ABSTRACT
The extreme volatility and tragedy of Poland's history since at least the Partitions of the eighteenth century have produced frequent episodes of enforced emigration and deportation for millions of Poles. Already by the middle of the nineteenth century, particularly in the wake of the unsuccessful risings of 1830 and 1863 against Russian oppression, large-scale displacement had become a salient characteristic of Polish life. At the very heart of this trauma lay the primary challenge of how to regain Poland's freedom and independence as a national sovereign state. This theme provides the essential line of continuity in Polish history in the modern era. In the second half of the nineteenth century, this challenge was addressed initially, and principally, through the process known as ‘organic work’, the promotion, as far as was possible within the restrictive regime imposed by the Partionist powers, of the Polish economy, language, religion, culture, education and social traditions. In the latter decades of the century, new avenues towards the same goal were pursued, notably through a revolutionary, anti-tsarist brand of socialism and a militant form of nationalism, epitomised by Józef Piłsudski and Roman Dmowski, respectively.
