A. A. Timoshinov The struggle of political forces  for the public opinion in the Kingdom  of Poland at the beginning  of World War I

Abstract: The article examines the ideological struggle of the Polish political parties and groups aimed at winning over public opinion in the Kingdom of Poland at the beginning of World War I. The main sources for this research are Russian and Polish archives, including police reports, political agitation pamphlets and reports to the Governor General of Warsaw – some of the material is being used in scientific research for the first time. Particular attention is given to the memoirs of the leaders of the National-Democratic party, the most influential on the territory of the Kingdom of Poland. The document analysis showed the differing positions of the pro-Russian and pro-Austrian parties and the degree of their influence on the public opinion in the Privislinsky Krai. In particular, besides the obvious idea for the Polish National-Democrats of fully supporting Russia in the war, there were futile attempts to boycott the military mobilization on the territory of the Kingdom of Poland and unresponded calls to the population to support the Central powers – Germany and Austria-Hungary. Moreover, it is significant that after the beginning of the war most of the socialist-leaning Polish parties remained in their previous political positions, standing against supporting any of the sides of the conflict.

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