Introduction

Introduction The concept of “nationalism” usually does not evoke positive associations in Poland. Nationalist beliefs, views and attitudes are for the most part associated in articles on social and cultural subjects with unjustified claims concerning the superiority of everything that is “our own” over all things “foreign” or “alien”, with feelings of aversion or at best suspicion toward other cultures, and with the desire to isolate one’s own nation viewed as a kind of besieged fortress. In the West, on the other hand, nationalism is for many historians and journalists a neutral concept referring to a certain type of social-political and cultural awareness which developed in the early 19th century and was based on the conviction that the interests of a nation are superior to the interests of individuals, social groups and classes. This concerned first and foremost the problem of power and control since – as Anthony D. Smith1 observes – the key feature of all nationalism is the conviction that the nation is the most important, ultimate source of political power, which dominates over all other forms of legitimacy. One might well challenge this thesis by pointing to nationalisms that flourished in 19th-century imperial monarchies, such as tsarist Russia, which combined national messia- nism with the doctrine of the divine origins of the emperor’s authority. However, in the reality of the 20th century, and especially in the face of the clear tendency to form ethnically tightly-knit and cohesive national states in the period between the two world wars (which we will herein refer to as the “interwar” period) – this thesis could well prove valid. Another element common to all forms of nationalism is a strong attention to, and emphasis on, the separate identity of one’s own national traditions and culture, as well as the emotional affirmation of that identity, which sometimes leads to heated, emotionally charged debates concerning national subjects. Hence the not infrequent claim that nationalism and patriotism are in fact one and the same phenomenon. This claim, however, was criticised by Zygmunt Balicki (a leading Polish National Democracy or “Endecja” ideologist and activist) who claimed that – even though the two are indeed inseparable – patriotism is a thing of the heart, and nationalism – of the brain: “If patriotism is a national sentiment,” wrote Balicki in 1912, “then nationalism is the thought of the nation, which – though it cannot be conceived and grow without this emotional foundation – is nevertheless a more complex spiritual phenomenon, since it 1 Anthony D. Smith, National Identity, (Reno-Las Vegas-London: University of Nevada Press, 1993), p. 74. Andrzej Tuchowski - 9783631787274 Downloaded from PubFactory at 09/23/2021 05:43:04PM via free access 10 Introduction presupposes the existence of at least some degree of organisation in the community, or in any event – some binding directives that determine public opinion. (…) Patriotism only concerns the sphere of the dispersed experience of internal states and external events by the masses, and spontaneous or emotional reactions to those states and events. But as soon as a central thought or idea appears in the nation, which aims to carry out some plans with regard to the nation’s defence, strengthening and expansion – we already wit- ness the appearance of the first germs of nationalism within a nation.”2 The strategic priorities identified by Balicki as “the nation’s defence, strengthening and expansion”, corresponding to his concept of “national egoism”3 (from which many Endecja activists, including Roman Dmowski himself, distanced them- selves at that time) prove that Balicki thought of national ideology primarily in “defensive-offensive” terms – which is understandable given the historical circumstances of that period.4 Statements in a similar vein were made – as we will further demonstrate – by numerous composers, music critics and writers commenting on the mission of national music in the first three decades of the 20th century. The said priorities notably correspond to Hans Kohn’s5 vision of 2 Zygmunt Balicki, “Nacjonalizm a patriotyzm” [Nationalism and Patriotism], Przegląd Narodowy No. 5, May 1912, in: Z. Balicki, Wybór pism [Selected Writings], ed. Piotr .Koryś, (Kraków: Ośrodek Myśli Politycznej: “Księgarnia Akademicka”, 2008), pp. 412–413. 3 Balicki, Egoizm narodowy wobec etyki [National Egotism vs Ethics], (Lwów: Towarzystwo Wydawnicze, 1903). Balicki distinguishes rational and irrational altruism. The latter is characterised, among others, by a neglect of one’s own national interest while acting in the service of other nations. “Our effeminate public can sense how little we can gain for ourselves from the hostile forces, and still it childishly prides itself on what we have done for others at our own expense” (p. 67). As an example of such irrational altruism in Polish foreign policies, Balicki quotes the Battle of Vienna (1683), which saved Austria – Poland’s future partitioner, while the defeated Turkey would prove in the future to be “our natural and faithful ally” (p. 67). 