The Phantom at Europe’s Feast

Throughout the 19th century, what became known as “the Polish question” haunted European diplomacy like an uninvited specter at a royal banquet. This persistent issue troubled both Poland’s friends and foes alike, creating a complex web of political posturing and genuine concern that would shape international relations for decades. The partitioning powers of Russia, Prussia, and Austria had carved up the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late 18th century, but they could not erase the Polish nation from Europe’s consciousness. This diplomatic dilemma represented more than just territorial disputes—it became a moral litmus test for European powers claiming enlightenment values while accommodating autocratic expansion.

The responses to Poland’s plight revealed the contradictions within European politics. Britain consistently issued diplomatic notes expressing sympathy for the Polish cause while avoiding concrete action. The Ottoman Empire never missed an opportunity to voice opposition to Poland’s partition, seeing in Russia’s westward expansion a threat to their own interests. Most remarkably, beginning in 1830, the French Chamber of Deputies opened each parliamentary session with a solemn declaration expressing hope for Poland’s restored independence. Yet whenever the Polish question threatened to destabilize the European order, these sympathetic powers would retreat behind what one contemporary observer called “a veil of hypocritical rhetoric,” prioritizing stability over principle.

The People’s Cause

While official enthusiasm for Poland’s restoration waxed and waned in government chambers, the cause found increasingly passionate support among ordinary people and emerging political movements. The year 1841 witnessed a remarkable symbol of this broadening appeal when a Black Haitian delivered the keynote address at a Polish commemorative gathering in London. This unexpected alliance demonstrated how Poland’s struggle had transcended European nationalism to become a global symbol of liberation.

As Friedrich Engels observed, among all working-class movements of the 19th century, the campaign for Polish independence stood unique as the only cause for which workers consistently advocated beyond their immediate economic interests. This solidarity reached dramatic heights in 1848 when Parisian crowds marched toward the Hôtel de Ville shouting “Long live Poland!” Their cries found echoes across Europe: British Chartists embraced the Polish cause, Berlin workers carried the Polish revolutionary Adam Mickiewicz on their shoulders from Moabit prison, and Italian patriots from Mazzini to Garibaldi declared common cause with Polish freedom fighters.

The slogan emblazoned on Polish insurgents’ banners in 1831—”For our freedom and yours”—proved to be more than empty rhetoric. The Polish nation positioned itself at the forefront of peoples resisting the Holy Alliance of Russia, Prussia, and Austria, eventually helping to establish the First International. This cross-border solidarity represented one of the earliest examples of internationalist thinking in European progressive movements.

The Strategic Imperative

The intellectual foundation for this widespread solidarity received its most sophisticated expression from Karl Marx in his resolution to the Central Council of the First International. Marx articulated why Polish freedom represented a strategic imperative for all European working classes. Without an independent Poland, he argued, the entire continent would remain threatened by Russian autocracy. Polish developments immediately and profoundly influenced revolutionary movements elsewhere, creating a domino effect that could either advance or setback progressive causes across Europe.

Historical precedents supported Marx’s analysis. In 1792, armies that Catherine the Great had intended to deploy against the French Revolution were instead diverted to Poland. The scenario repeated itself in 1830 when Russian forces meant to suppress European revolutionary movements were again occupied pacifying Polish territories. The Marquis de Lafayette captured this strategic reality perfectly when he told the French cabinet: “This war was prepared against us… Poland became our vanguard: the vanguard that attracts the main enemy forces.”

A restored Poland would have created significant complications for the partitioning powers. Austria would have struggled to maintain control over northern Italy, Russia’s expansion into the Balkans would have been checked, and Prussia’s dominance over German states would have faced new challenges. Conversely, the divided Poland strengthened the three partitioning powers through what Marx characterized as “long-standing collusion and interest exchange”—a cooperation that represented the greatest obstacle to political change throughout Europe.

The Global Polish Diaspora

With Poles excluded from public life in their partitioned homeland, exiles carried their cause to the world’s farthest corners. Polish emigrés became what one historian called “soldiers of every revolution,” appearing wherever conflict erupted. They fought in French colonial campaigns and Spanish civil wars, stood alongside Garibaldi in Italy, and defended the Paris Commune. From the equator to the Atlantic’s opposite shores, Polish fighters offered their services to liberation movements.

