„Wybór” cywilizacyjny jako kluczowe zagadnienie dla przyszłości narodu polskiego w pismach Juliana Klaczki
Civilizational ‘choice’ as a key issue for the future of the Polish nation in the writings of Julian Klaczko

Summary/Abstract: The article analyses the issue of the civilisational ‘choice’ in the writ-ings of Julian Klaczko – a 19th century prominent on the European scale con-servative publicist, political writer, literary critic, art critic, politician associatedwith Hôtel Lambert, who had a great impact on the political and social viewsof Cracovian Stańczycy. So far, this issue has not been discussed sufficiently.This article is mainly based upon primary sources such as articles, brochures,and diplomatic studies of Julian Klaczko, his correspondence (kept at thePrinces Czartoryski Library). In his writings the author of Preparations for Sa-dowa indicated that it was crucial that the Poles held on to the values of theWestern (Latin-Germanic) Civilisation, whose cornerstone was the CatholicFaith. For him, France during the reign of Emperor Napoleon III served as a civ-ilizational ideal. The French were supposed to possess all the virtues that thePolish lacked. He hoped – alike Polish Romantic writers and Prince Adam JerzyCzartoryski – that the Western values would also prevail in the internationalrelations, which should be based on Christian ethics, making them stable. Hestated that the Polish nation, claiming its rights with dignity, in a moral, non-revolutionary way would find a place in such Europe. The antithesis of theWestern Civilisation was the Eastern (Russian) Civilisation, which was basedon brute force and ruthless rule, disregarding individual freedoms. Thus, therewas no alternative for the Polish nation.

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