Abstrakt: | The article examines the process of shaping of the Polish patriotic discourse, which was
determined by such events of the 18th century as the Bar Confederation, the Great Sejm
proceedings, and the Kościuszko Uprising. In a situation in which Poland was threatened
with the invasion of surrounding world powers and in the face of impending armed
struggle for sovereignty, the then most important values uniting the Polish nation were
formulated. The first entity to define them were the Bar confederates, who fought against
the Russian army in defence of their fatherland, religion, freedom, and independence.
In the 1790s the patriotic discourse shifted to the press covering the proceedings of the
Great Sejm, and later to newspaper coverage of the Kościuszko Uprising. During these
events, the freedom demands were altered because the conservative Sarmatian republicanism
had been replaced with ‚new’ republicanism – characterised by social radicalism
and supporting the separation of church and state. Despite some semantic shifts, for more
than 200 years the most significant values constituting the Polish patriotic discourse have
been: fatherland, freedom, and independence. |