xiv PREFACE TO ORIGINAL EDITION OF VOLUME I
state-controlled media gave prominence to the 7-8 November - the anniver-
saries of the Russian Revolution and of Daszynski's improvised People's
Government in Lublin; whilst the Church and the populace at large saved their
rejoicings for the traditional date of 11 November. Numerous academic gather-
ings debated the significance of the events of 1918. Party apologists spared no
chance to minimize the role of Jozef Pilsudski and to conceal the fact that the
Polish communist movement had been opposed to national independence at
that juncture. Almost all the commentators followed a characteristically san-
guine line of argumentation, assuming that the will of the Polish people had
somehow been sufficient in itself to realize the nation's supposedly uniform
aspirations. It was a rare voice indeed which tried to balance a sober assessment
of the international situation in 1918 with a proper appreciation of the compli-
cated state of Polish public opinion.
In terms of personal achievement, 1978 saw two events worthy of note. In
June, the State and Party authorities widely publicized the propulsion into orbit
by a Soviet spaceship of Colonel Miroslaw Hermaszewski. On 16 October, the
entire Polish nation swelled with joy and pride at the elevation of Cardinal
Karol Wojtyla, Archbishop of Cracow, to be Pope John Paul II. The contrast
between the stage-managed festivities surrounding the first Pole in the cosmos
and the spontaneous delirium surrounding the first Pole at the head of the
Papacy spoke worlds about the true condition of Poland today. The obvious
symbolism — of the Polish passenger in an artificial Soviet satellite and of the
vibrant Polish leader at the helm of the Vatican - was lost on nobody. The one,
in succession to Lajka, was furthering the cause of modern science and of mili-
tary technology; the other, in the steps of St. Peter, was strengthening the cause
of traditional religion and spirituality.
The full impact of John Paul II's pontificate cannot possibly be gauged at this
early date; but there can be little doubt that it has already done more to reinforce
Poland's Catholic and western identity, than any other event in living memory.
The simple fact that this self-confessed son of the Polish soil has been proved
papabile will serve to raise the self-esteem of all his compatriots, to boost their
morale, and to strengthen their resolve in all their international dealings. The
new Pope is well aware of the implications. In his inaugural statement on 2.
October 1978, he addressed himself to his compatriots irrespective of their
beliefs, and drew their attention to the true meaning of Patriotism, which he
specifically disassociated from all forms of 'narrow nationalism and chauvin-
ism'. 'The love of our country unites us all', he declared, 'and must act as a bond
over and above all our differences.' Earlier in the year, in his last sermon in
Cracow in celebration of the Third of May, he had expounded the theme still
more explicitly:
For everything that we have lived through in the course of our history, especially in the
most painful periods of partition, occupation, insurrection, struggle, and suffering, has
had the effect of pumping both the historical and the contemporary life of the entire Nation
through the heart of every Pole. Nothing which is Polish can be alien or indifferent to Him.