42 NAROD
association with the other oppressed nations of the area. The Nationalists saw
the principal international menace in the rise of the German Empire, and were
obliged to consider a tactical alliance with Russia. The Independence Camp
thought of Russia as the historic enemy, and looked forward to the time when
they could take up arms against Russia in the company of the Germans and
Austrians. The Nationalists assumed that their necessary alliance with Russia
ruled out any real hopes of independence, and were prepared to settle instead for
national autonomy under Russian patronage. From the same premises, the
Independence Camp argued that demands for national independence would
necessarily involve an armed struggle against Russia in the grand insurrec-
tionary tradition. The Nationalists are often classed as 'realists' on the basis of
their willingness to compromise with the great powers, whilst the Independence
Camp, with its determination to fight allcomers irrespective of the odds, are
classed as 'Romantics'. In the domestic arena, however, the attitude of the
Nationalists was harsh, intolerant, and strident, especially with regard to other
national groups; whilst the attitude of the Independence Camp was relatively
mild and tolerant. The Nationalists saved their venom for the enemies within;
the Independence Camp sharpened their swords for the enemy without.
In describing the clear-cut traditions of Loyalism, Insurrection, and
Conciliation, it is necessary to emphasize that one is dealing with ideas that cut
across all forms of political organization. At any given moment, they rarely
coincided exactly with the attitudes of individuals or with the declared pro-
grammes of the Parties. Yet as reflections of pressures which were felt in all sec-
tors of Polish political life, they can all be observed in different combinations
and degrees in almost everyone's thinking. When, towards the end of the nine-
teenth century, the dynastic Empires permitted the creation of political move-
ments, most such movements contained a loyalist, an insurrectionary and a
conciliatory wing. The leaders of the Peasant Movement, for example, were
eternally debating whether the best advantage for the Polish peasant could be
obtained by trying to please the authorities, by fighting them, or by bargaining
with them. The Socialist Movement, too, was split from the very beginning
between the internationalist (or anti-nationalist) wing; the revolutionary
nationalist wing; and the moderate centre, which hoped to give equal priority to
both social and national goals. In Germany they were faced by state-sponsored
Socialism, and in Russia by so-called Police Socialism - both in their different
ways variations on the Loyalist theme. The positions of individual politicians
were equally complicated. Although, in a few extreme instances, it is possible to
point to men who held to a consistent line throughout their careers, it is more
usual to watch how they shifted their ground in response to changing events. It
is often said that the best gamekeepers are recruited from the ranks of repentant
poachers. By analogy, it is not surprising to find that the most fervent Loyalists
were drawn from Poles who had entertained revolutionary fantasies in their
youth. The career of General jozef Zajaczek (1752-1826), who began as a
Jacobin on Kosciuszko's staff and ended up after 1815 as the Prince-Viceroy of