The beginning of congress Poland in the discourse of the french press

The return of the nominally homogeneous rhetoric of the French press applied to Alexander I and his policy towards Poland marked the final transition of a liberal image of the Russian Emperor into a symbol of usurpation and lust for power. In particular, it was due to the efforts of the French press, supported by the liberal public, that the word “Russians” became a common noun, striking terror into the hearts of Europeans. The major mouthpiece of these ideas was Le Constitutionnel.

The Holy Alliance was criticized for its ambition for absolute dominance, the oppression of East European civilizations and conniving at Russia, which allegedly took advantage of it Le Constitutionnel: journal du commerce, politique et littйraire. 1821/02/13; 1821/03/23.. All the declarations of the peaceful disposition of the Russian Emperor were dismissed, and Poland was featured as an embodied disgrace for Europe -- as all the countries of the continent had failed to protect its interests Ibid. 1821/06/25.. There were references to quotes from Napoleon Bonaparte, who stated that the Europeans would see his intention to restore Poland as a buffer to keep away from the menacing Russian Empire which aimed at invading Europe. The Russians were portrayed as barbarians striving to conquer their neighbors, being unable to free their own lands Ibid. 1822/07/19.. It can be stated that all the main concepts of the perceptions of the Polish affairs in the first quarter of the 19th century were revised: Napoleon was reported to have been a protector of the European values in the context of the Russian threat; the puppet Duchy of Warsaw was seen as an outpost of civilization, and the Russians from liberators turned into bloodthirsty slaves of the brutal despot.

It is noteworthy that some part of the Russian public accepted this discourse; for example, P. A. Viazemsky, who became an advocate of the liberal position of the French with regard to Poland. After the publication about the abrogation of the 16th clause of the constitution of the Kingdom of Poland, he expressed his indignation at the actions of St. Petersburg towards the Poles in the following words: “I am so horribly angry, as if the Polish blood were running in my veins, as if I did not live in the accompaniment of lashings and irons and was not brought up on a naughty step. Presumably, I was supposed to get accustomed to everything! But no, this foreign blood is bubbling inside me!” Ostafevskii arkhiv kniazei Viazemskikh. Vol. 1. St. Petersburg, 1899. P 347. Similar views can be found in the texts of N. I. Turgenev: “This decision was harmful for the Polish provinces. The arrests started, many Poles were prosecuted and sentenced with little or no proof” Turgenev N. I. Rossiia i russkie. P 51.. Here word-for-word quotes from the French press can be found.

The intention to liberate Poland from the Russian oppression is visible in the plans of the Decembrists. P. I. Pestel' wrote in “Russkaia Pravda” (the Russian Truth) that “in the case of Poland the right of Nationality in all fairness should prevail over the right of Convenience” “Russkaia Pravda” P I. Pestelia i sochineniia, ei predshestvuiushchie // Dokumenty po istorii voss- taniia dekabristov. Vol. 7. Moscow, 1958. P 123.. In this statement, he obviously sided with the liberals who considered Poland to be an independent self-reliant state. At the same time, according to V. S. Parsamov, the Decembrist viewed Poland as a tool to export revolutions to neighboring Austria and Prussia through the establishment of a puppet state on its territory. Under the protection of the new Russia, it would have helped to turn “independent” Poland into a buffer between Russia and Western Europe Parsamov V. S. Dekabristy i frantsuzskii liberalism. P 80-84.. However, here P. I. Pestel, albeit in the wrong way round, again repeats the ideas of the French, who from the early 18th century perceived

Poland as a shield from Russian “barbarians” and a base for the propagation of the liberal values in the east.

It should be kept in mind that even in the secret societies of the Decembrists such a viewpoint was considered to be quite marginal. In the spring of 1824, P. I. Pestel' arrived in St. Petersburg and had several meetings with the leaders of the Northern Society. All in all, the meetings proved to be unsuccessful and resulted in the confrontation between

P. I. Pestel' and S. P. Trubetskoy. In “Zapiski” (the Notes), the latter outlined the main controversial issues, which evoked a negative reaction in St. Petersburg, with the Polish question being among them. Pestel's ideas from “Russkaia Pravda” were greeted with hostility by Trubetskoy. At the inquest, he would say: “I have heard all this rubbish and informed our members that Pestel' was talking gibberish” Delo kniazia S. P Trubetskogo // Vosstanie dekabristov: materialy po istorii vosstaniia dekabristov. Vol. 1. Moscow; Leningrad, 1925. P 15.. The view of the Northern Society on this problem was different: “It is impossible to concede to Poland the territories our fathers had shed their blood for. Poland should remain the property of Russia but for the sake of justice the Poles as well as other peoples, conquered by the Russians, should enjoy the same rights” Zapiski S. P Trubetskogo // Trubetskoi S. P Zapiski. Pis'ma I. N. Tolstomu. 181-1823 gg. St. Peters-burg, 2011. P 62-63..

The position of Trubetskoy does not agree with the one of P. I. Pestel' or with the stand of Russian conservatives. He could not follow the polonophilic discourse of the liberals and acknowledged the necessity of the constitutional policy in the national borderlands. Similar debates would occur in the Russian intellectual circles throughout the 19th century. In a due course nationalist publicists would nickname Alexander I “Arakcheev's humanist” for his contribution to the development of the Polish question Kotov A. E. Mikhail Iuzefovich -- ideolog russkogo politicheskogo predmoderna // Voprosy istorii. 2018. No. 6. P 113.. However, the analysis provided by the paper undoubtedly confirms that only the “reference to the European press can fill the gaps of the political imagination and subjectivity of these people” Potapova N. D. Tribuny syrykh kazematov. Politika i diskursivnye strategii v dele dekabristov. P 18..

Thus, the Polish-Lithuanian topic became one of the key elements of the French discourse throughout the era of Biedermeire. The French press viewed Poland as an integral part of the European family, which might have become a new “window to Europe” for Russia in the first years after the Congress of Vienna. However, in the course of time the Poles became the symbol of a nation oppressed by the Russian state. All this exerted strong influence on the public thought of Russia. Russian intellectuals perceived this theme using the categories and the language of the French publicists. The approval or rejection of the published viewpoints shaped the tendencies of the discussions and debates. Hence, focusing on this subject provides a clear insight into the views of the Russian educated class on the Polish-Lithuanian issues.

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