Poland's National Self
Polish National Identity
National Identity is the constructed idea of a bond between members of a particular nation. This is constructed through the use of a “National Mythos” that brings together people of different races, languages, and religions to a (semi) unified whole (Fisher, 2018). This illusion of national unity is created and supported through the growth of industrialization, and the necessity of a shared language and cultural idea that comes from that (Theories of Nationalism and National Identity, 2018). National identity is not natural, but instead is a growing and changing thing that evolves with the needs of a particular nation in response to particular troubles in order to support it.
When it comes to Poland, many of the ideas that form its national identity stem from the nation’s deeply religious past. For instance, the first concept of “Poland” as a unified idea traces back to the conversion of the first Polish king, Miezko in 966 to Catholicism (Glinksi, 2016). While this is too early for national identity to be a factor, this event has undoubtedly affected the evolution of Poland’s identity later on. An ideal of a Catholic Poland grew out of this in much of the 19th and 20th century whilst Poland was being sandwiched against an Orthodox Russia and a Protestant Germany, and then later from Atheist and Communist pressures (Polish, 2021). The constant outside pressure from these forces cemented Catholicism as the Polish religion, and it quickly became a cornerstone of the nation’s identity.
This isn’t to say that Catholicism is the only religion to have an effect on the Polish national identity. Judaism in particular is relevant, as throughout the events of the Holocaust Poland lost around 17% of its population, around 3 million of which being Jewish (Easton, 2019). The events of the Second World War were as much a catalyst for the evolution of the Polish national identity as the Cold War was. These parts of Polish history are intrinsically tied, as in 1945 the Red Army drove the Nazis out of Poland and created a Soviet puppet state in its place (Easton, 2019). These two periods of time, while horrible, are surprisingly not incredibly unique when it comes to Poland. The nation has a long history of tragedy, so much so that it is reflected in its national anthem, “Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła” or “Poland Has Not Yet Perished” (Polish, 2021). This is an idea that has seemingly been around since the formation of modern Poland as the nation ceased to exist for around 123 years after an event called the “Third Partition” in 1795 where Polish territory was split up between Prussia, Russia, and Austria until the end of WWI (Oleksiak, 2016).
It is actually possible that the Partitions were even more influential for the Polish national identity than the events of the 20th century, despite the fact that the nation didn’t actually exist at the time. This is mainly due to an idea of Poland being the “Christ of Nations.” This was a concept that combined the ideas of Polish Catholicism and resilience into a unifying metaphor where Poland is depicted as Christ, with the Partitions being crucifixion that promised the rise of a new independent Poland (Klajn, 2018). It is a source of pride for many Poles to be able to draw a line from its ancient roots to the modern nation, and the fact that Poland did indeed rise again after Armistice Day could have served as fuel for an even stronger national identity after the fact.
Othering
Significant others, as described by Triandafyllidou, are the people that “oppose” a nation, and are the catalyst for nationalism. They can be divided into two main categories: internal and external, which refer to whether or not they belong to part of the same nation as the identity in question. In the case of Poland, there are a number of groups both internal and external that can be considered significant others (Triandafyllidou, 1998, pg. 4).
When it comes to internal significant others, the most obvious example would be the Silesians, a small ethnic group in the south of Poland with a distinct culture and identity. Despite being the second largest ethnic group in the country, they only make up around 1.1% of the country (Poland, 2021). This is mainly due to a combination of the holocaust and Soviet-era relocation practices that led to the nation being predominantly ethnically Polish (around 96.9% (Poland, 2021)). There is a fairly strong Silesian independence movement that exists in the region today, causing strife with the Polish government, and the idea of what it means to be Polish. The relation between ethnic Poles and Silesians is a tenuous one, as Poles consider Silesians to be Polish, and an extension of the nation, while Silesians consider themselves to be entirely separate (Silesia, 2021).
Poland does have one other potential internal significant other in the Kashubians, an ethnic group with its own language up in the north of the country.
As for external significant others, Poland has quite a few, including Germany. While Poland may not be outright hostile with Germany, there exists an amount of tensions between the two because of WW2 (Easton, 2019). This is particularly evident in regards to Polish reparations. After the war, it was decided that reparations would be paid to Poland in the form of infrastructure and food as opposed to money, a decision which has caused some strife within the country. Along with this, reparations have ceased since 1954, and the Polish government has yet to bring up the issue with Germany (Easton, 2019). It seems to mainly be stemming from the populace, who still view the Germans with residual animosity and as a reminder of Polish tragedy.
Many of Poland’s other external significant others come from Eastern Europe. This is mainly due to the fact that, since 2004, Poland is an EU member state. More than that, they are a border state, which means that they have to deal with a lot of immigration both illegal and legal, coming in from the East (Ziolek-Skrzypczak, 2010). Many of these immigrants enter Poland, but don’t stay there, opting to use the country as a “gateway” into the rest of the European Union. Many Polish groups have spoken out against this, pushing a strong anti-immigrant rhetoric despite the amount of immigrants and refugees that they take in (Eyre & Goillandeau, 2019).Because of this, it is entirely possible that many Eastern European and Asian countries could be considered external significant others by some Poles, as they theoretically threaten the Polish mindset and comparisons can be made with the many invasions that Poland has had in the past.
References
Easton, A. (2019). Poland still counts losses from WW2 invasion. BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49523932
Eyre, M., & Goillandeau, M. (2019). Poland’s two-faced immigration strategy. POLITICO. https://www.politico.eu/article/poland-two-faced-immigration-strategy-ukraine-migrants/
Fisher, M., Keller, J., & Ryan, M. (2018). How Nations Make Up National Identities | NYT - The Interpreter. [Video/DVD]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9qF6FvwrHI&ab_channel=TheNewYorkTimes
Glinski, M. (2016). When Poland Became Polish – An Interview with Geneviève Zubrzycki. culture.pl. https://culture.pl/en/article/when-poland-became-polish-an-interview-with-genevieve-zubrzycki
Klajn, M. (2018). Polskość: the legacy of Polish past in its present identity struggles. europeanbordercommunities.eu.
Oleksiak, W. (2016). Learn the History of Poland in 10 Minutes. culture.pl. https://culture.pl/en/article/learn-the-history-of-poland-in-10-minutes
Poland. (2021). Retrieved January 18, 2021, from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/poland
Polish Culture - Core Concepts. (2021). Cultural Atlas. http://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/polish-culture/polish-culture-core-concepts
Silesia. (2021). Retrieved January 18, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/place/Silesia
Theories of Nationalism and National Identity: An Introduction. . (2018, -07-28).[Video/DVD]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwv9XjTZh2c&ab_channel=Then%26Now
Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National identity and the `other.'. Ethnic & Racial Studies, 21(4), 593. 10.1080/014198798329784
Ziolek-Skrzypczak, K. I., Magdalena. (2010). EU Membership Highlights Poland's Migration Challenges. migrationpolicy.org. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/eu-membership-highlights-polands-migration-challenges
Comments
Post a Comment