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<b>How did you become interested in writing about interbellum Poland?</b>
The interbellum period was a fascinating age of experiments and extremes. The radical right and radical left had not yet discredited themselves with the crimes of Nazism and Stalinism, and the political horizon appeared to be wide open for all kinds of potential solutions to political, social, and economic problems. Advocates of democracy, authoritarianism, liberalism, socialism, communism, nationalism, fascism, and other ideologies all vied for power in the multitude of small states created by the collapse of old empires following World War I. In Poland this debate , nationalism and anti-Semitism played out very differently than an ever bigger role in neighboring countries, especially Germany and the USSR, and politics. I wanted to understand why this was the case, and what this can tell us about the relationship between politics, ideology, and violence more generally.
[[File:Brykczynski-Paul-2016-g.jpg|thumbnail|250px|Paul Brykczanski]]
<b>In 1918, the Second Polish Republic was created. What did the new Poland look like in 1918? Were Poles optimistic about their future?</b>
<b>What kind of challenges did Poland face after it was recreated? What was the political environment like?</b>