History of Poland - what lessons have we not learned?

Now - after a few hundred years - and in the coming decades, at least the past of Russia and Poland will greatly influence our relationship. The history of Poland is thoroughly imbued with Polish-Russian disputes, wars, ideological disagreements. Three sections of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth turned into 123 years of enslavement.
And the history of Poland is inseparably linked with the struggle for independence.

After the fall of the anti-Russian January uprising in 1862, a further process of Russification of the Polish lands and unification of the Polish Kingdom came. Polish institutions ceased to exist, submitting to the violent St. Petersburg administration. Decree from 1865 as an administrative language was introduced into the Russian language, three years later was created a separate budget, the central government, and the country is divided into 10 provinces. In 1876, according to the Russian model, the judicial bodies were rebuilt, and after ten years the Polish Bank was liquidated. Russian became the official language in institutions and courts, and most officials came from Russia. Therefore, the history of Poland and at that stage was the history of enslavement and struggle for the preservation of national self-identification.

After the death of the governor, Theodore (Fedor) Berg, the kingdom, which became known as the "Privislinsky Krai", began to be governed by the governors-general, who have special rights in the field of security. In addition, liberal reforms carried out in the empire did not extend to Poland, everything was kept on the police state system , censorship, and martial law (since 1861)
Was still preserved to a certain extent. The Catholic Church, which stood up for the insurgents, was also persecuted: monasteries were closed, those who survived, took property, the bishops depended on the collegium in St. Petersburg (despite the pope's objections) and lived under the ban of contacts with the Vatican.

On Polish lands included in the Empire, the situation of the Poles was the worst. The most difficult for the population was violent cultural assimilation and the suppression of ethnic identity. Poland as a part of Russia was discriminated against as National autonomy - most Poles were evicted to eastern territories, others under the weight of high taxes could not acquire land, establish enterprises. Naturally, this caused an underlying discontent among the population, which eventually grew into open protests. If before the reign of Alexander II the history of Poland underwent a difficult period of the liquidation of the Polish statehood, then later the authorities focused on issues of culture and language. Again and again, new nationalist currents were formed, as a result of which Russians intensified Russification at every step. On the territories beyond Bug, they sought to erase any manifestations of Polishness - both in school and in the administration - then it was finally banned Polish for public use. This was not possible on the territory of the kingdom, but here, too, the development of Polish culture was limited and Russian preference was given.

In the mid-60s of the 19th century, Russian became the language of instruction in secondary schools. The main school in 1869 was turned into a royal university. In 1872, as a result of the reform of the Minister of Education, Dmitry Tolstoy completely eliminated the specifics of the Polish school.

Russia and Poland. The history of these countries has always been in a clash. It was with Russia that Poland waged the war of 1920. In Poland, it is believed that the next section - the occupation of the country - came in 1939, when Soviet troops entered Poland on 17 September (recall that on September 1, Hitler's troops occupied the country). However, the history of Poland still remembers the painful places. And while we can not openly and honestly discuss all the complex historical vicissitudes, it is unlikely that a real dialogue will be possible. After all, the struggle against Russification - first from the 19th century, then dominance of all Russian in the Soviet era - is still alive in the Poles. And although in recent years there has been a tendency for rapprochement, nevertheless, until true friendship is still far away.