1844 — Polish bazaar in Paris (Public domain)

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Before
1830- 1870— The Great Emigration

1830- 1870— The Great Emigration

Chapters

1. Before
2. Origins
3. The participants
4. Daily life
5. ”A school unlike any other”
6. Fighting
7. Twilight
8. The aftermath
9. Today

The end of the 18th century saw Poland annexed by neighbouring powers: Russia, Austria and Prussia. During the 19th century, attempts to unite the country by force were unsuccessful. Repression and the search for new ways to fight for independence obliged the insurgent authorities and the Polish elite to emigrate, mainly to France. This exodus is known as the Great Emigration.

The Polish “Great Emigration” began after the uprising of 1830-1831, when Poland was divided between the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire. After the Congress of Vienna (1815), the Kingdom of Congress succeeded the Duchy of Warsaw and the Tsar became the sovereign of this state, which enjoyed a degree of autonomy. The failure of the Russian authorities to respect the 1815 constitution led to an uprising marked by bloody fighting. Hunted down, stripped of their civil rights and deprived of their property, the Polish insurgents were forced into exile. They were mainly military or political leaders. Most of them settled in France, mainly in and around Paris.

These early emigrants included many eminent representatives of Polish arts and letters (for example, Chopin and Mickiewicz). They initiated an intense cultural and intellectual life and forged numerous links with French literary and artistic circles.

Associations, Polish schools, libraries, printing works, bookshops and parishes emerged. Among these were historic institutions, such as the Société historique et littéraire polonaise (SHLP) (Polish Historical and Literary Society).

The largest contingent of emigrants left Poland in 1831, but the flow never stopped. The intensification of “Russification” and the repression of national aspirations led to another insurrection in 1863. Russian victory was accompanied by the almost complete abolition of Polish autonomy, executions, deportations and confiscations. A new wave of refugees escaped to France.

1.3.1 “For our freedom and yours”

The flag of the “November Uprising“ (Public domain).

—“W jmie Boga, za naszą i waszą wolność.” “In the name of God, for our freedom and for yours.”

This phrase symbolises the fight for freedom of the Polish people and of all oppressed peoples. It is sometimes attributed to Tadeusz Kościuszko, the famous Polish officer who fought in the American War of Independence. In fact, this phrase was painted on the flags of the November Uprising or Polish-Russian War of 1830-1831. The aim was to show the Russian soldiers that both sides were equally enslaved by the autocracy.

The phrase was abbreviated – “For our freedom and yours” – and became one of Poland ‘s unofficial mottos. It was taken up by the revolutionaries of 1848, by Hungarians, French, Italians, Russians and again Poles, and by many others during subsequent historical struggles.

1.3.2 Polish Historical Society and Library

Ladislas Mickiewicz, son of Adam, the great poet whose work he later translated, in front of the Polish library in Paris in the 1920s (Photo J.M. Moser - Polish Historical and Literary Society / The Polish Library in Paris).

—The Polish Historical and Literary Society (SHLP) was founded by Polish émigrés in 1832 as the Polish Literary Society.

Among them were Prince Adam Czartoryski (who became the first president) and Count Alexandre Walewski, the unacknowledged son of Napoleon I and future foreign affairs minister under Napoleon III.

Its aim was to collect documents relating to Polish history and culture, in order to fight, from France, against the Germanisation and Russification of Poland. There were many eminent members of this society, including General Józef Bem, a hero of the Hungarian revolution of 1848, and artists such as Frédéric Chopin, Adam Mickiewicz and Cyprian Norwid. Some leading French figures also joined, such as George Sand, Alfred de Vigny, the Marquis de La Fayette, and Prosper Mérimée.

Faced with the destruction of the Polish libraries in Warsaw, Vilna and Krzemieniec, and the transfer of scientific collections to St Petersburg, Adam Mickiewicz called for a Polish documentation library to be founded in Paris. The Polish Library in Paris (BP) opened to the public in 1839 at 10, Rue Duphot.

In 1854, the Society and Library moved to their current location at 6 Quai d ‘Orléans. The institution then took on its definitive title of Société historique et littéraire polonaise, following the merger of the Literary Society, the Historical Committee founded in 1836, the Statistical Office opened in 1838 and the Society for Scientific Assistance.

1.2France and Poland, a special relationship

The Polish National School in Paris1.4