This global dispersal created remarkable historical footnotes. Two regiments of the Persian Shah’s imperial guard consisted entirely of Polish soldiers. In the American Civil War, the first Union officer killed was Captain Józef Brandt, who fell in 1860. Approximately 4,000 Poles fought for the Union, most notably in the 58th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment under Colonel Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski, while another 1,000 joined the Confederate forces.

The Ottoman Empire became a particular haven for Polish exiles, who found employment as military advisors, artillery specialists, engineers, cartographers, and surgeons in the Sultan’s armies. Ambitious Poles could rise to high positions provided they converted to Islam—a price many were willing to pay for opportunity and revenge against Russia.

The Extraordinary Odyssey of Ilinski

The remarkable life of Antoni Aleksander Iliński exemplifies the Polish diaspora experience. This wealthy nobleman participated in the 1830 uprising before beginning an extraordinary odyssey across continents and causes. He first joined General Józef Bem’s Polish Legion in Portugal, then fought in the Spanish Civil War where he developed into a skilled bullfighter during lulls in combat.

Iliński’s journey continued as he moved from France to Algeria, where his service earned him the Légion d’honneur. Subsequent chapters found him fighting in Afghanistan, India, and China. In 1848, he reunited with General Bem to support the Hungarian Revolution, fleeing to Ottoman Turkey after its defeat. There, he converted to Islam, changed his name to Iskander Pasha, and fought in the Crimean War against Russia. His remarkable career culminated with his appointment as governor of Baghdad before his death in Istanbul in 1861.

Reinventing Polish Identity

The massive dispersion of Poland’s political and intellectual elite raised concerns about the nation’s survival in its homeland. Compounding this challenge, Polish national identity had never been based exclusively on ethnicity, territory, religion, or political affiliation. After the Commonwealth’s dissolution, many expected its diverse ethnic components to drift apart like satellites leaving their orbit.

Instead, the Polish nation survived, though in significantly transformed and continually evolving form. The concept of “Polishness” became a conscious construction rather than an organic development. This reimagining was necessary because in the former Commonwealth, approximately 90 percent of the population had been excluded from political rights. Those seeking to resurrect Poland needed to win support from these previously marginalized social classes.

The project required rethinking Poland’s political foundations. The old Commonwealth’s decentralized structure appeared increasingly anachronistic in an age that admired efficient centralized government. What earlier generations had celebrated as achievements—minimal administration and multicultural democracy—now struck 19th-century observers as unsustainable. Polish patriots realized that to mobilize peasants and other previously excluded groups, they needed to offer a more compelling vision than restoring the old order.

The Unintended Consequences of Occupation

Paradoxically, the occupying powers—particularly Russia—aided Poland’s national preservation through their administrative incompetence. Heavy-handed policies designed to Russify Polish territories often produced opposite results, strengthening resistance and reinforcing national identity. The partitioners’ failure to provide effective governance undermined their legitimacy while creating space for alternative Polish institutions to operate in shadow form.

This phenomenon challenged conventional wisdom about nation-building. The formation of modern nation-states did not necessarily require the traditional components once thought essential. Poland demonstrated that a nation could maintain coherence through cultural memory, literary tradition, and shared historical consciousness even without political sovereignty.

Legacy and Modern Relevance

The 19th-century Polish struggle left an enduring legacy that extends far beyond Poland’s eventual restoration after World War I. It established important precedents for international solidarity movements and demonstrated how stateless nations could maintain identity through cultural resistance. The Polish experience offered a template that would be studied by later liberation movements across the globe.

The concept articulated on Polish banners—”For our freedom and yours”—anticipated 20th-century internationalism and remains relevant in an era of global challenges requiring transnational solutions. Poland’s experience reminds us that national independence and international solidarity need not be opposing principles but can instead reinforce each other.

Today, as Poland enjoys its hard-won sovereignty within the European Union, the 19th-century struggle reminds us that nations are not merely political constructs but living entities shaped by memory, choice, and the relentless human desire for self-determination. The Polish question that once haunted Europe now stands as testament to the resilience of national identity against overwhelming odds and the power of solidarity across borders.