Od narodu szlacheckiego do narodu wszystkich warstw – tworzenie się nowoczesnego narodu polskiego w XIX w. i na początku XX w.

From the nation of the nobility to the nation of all social strata – the formation of the modern Polish nation in the 19th and early 20th centuries

Abstract: In the nineteenth century on Polish lands we are dealing with rapid civilizational, economic and social changes. State divisions are gradually disappearing. New structures are formed. These changes also apply to national issues. We can say that in the nineteenth century the concept of nation changed: from a political nation of the nobility to a nation of ethnic Polish origin, where language and religion played a significant role. The Polish peasant population, Polish bourgeoisie, and workers to a large extent integrated with the Polish nation, joined the Polish landed gentry and intelligentsia. A nation was emerging, encompassing all social strata. On the other hand, the non-Polish-speaking Ukrainian, Belarusian, Lithuanian and Jewish communities began to define their nationality not as Polish, but more and more often as Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Jewish to a lesser extent, or Belarusian. These processes will intensify in the interwar period, when we will be dealing with an independent Polish state implementing its nationality policy.