The January uprising in the worldview of the Warsaw positivists
- DOI
- 10.5922/sikbfu-2023-4-4
- Pages
- 42-49
Abstract
An attempt has been made to determine the views of Warsaw positivists on the January Uprising. The author turns to literary works, letters, and memoirs of representatives of Warsaw positivism and concludes that the suppression of the uprising in 1863-1864 contributed significantly to the formation of the ideology of this philosophical movement. Positivists openly condemned the Polish liberation movement, believing that armed conflicts would lead to the disappearance of the Polish nation. Despite this, they held great respect for the participants of the January Uprising, simultaneously realizing the futility of armed methods in the struggle for the independence of Poland. In addition to criticizing the Polish liberation movement, Warsaw positivists negatively assessed representatives of the conservative Polish aristocracy who continued to live in the past, romanticizing Polish uprisings and their participants while ignoring the needs, aspirations, and desires of the lower strata of Polish society. Warsaw positivists also expressed their views on violent methods of fighting for the independence of Polish lands in memoirs, letters, and literary works.