The Polish question in the interpretation of Russian intellectuals of the 19th – early 20th centuries
Abstract
The views of some Russian intellectuals of the 19th – early 20th centuries who tried to solve the Polish problem are considered. It is shown that the Polish problem was understood differently in different social and government circles. Among Russian philosophers who took part in the discussions dealt with this problem were P. Ya. Chaadayev, B. N. Chicherin, V. S. Solovyov, G. N. Trubetskoy, and A. N. Pypin. It is stressed that all of them were against of Russification of the Poles and insisted on the necessity of the Poles’ being autonomous in the Russian Empire. The views of the linguist, publicist and public figure Marian Zdziechowski, a Russian citizen of a Polish descent, who was an active participant of the discussion about the Polish problem, are systematized and analyzed. Zdziechowski’s judgments concerning the variants of the Polish problem being solved proposed by the Russian intellectuals mentioned above are considered, the reasons why their social projects were impossible to be put into practice in tsarist Russia are examined. The unexpected course of historical events made the Polish problem irrelevant because the Poles gained independence and formed an independent state. The analysis of positions determined by different solutions of the problems related to the existence of national minorities within the Russian Empire allows us to conclude that most of the Russian intellectuals were humanists.
References
Gawor, L. (2004), Świat Słowiański (1905–1914) [Slavic World (1905–1914)], in Sofia, no. 4, Rzeszów, pp. 342–347.
Dianova, V.M., and Skochinskiy, Ya.G. (2017), Zhizn' i mirovozzreniye Marianna Zdzekhovskogo [Life and worldview of Marian Zdziechowski], in Voprosy filosofii [Questions of Philosophy], no. 6, pp. 82–91.
Skoczyński, J. (1994), Wartość pesymizmu. Studia i szkice o Mariane Zdzie¬chow-skim [The value of pessimism. Studies and sketches about Marian Zdziechowski], Krakόw.
Kazmerchak, D. (2002), Slovyanskyy klub u Krakovi: heneza, meta i zasady [The Slavic Club in Krakow: genesis, purpose, and basis], in Problemy slovyanoznavstva [Problems of Slavic Studies], no. 52, pp. 40–46.
