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Poland The Impact of Nationalism and Romanticism
The intellectual and artistic climate of the early
nineteenth
century further stimulated the growth of Polish demands
for selfgovernment . During these decades, modern nationalism took
shape
and rapidly developed a massive following throughout the
continent, becoming the most dynamic and appealing
political
doctrine of its time. By stressing the value and dignity
of
native cultures and languages, nationalism offered a
rationale
for ethnic loyalty and resistance to assimilation. The
associated
principle of the nation state, or national homeland,
provided a
rallying cry for the stateless peoples of Europe.
Romanticism was the artistic element of
nineteenth-century
European culture that exerted the strongest influence on
the
Polish national consciousness. The Romantic movement was a
natural partner of political nationalism, for it echoed
the
nationalist sympathy for folk cultures and manifested a
general
air of disdain for the conservative political order of
postNapoleonic Europe. Under this influence, Polish literature
flourished anew in the works of a school of
nineteenth-century
Romantic poets, led by Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855).
Mickiewicz
concentrated on patriotic themes and the glorious national
past.
Frédéric Chopin (1810-49), a leading composer of the
century,
also used the tragic history of his nation as a major
inspiration.
Nurtured by these influences, nationalism awoke first
among
the intelligentsia and certain segments of the nobility,
then
more gradually in the peasantry. At the end of the
process, a
broader definition of nationhood had replaced the old
class-based
"gentry patriotism" of Poland.
Data as of October 1992
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