I noticed that many people who mention to the tradition of the Polish national camp, at the same time refrain from the word "nationalism", involuntaryly entering into liberal-left narrative, according to which nationalism is an attitude of hostility towards another nations, as though of its essence generating conflicts between different peoples.
Such an knowing of nationalism causes this concept to become pejorative. The false perception of nationalism stems not only from the misunderstanding of its essence, but besides from propaganda activities aimed at discrediting this doctrine. This is what nationalism and xenophobia and chauvinism are for. Worse still, nationalism is frequently connected with fascism or Nazism, which is absurd, that the essence of the doctrine of fascism was the worship of the state, and the worship of race by Nazism. This perception of nationalism illustrates a passage from a man named Błaży Filipiak: “After planet War I, however, dark clouds of extremist nationalism, fascism, racism, and Nazism covered the political scene in Italy, Germany, Hungary, and the russian Union.
The exaltation of his nation by a group of politicians and the introduction of propaganda and ideology that excludes another nations and cultural groups from society has led to the bloodiest conflict with the usage of weapons the planet has never seen. It led to a war that showed the large disadvantages of a Europe ruled by nationalists. A war that was to destroy, execution and exterminate another nations by the “fathers” of that war. A war that showed the dark side of nationalist views. (...) In summary, extremist nationalism did not die in the bunker along with Adolf Hitler, and present it can be put to sleep, and then it can wake up, bringing further catastrophic effects ... the plague bacteria never dies as Albert Camus wrote.” [1]
As you can see, there are unusual concepts of confusion. Nationalism is simply a political doctrine far older than fascism and Nazism, which, being currents of their eclectic being, have utilized at most any of the assumptions of nationalism (similar to socialism). The recognition of nationalism with fascism, or Nazism, can so prove either ignorance or bad will. In doctrinal terms, nationalism is an ideology that recognizes the nation as superior value (not necessarily the highest), and its good as the basic criterion for assessing all political actions, which treats the national bond as the most crucial of social ties.
Nationalism puts the people's interests ahead of the interests of individuals, classes, or another social groups. It besides puts the welfare of its own people above the interests of another nations, but that does not mean that it is against them. The superiority of the own interest of the nation does not mean the automatic negation of the right of another nations to self-being and development, as in private life, seeking first the welfare of their own household does not translate into hostility towards the environment. simply “a shirt closer to the body than a Sucman”, says an old Polish proverb. Nationalism means, above all, seeking the interests of the national community, affirming the culture and traditions of the community and striving to preserve its identity and separateness. However, the strength of the nation is not limited to material strength, but, above all, to interior integrity, creativity, or the attachment of citizens to their own tradition.
At the same time, the essence of nationalism is the rule of the primacy of a nation above the state. In nationalistic terms, it is not the nation that is to service the state, but the state that serves the nation. For the nationalist, the overriding values are the preservation of the biological substance of the nation and its identity. In the Polish realities, this attitude contrasts brightly with the tradition of insurrection and uplifting established by generations, according to which the nation should bear even the top sacrifices in the name of fighting for fetishized independence. The tragedy of the Polish uprisings, and especially the hecatomb of the Warsaw Uprising, resulted in specified attitudes. Nationalism assumes that, within a national state, it is possible to make individuals and social groups in a consistent and harmonious manner. Of course, there are various kinds of conflicts of interest, specified as class contradictions, but national ties are stronger and more lasting than they are. These bonds are natural, like household ties, and the drive to teardrop them apart leads to the inevitable alienation of the individual and the failure of entrenching within the community.
Of course, individual might ask – what is my connection to “Kowalski” or “Malinowski”? Though we talk the same language, they are indifferent to me and may even be my enemies. Although these people are seemingly alien to me, within a given national community there is simply a akin cultural code, resulting from traditions, customs, educational patterns, or as Jan Stachniuk would say a common idea. This is actual of those who have long periods of time in emigration, even in culturally close countries. Moreover, national differences are clearly visible in our country, for example in connection with the massive influx of Ukrainian people, as a consequence of the conflict behind our east border.
Some claim that both Roman Dmowski and the leading representatives of the endecia did not like “isms” and deliberately did not usage the word “nationalism”. This is not entirely true, as the concept of nationalism appears among another things in the achievements of the classical Polish national camp Zygmunt Balicki. To prove this, a fragment of the Balitic text “Nationalism and patriotism” can be cited: “If patriotism is simply a national feeling, nationalism is simply a national thought that, without emotional background, can neither arise nor develop, but is simply a more complex spiritual phenomenon, since it assumes that there is at least a degree of organisation among the collective, and in any event that the public is included in the directives in force. This means that there must be any centres in society capable of reasoning collectively about the destiny and future of a nation that constitute a laboratory of what we call national politics. Patriotism revolves only in the field of mass but dispersed perception of interior states and external sensations, and a reflexive or emotional consequence to them, but since only a guiding thought appears in the nation, aiming to accomplish certain goals in terms of defence, strengthening and expansion of the nation, the origins of nationalism are already in its bosom [2].
Also a prominent political scientist, historian and spiritual student Prof. Bogumił Grott uses the word "nationalism" in relation to the ideology grown out of the national-democratic thought, which he was a longtime researcher. Prof. Grott has distinguished 3 varieties of nationalisms, besides marked within the Polish national camp. Firstly, secular nationalism, referring to religiousism as a kind of "social fact", without going deeper into worldview issues. This was the character of the classical endection formed by Jan Ludwik Popławski, Zygmunt Balicki and Roman Dmowski. Secondly, spiritual nationalism (Christian), rejecting the notion of nation as absolute and seeking justification in spiritual values. This kind of nationalism was appropriate for the Polish national camp after 1926, and especially the dominant group of young people within it. Thirdly, neo-Pagan nationalism, which sought rooting in pre-Christian beliefs – either literal or symbolic. This kind of nationalism was of small importance in Poland and was mainly referring to the group “Zadrug” whose main typical was Jan Stachniuk.
As a summary of these considerations, I would like to callback the words of 1 of the most prominent publicists of the Polish national movement, the founder and editor-in-chief of the weekly “Easy from the Bridge” – Stanisław Piasecki: “The nationalist concept of Poland – this is not the concept of the dictatorship of the leader and the elite ruling over the nation. It's a concept of the dictatorship of a nation. This is simply a sense of national pride in the widest layers, a nation of social equality and a hierarchy of responsibilities, an expansion of the Polish thought outside.” [3]
Michał Radzikowski
[1] Błażej Filipiak: “Nationalism is simply a threat to civilization” – the city learn.pl
[2] Bogumił Grott: “Zygmunt Balicki ideologist of National Democracy” – ed. “Arkana”, Kraków 1995, k. 157-161.
[3] Stanislaw Piasecki: "Right to Work" – Digital Library of National Thought.
Think Poland, No. 21-22 (25.05-1.06.2025)
Pictured: SN activists' march in Białystok (1937)
