PREFACE TO ORIGINAL EDITION
OF VOLUME II
This second volume, which takes the History of Poland from the late eighteenth
century to the present day, continues the pattern adopted in the first one. The
main narrative chapters (12—21) are preceded by a block of thematic essays, and
are followed by a concluding section which summarises developments since
- The dominant tenor of the two volumes is quite different, however. Polish
History in the earlier period saw the gradual rise and sudden fall of a unique
civilisation, whose culture and institutions reflected an eccentric mixture of
Western values injected into the Slavonic East. Polish History in the subsequent
period saw the protracted struggle of the peoples of the defunct Republic to out-
last the upstart Empires of Eastern Europe, and, by furnishing themselves with
new identities, to find a new place in the world.
Nonetheless, the memory of an ancient heritage has coloured Polish percep-
tions of their predicament throughout modern times. Unlike many national
movements, whose separate consciousness was manufactured from scratch in
the course of the nineteenth century, the Poles have always had the image of the
old Republic before their eyes, and through the fertile medium of their litera-
ture, have used it to perpetuate their sense of indestructibility and of moral supe-
riority. Although they could not claim to share the decades of military glory,
political power, or economic prosperity which came the way of their German or
Russian neighbours, they were bound to consider themselves one of the 'historic
nations' of Europe, and did not figure among the lesser breeds who (without
mentioning any names), were frequently obliged to invent the greater part of
their alleged histories. Poland may well be 'a country on wheels' both in regard
to its geographical location and also to its exits and entrances on the political
stage, but, as a cultural community with deep and lasting traditions, it has
shown itself to be a permanent fixture of the European scene.
In political terms, of course, Poland's recent history is a tragic one. The task
of reconstituting the old Republic proved quite insuperable, and the Polish
states which have been created in the twentieth century have been but pale
imitations, not to say, stunted parodies, of the original model. Although the
long sought goal of national sovereignty has twice been achieved, in 1918 and
again in 1945, the achievement has turned sour on both occasions. The Second
Republic (1918—39) was extinguished in less than a generation; the People's
Republic formed under Soviet auspices in 1944—45, lacks many of the essential
attributes of independence. The old Republic at least knew victory in defeat - in
that its spirit long survived its physical destruction. Contemporary Poland, in