Polish Nation Once Only the Nobility a Myth Althoen

NATIONE POLONUS and the NARÖD SZLACHECKI. Two Myths of National Identity and Noble Solidarity, by David Althoen. 2003

Bombshell! The Polish Nobility NEVER Thought That “Polish Nation” Referred Exclusively to the Nobility, or That the Peasantry Was Not Part of the Polish Nation

This review is of a paper originally published in ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR OSTMITTELEUROPA-FORSCHUNG 52 (2003) H. 4, pp. 475-508.

This fascinating scholarly article upends an old myth. For the longest time, we had heard, as received truth, that, until recent times, “Polish nation” was true only of the nobility, and that anyone not a noble was therefore not part of the Polish nation. This pernicious myth served to delegitimize the Polish nation, as briefly described in the next few paragraphs.

The Eurocrats, globalists, and cultural Marxists have long tried to get us to believe that nations are an arbitrary and recent invention. Therefore, according to them, national sovereignty is no big deal, and a world government seems very reasonable. And, since nations are ephemeral, why not dump Third World peoples on Poland and other nations?

Certain Jews also make use of the Poland-equals-nobility myth. Long-term Jewish disloyalty to Poland is being exculpated by the argument that, after all, “Poland” was “only the nobility”, so there was nothing really to be loyal to. It sounds clever, but is totally false.

Communist propaganda made much use of the Poland-equals-nobility myth. Before Communism, there had been no Poland worthy of the name, and the Communists were self-evident champions of the working classes and the peasantry.

Nazi Germany had its own version of the Poland-equals-nobility myth. “Poland” was an artificial construct, consisting of a thin stratum of Polonized Germans (the nobility) attempting to rule over a mass of incompetent and ungovernable Slavs.

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The following [EXCEPT THE TITLES IN CAPS] are quotes from author David Althoen:

HOW THE NAROD SZLACHECKI EXCLUSIONARY MYTH WAS CONCEPTUALIZED

“Those critical of the Commonwealth use the term to emphasize that the concept of the ‘noble nation’ was exclusionary, that the Polish nation consisted solely of the nobility and did not include the vast majority of the population, including the Polish-speaking townspeople and peasants.” (p. 477).

“But on the fact the Poles were indeed a ‘noble nation’, that the idea of the nation excluded 90 percent of the population, or rather, that it included all members of a large, multi-ethnic nobility – all agree”. (p. 478).

WHAT THE TERM NAROD SZLACHECKI ACTUALLY MEANT

“In one of those meanings ‘NARÖD’ could signify one’s familial origin, estate, or caste at birth. It was this meaning of familial origin or estate – and not ‘nation’ – to which the term ‘NARÖD SZLACHECKI’ always referred.” (p. 479).

“In the 16th and 17th centuries, then , usage of the terms ‘NARÓD SZLACHECKI’ or ‘NARÓD RYCERSKI’ did not signify that only the nobility belonged to the nation . Rather, legal scribes employed the term to differentiate the nobles born into the nobility – those DE NOBILI GENERE – from those nobles who were not.” (p. 484)

THE TERM NAROD SZLACHECKI DID NOT IMPLY THAT POLAND’S PEASANTRY WAS NOT PART OF THE POLISH NATION!

“Significantly, it was in this legal context – as a translation for ‘DE NOBILI GENERE’ – that the term ‘NARÖD SZLACHECKI’ was primarily employed. The term used for the commoners, including those not born into the nobility, was a similar variation of ‘NARÓD’ – the ‘common’ or ‘peasant nation’ (Z PROSTEGO/CHLOPSKIEGO NARODU).” (p. 481).

THE POLISH KING HIMSELF RECOGNIZED THE PEASANTRY AS PART OF THE POLISH NATION

“An examination of the term ‘NARÖD SZLACHECKI’ shows that the concepts of ‘the Poles’ and ‘NARÖD SZLACHECKI’ were far from synonymous. Those regarded as Poles could both be of noble parentage (Z SZLACHECKIEGO NARODU) and of common parentage (Z PROSTEGO NARODU), as the following privilege illustrates: “Because we are the Polish King, we do not wish to entrust any fortresses or any of the [King’s] lands to anyone, only to land-owning Poles and who are of the noble nation [JEDNO POLAKOM SZLACHECKIEGO NARODU OSIADLYM].” This Statute makes clear that only ‘Poles’ were potential candidates for the highly desired awards of crown estates and the position of castellan. The Statute, however, had to be more specific; the only Poles eligible were those who were landowners and those who were born of noble parentage.” (p. 482).

ANOTHER MYTH DEBUNKED: THE TERM SARMATION DID NOT EXCLUDE PEASANTS AS POLES

“Other evidence consists of the Sarmatian dual-nation myth, which holds that nobles believed that only they, the nobles, descended from the ancient Sarmatians, while the rest of Poland’s inhabitants descended from the peoples the Sarmatians either conquered or later invited from other lands. For an argument showing the nobles did not include this noble/non-noble duality in their understanding of their Sarmatian heritage, see chapter 1 in DAVID ALTHOEN: That Noble Quest. From True Nobility to Enlightened Society in the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1550-1830, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 2000.” (p. 476).

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SEPARATE ISSUE: GENTE RUTHENUS, NATIONE POLONUS IN LATE USAGE

“With 1848 marking the beginning of a strong Ruthenian, and then Ukrainian movement, the phrase “GENTE RUTHENUS, NATIONE POLONUS” quickly took a life of its own. By the late 19* Century the nobles of both Ruthenian and Lithuanian descent found this phrase a useful way to State their attachment to their ethnic heritage along with their support of Polish culture and a Polish State that would encompass all of its former territories.” (p. 505).