i słyszałem, pp. 77–9.

66 Ibid.

67 Kotti Sree Ramesh and Kandula Nirupa Rani, Claude McKay: the literary identity from Jamaica to Harlem and beyond (Jefferson, NC, 2006), p. 190.

68 Makarczyk, Widziałem i słyszałem, p. 71. According to the report published by the Maritime and Colonial League, Sajous initially arrived to Poland in 1933 as an unofficial representative of Liberia, Haiti, and Abisynia to establish direct cultural and economic relations between these countries and Poland. Sprawozdanie z działalności Ligi Morskiej i Kolonialnej 1.IV.1933 – 1.IV.1935 (Warsaw, 1935), p. 21. It remains unclear how exactly Sajous came in contact with the Maritime and Colonial League.

69 Record of the conversation between McBride, Millard of the US Embassy in London, Thompson, and Wallinger, 18 Sept. 1934, TNA, FO 371/18042, pp. 244–51.

70 Letter nominating Leo Sajous as Liberian consul general signed by Simpson, 23 Apr. 1934, AAN, MSZ, 642, p. 11. The exequatur was granted to Sajous on 20 Mar. 1935. Beck, 20 Mar. 1935, AAN, MSZ, 642, p. 6.

71 ‘Umowa kolonizacyjna między Polską a Liberią’, Ilustrowany Kuryer Codzienny, 330 (1934), p. 6. Descendants of Polish legionnaires who rebelled against Napoleon to support the anti-colonial uprising in Haiti were still living there. See Jan Pachoński and Reuel K. Wilson, Poland's Caribbean tragedy: a study of Polish legions in the Haitian War of Independence, 1802–1803 (Boulder, CO, 1986).

72 Ibid. Ilustrowany Kuryer Codzienny gave Michał Pankiewicz from the Maritime and Colonial League as a source.

73 W. Erskine to Simon, 4 Dec. 1934, TNA, FO 371/18043, pp. 154–7.

74 Ibid.

75 Białas, Liga Morska, p. 211.

76 Yapp, 4 Aug. 1934, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/18042, p. 136.

77 Juliusz Łukasiewicz to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 28 Aug. 1934, AAN, Ambassada RP w Paryżu, 123, pp. 13–14.

78 Fularski, 31 Aug. 1934, AAN, Ambassada RP w Paryżu, 123, pp. 15–17.

79 Ibid.

80 Yapp, 3 Sept. 1934, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/18042, pp. 209–12.

81 Yapp, 22 Oct. 1934, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/18043, pp. 12–15. Simpson also mentioned some rumours apparently circulating in Monrovia that the delegation meant to secure a loan from Poland. He stated that these rumours were not true.

82 Yapp, 10 Nov. 1934, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/18043, pp. 49–78.

83 Mower, ‘The Republic of Liberia’, p. 295.

84 Yapp, 4 Sept. 1934, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/18042, pp. 223–8.

85 Yapp to John Simon, 6 Aug. 1934, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/18042, pp. 144–5.

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87 Wallinger, 22 Oct. 1934, TNA, FO 371/18042, p. 311.

88 A former vice-governor of the Congo was proposed, but he did not accept the Liberian government's invitation as he thought that the preset conditions in that country gave scant hope of a successful outcome to any mission he might undertake. Baron de Cartier de Marchienne to Seymour, 24 Sept. 1934, TNA, FO 371/18042, pp. 260–2.

89 Copy of Lugard's letter to Orts enclosed in Lugard's letter to Simon, 30 Aug. 1934, TNA, FO 371/18042, pp. 161–3.

90 Ibid.

91 Yapp, 21 Aug. 1934, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/18042, pp. 200–3.

92 Ibid.

93 Ibid.

94 Yapp to Thompson, 12 Nov. 1934, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/18043, pp. 87–90. In comparison, in 1932, the annual salary received by the Liberian secretary of the treasury was 3,137.98 US dollars. The Department of State, Liberia: documents relating to the plan of assistance proposed by the League of Nations (Washington, DC, 1933), pp. 51–2.

95 Annual report on Liberia for the period January 1934 to May 1935, Yapp, 15 May 1935, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/19235, p. 352.

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97 Yapp, Monrovia, 22 Oct. 1934, TNA, FO 371/18043, pp. 12–15. The health conditions in 1929, when yellow fever made its appearance, were described as distressing. For many years, there were areas in Liberia where health conditions were in such a deplorable state in 1932 that it started to be considered a serious danger on the west coast of Africa. See Browne, Vincent J., ‘Economic development in Liberia’, Journal of Negro Education, 24 (1955), pp. 113–19CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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100 Transcript of the annual message of President Barclay to the legislature from 19 Dec. 1935, Yapp, 4 Jan. 1936, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/20213, pp. 77–101, 96.

101 Pink, 26 Nov. 1936, TNA, FO 371/20213, p. 8.

102 Transcript of President Barclay's annual message to the legislature given on 28 Oct. 1936, Yapp, 6 Nov. 1936, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/20213, pp. 12–33, 21.

103 Wallinger to Ashley Clark, 19 Sept. 1934, TNA, FO 371/18042, pp. 252–3.

104 Yapp, 22 Oct. 1934, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/18043, pp. 12–15.

105 Erskine to Foreign Office, 15 Oct. 1934, TNA, FO 371/18042, p. 311.

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107 Yapp, 29 Jan. 1935, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/19235, pp. 228–9.

108 Whittall, 6 June 1935, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/19233, pp. 273–6.

109 Yapp, 17 Sept. 1934, Monrovia, TNA, FO 371/18042, p. 290.

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111 Mower, ‘The Republic of Liberia’, p. 295.

112 A note regarding the Maritime and Colonial League presence in Liberia (not dated), AAN, Konsulat RP w Monrowii 5, pp. 19–21.

113 Hirschler, Ze Lwowa do Liberii, pp. 13–14.

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121 Mańkowski to Polish consulate in Marseille, 18 Aug. 1938, AAN, MSZ, 4464, p. 6.

122 Mańkowski to Polish consulate in Marseille, 17 Jan. 1939, AAN, Konsulat w Monrowii 5, pp. 8–9.

123 Mańkowski to Polish consulate in Marseille, 27 July 1938, AAN, MSZ, 4464, pp. 1–3.

124 Kwaśniewski to Międzynarowe Towarzystwo Osadnicze, 25 May 1939, AAN, MSZ, 9765, pp. 17–18.

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