Polacy o wojnie rosyjsko-tureckiej 1877–1878 – relacja z Odrin o. Pawła Smolikowskiego CR
Polish Authors about the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 – Paweł Smolikowski’s Report from Edirne

Summary/Abstract: The article presents several sources of what happened during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, the authors of which are foreignеrs towards the main mass of Orthodox and Muslims inhabiting the territories of the Ottoman Empire. Paweł Smolikowski’s report, along with the account by the anonymous author of the articles published in the Lvov periodical, created important first hand testimony. The point of view represented by both writers is the one of the outsider unable to form unambiguous opinion about the nations inhabiting Turkish regions, their problems or mutual relations. The authors perceived the 1877-1878 conflict throughout their own experiences, ethnical and religious prejudices and animosities. Their descriptions of the suffering amongst the Christian as well as the Muslim population, the fear of omnipresent death and the very suggestive pictures of the architectural devastation, despite the accuracy of their judgement, strike with their realism. Both authors treat Bulgarian population as an anonymous collective; they don’t describe individuals but a leaderless crowd, a mob moved from one place to another, fleeing, asking for help, physically and mentally decrepit. The occasional tale appeared about a Turkish household being set on fire in the act of revenge. In the town and its surroundings hosts were mostly Turkish; and the authors while talking about governors, clerks, officers or generals often used their full names. The writers have never challenged Turkish rights to live in the area, discounting the turbulent history of the region and therefore the Bulgarian claim on the land.

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