4 Balicki stressed that “the struggle for assets between nations can no longer be limited to policing agreements and asserting property rights. It calls for a cultural campaign and for a high level of civic self-awareness on the part of all the groups and forces that constitute the nation” (Balicki, Nacjonalizm a patriotyzm, p. 414). 5 Hans Kohn, The Idea of Nationalism. A Study in its Origins and Background, (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1947). Kohn emphasises that – while in the past nationalism constituted “a great force of life”, facilitating the establishment of civil liberties, at the time of his writing (i.e. in the early 1940s) “it may become a dead weight upon the march of humanity”(pp. 22–23). Generally Kohn distinguishes two types of nationalism: “civic/liberal”, typical of highly developed Western countries (primarily the United Kingdom, France, and the United States), and ethnic-type nationalism characteristic of Germany and other Central and Eastern European countries Andrzej Tuchowski - 9783631787274 Downloaded from PubFactory at 09/23/2021 05:43:04PM via free access Introduction 11 historical transformations in European nationalisms during the 19th century. While the early-19th-century nationalism that developed mainly in Western Europe (described by Kohn as “cosmopolitan” or “open”) was famous for its favourable disposition toward other nations, in the second half of the same century, nationalism in some countries paradoxically began to demonstrate arro- gant, and finally – aggressive qualities as it transformed into its “closed” variety. While the first type of (for instance, Polish Romantic6) nationalism embraced the idea of international solidarity and acted as a positive factor that facilitated the integration of the international community, the other type – which rejected the concept of a community of different nations and demonstrated more or less arrogantly its superiority – turned out to be a potential threat. In this manner, nationalism may well transform into its degenerate form, tantamount to chauvinism, which inevitably provokes a defensive reaction in the neighbouring countries. Though Kohn (who refers mostly to German history)7 does present a certain model of historical transformations, one cannot help but notice that that the extreme types of nationalism he distinguished are also relevant as supra- historical categories – as attitudes that are potentially present in every place and time. As for assessing whether a given national ideology is considered to be nation- alistic or rather chauvinistic – this depends largely on the commentator’s political stance, as Roman Dmowski observed with considerable irritation in 1903. He claimed that the term “chauvinism” is abused and misinterpreted in Poland, mostly as a result of socialist propaganda. In the eyes of the socialists, Dmowski argued, even someone’s conviction that “Polish songs work better on my soul than Dubinushka [Russian folk song]” is already chauvinistic. What is more – he adds maliciously as Endecja’s chief ideologist – “for all kinds of Russophiles the (pp. 329–356). Currently, however, such geographic-civilizational “attributions” pro- voke reasonable doubt since, among others, the ethnic element was also of considerable importance in the European West. 6 Andrzej Walicki observes that Polish Romantic nationalism and its intellectual com- ponent played a major role in 19th-century European history. Cf.: Andrzej Walicki, Philosophy and Romantic Nationalism. The Case of Poland, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982), p. 3, Walicki, Naród, nacjonalizm, patriotyzm [The Nation, Nationalism, Patriotism], (Kraków: Universitas, 2009). 7 Cf. Kohn, The Mind of Germany. The Education of a Nation, (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1960). Andrzej Tuchowski - 9783631787274 Downloaded from PubFactory at 09/23/2021 05:43:04PM via free access 12 Introduction term ‘chauvinism’ in the sense in which it is used by the socialists comes very handy indeed.”8 In his defence of nationalism against accusations of being chauvinistic, Dmowski eventually quotes the following, very apt argument: “If chauvinism – as understood by every civilised person – is a blind belief in the virtues of one’s own nation and its superiority over others, then please note that the democratic- nationalist movement in Poland, like no other political option today, sharply criticises our national vices and looks

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