âA POLISH PROCLAMATIONââ
Ibidem âA Polish Proclamationâ (June 11, 1874).
N.B.
âRussian militarism lies at the back of all
European militarism. Acting as a reserve on the
side of France in the war of 1859, and on the side
of Prussia in 1866 and 1870, the Russian army on
each occasion enabled the foremost military power
to defeat its enemies one at a time. Prussia, as
the foremost military power of Europe, is a direct
creation of Russia, although since then she has
unpleasantly outgrown her protectorâ (p. 35).
N.B.
...âBesides, after the Napoleonic wars, Russia took the lionâs share of the former Prussian and Austro-Polish provinces and openly came forward as the arbiter of Europe, a role she continued to play until 1853.... During the years of revolution, the suppression of Hungary by Russian troops was as decisive a development for Eastern and Central Europe as the June battles in Paris were for the West.... Russian domination in Europe ushered in the rule of reaction. The Crimean War freed the West and Austria from the insolence of the tsar.... We have seen above that the Russian army serves as the pretext for and mainstay of all European militarism.... It was only because the Russian army prevented Austria from siding with France in 1870 that Prussia was able to defeat France and consummate the Prusso-German military monarchyâ (38)....
The talk about the âessentially aristocraticâ character of the Polish movement is âsillyâ.
âMuch more than France, Poland, owing to her
historical development and present position, is faced
with the choiceâto be revolutionary or to perishâ
(39)....
N.B.
In 1871, most of the Poles (Ã©migrÃ©s) were on the
side of the Commune ... âwas that the behaviour of
aristocrats?â (39).
N.B.
The Polish aristocracy sides more and more with Russia, in order to reunite Poland, even if under Russian rule; the revolutionary masses reply by offering an alliance with the German Workersâ Party and by fighting in the ranks of the Internationalâ (39).
â
A people cannot be free if it
oppresses other people
. The armed force
it requires to suppress another people, is in the long
run always turned against itselfâ (40)âas applied
to Russia: the restoration of Poland âis a necessity ...
for the
Russians themselves
â (N.B.) (40).
N.B.