Il8 GALICIAof 'O du meine Hebe Oesteneich' with gusto, or who can repeat what he used to
recite every morning in school:
O Lord preserve,
O Lord support
Our Emperor and our Land!
Protect with Thy shield all those who serve,
That by the power that Thou hast wrought
The state may firmly stand.. .*Intelligent people in Galicia did not need to be told that they lived in a poor and
backward province, or that they were citizens of the feeblest of the partitioning
powers. At the same time, they were free from the social and political pressures
which dominated Polish life in the other Partitions. They were free from the cul-
tural imperialism of Russia and Germany; they were free from the atmosphere
of deprivation and harassment induced by Tsardom; and they were free from
the rapid social changes, and the mania for self-improvement, which beset the
Poles in Prussia. For this, they were truly grateful to the Habsburgs. As a result,
they were less disposed to curse their fate, and more inclined to shrug or
chuckle. An acute awareness of their limitations, and a proper appreciation of
their blessings, gave them a sense of proportion and a sense of fun, which was
lacking elsewhere. Galicia produced its share of romantics, of conspirators, of
'organic workers', of nationalist fanatics, and of Polish patriots; but it also pro-
duced an abundance of Loyalists, of conservatives, of sentimentalists, of scep-
tics, and of jokers. Although the differences may be hard to define, the world as
seen from Warsaw or Posen did not look the same when viewed from Cracow.
In Galicia, the Poles were used to looking at themselves, and to laughing. On the
stage of Jan Micbalik, nothing, not even Polish History, was sacred:
For many long years, by Heaven aided,
Our nation preserved its mighty sway.
At whatever point they were not needed,
The Polish Hussars charged into the fray.
Then, when the nobles' ardour waned,
The flashing sabre was sheathed. Instead,
The blows of the nation's strong right hand
Were aimed to the peasant's defenceless head.
At last, even Heaven's patience was rattled.
Our conduct had Providence thoroughly riled.
The Almighty declared: Til slaughter such cattle;
The merest sight of them drives me wild.'...
The fault is ours—a very great fault—
That the Lord has punished us all so cruelly.
For the internal enemy has launched his assault
On PROPERTY, on the FAITH and on the FAMILY.* Bote wspieraj, Bote ocbron!. .. was sung in Polish to Haydn's tune 'Austria', better known
as the melody of Hoffmann's 'Deutschland, Deutschland iiber alles'.