Close Countries – Distant Countries. Polish-Swiss Freedom Analogies in the 19th and 20th Centuries

Abstract

The French Revolution became an inspiration for freedom movements not only in France itself, but also beyond its borders. The ideals expressed in the Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizen also animated revolutionary and national liberation movements in Switzerland and on Polish soil throughout the long 19th century. The historiography of both countries tends to attribute a special role to Switzerland for the Polish idea of independence, as a country that is a refuge of freedom. The Poles deprived of it were to benefit from the support of the Swiss in their efforts to regain independence. However, there is limited confirmation for this finding in historical facts. They prove that despite the common beginning of the liberal ideas of the 19th century, as the French Revolution can be considered, the social history of the Swiss and Poles ran along completely different paths. Different understandings of the idea of freedom and divergent methods of its realization with simultaneous mental differences between the two nations make it clear that this Alpine country could only to a limited extent fulfil the role of an asylum for Polish independence thought. Even after Poland regained statehood, the differences between the two nations did not disappear, which is illustrated by selected issues from the history of the 20th century. The narrative of Swiss-Polish relations adopted by Polish historiography requires a certain revision, taking into account the indicated differences in the understanding and realization of the idea of freedom, which both nations have demonstrated over both centuries.