The Views of Mickiewicz and Krasiński on Russia

Authors:

• Jerzy Fiećko

Abstract

The chapter compares the views of Adam Mickiewicz and Zygmunt Krasiński on Polish-Russian and Russian-European relations, the political system of nineteenth-century Russia, and the history, collective mentality and national self-consciousness of that nation. It is pointed out that both writers saw Imperial Russia as a major threat to Europe and were critical of the Tsar’s despotism. In their view, Russian history had been dominated by the rule of a strong central power, which turned into tyranny, with the notions of citizenship and freedom barely present. The two writers differed in their views on Russia’s future. Mickiewicz considered the country to be an integral part of Europe and sought prospects for its democratic transformation, believing that the Russian people would be able to comprehend the idea of freedom. Krasiński, like de Custine, associated the despotic system with the slave mentality of the Russian people. Seeing Russia as an Asian country, he did not believe in its potential transformation; he favoured the idea of defeating Russia through an alliance of European states (led by France and Poland), separating it symbolically and politically from Europe and enforcing a change in direction towards Asia in its imperial expansion.