Department of Colonial Studies at the Jagiellonian University

On 7th July, 1937 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a letter to the authorities of the Jagiellonian University which contained a memorandum concerning the need to set up a Department of Colonial Studies within the university. In the letter, the Ministry suggested that in the following academic year, each of the university faculties should organize lectures and classes associated with colonial issues. The letter sent from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was an expression of the unofficial policy which Poland had conducted since the middle of the 30s of the 20th century. The change of the international situation, associated with Italy’s invasion of Abyssinia, the strengthening of the international position of Japan, in the Far East, as well as Germany’s return to the role of a superpower - was associated with the issue of a new division of territories to be colonized by the abovementioned countries. The government in Warsaw wished to "take advantage" of the situation and act, so that the interests of the Polish state would not be neglected in this respect. At this point, one should state clearly that Poland had never officially put a claim to any concrete territories. It was mainly the overcrowding in the rural areas, the unemployment in cities and above all, the lack of natural resources that induced the authorities to look for new sources of employment and mineral resources within the existing territorial division of the world. The Department of Colonial Studies at the Jagiellonian University was to serve as the breeding ground for future Polish colonial expansion which was to implement the above goals. Yet, what made it difficult to realize the above objectives was a lack of suitable academic personnel which would possess adequate theoretical and practical knowledge of the subject. Yet, in spite of this, in the years 1938-1939 the work on the realization of the project continued within the University; the best example of this is a "Course of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine" which was organized at the Medical Faculty. The actual classes organized in the Department of Colonial Studies were to begin in the academic year 1939/1940 whereas its graduates were to conduct the "cultural conquest of the tropics" in a "systematic and scientific way". The outbreak of II World War put an end to all the big plans of both the government and the dedicated employees of the University.