8 Sources of post- traumatic sovereignty
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Jarosław Kuisz
Abstract
This chapter begins with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which reawakened deep-rooted fears in Poland over the loss of sovereignty. It sketches a history of Poland over the last 300 years, a period in which the state disappeared from the map more than once. After enjoying a golden age in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Poland suffered partition in 1795. It did not come into existence again as an independent state until 1918, when the Second Polish Republic emerged from the ashes of the First World War. This republic fell to Nazi Germany at the beginning of the Second World War, and on the Nazi defeat in 1945 Poland became a satellite state of the Soviet Union. The collapse of the USSR in 1989 opened the way for the creation of the Third Polish Republic, but while this state has existed continuously since, many Poles retain a deep anxiety about their independence and prospects for self-determination, an anxiety that may be termed “post-traumatic sovereignty.”
Abstract
This chapter begins with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which reawakened deep-rooted fears in Poland over the loss of sovereignty. It sketches a history of Poland over the last 300 years, a period in which the state disappeared from the map more than once. After enjoying a golden age in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Poland suffered partition in 1795. It did not come into existence again as an independent state until 1918, when the Second Polish Republic emerged from the ashes of the First World War. This republic fell to Nazi Germany at the beginning of the Second World War, and on the Nazi defeat in 1945 Poland became a satellite state of the Soviet Union. The collapse of the USSR in 1989 opened the way for the creation of the Third Polish Republic, but while this state has existed continuously since, many Poles retain a deep anxiety about their independence and prospects for self-determination, an anxiety that may be termed “post-traumatic sovereignty.”
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
- Epigraph to Part I 20
- 1 Breakthrough? The 2015 elections 21
- 2 The tsunami of populism 46
- 3 True leaders of the nation 77
- 4 Toothless liberals? The current state of democratic opposition 99
- Introduction to Part II 126
- 5 The Polish–Jewish relationship debate 131
- 6 The economic transformation debate 146
- 7 The never- ending de-communisation debate 161
- Introduction to Part III 180
- 8 Sources of post- traumatic sovereignty 187
- 9 Beyond the occupation mentality 206
- 10 Post-traumatic sovereignty strikes back 231
- 11 A kidnapped West in the European Union 243
- Conclusion 261
- Notes 270
- Acknowledgements 346
- Index 349
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
- Epigraph to Part I 20
- 1 Breakthrough? The 2015 elections 21
- 2 The tsunami of populism 46
- 3 True leaders of the nation 77
- 4 Toothless liberals? The current state of democratic opposition 99
- Introduction to Part II 126
- 5 The Polish–Jewish relationship debate 131
- 6 The economic transformation debate 146
- 7 The never- ending de-communisation debate 161
- Introduction to Part III 180
- 8 Sources of post- traumatic sovereignty 187
- 9 Beyond the occupation mentality 206
- 10 Post-traumatic sovereignty strikes back 231
- 11 A kidnapped West in the European Union 243
- Conclusion 261
- Notes 270
- Acknowledgements 346
- Index 349
