Decembrists and Polish Secret Societies

Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 2025. Vol. 95. No. Suppl. 7. P. S753–S765.

E. M. Boltunova, Edelman O. V.

The primary work currently available that examines the negotiations between the Decembrists of the Southern Society and members of Polish secret societies is P.N. Olshansky’s monograph The Decembrists and the Polish National Liberation Movement (1959). Consistent with Soviet ideological expectations, Olshansky proposed an interpretation of the relations between Russian and Polish conspirators in the spirit of the slogan “For Our Freedom and Yours,” formulated in Warsaw in 1830. We believe that the question of the relationship between the Decembrists and the Polish conspirators is now back on the table. Looking at the history of their negotiations, Olshansky had pointed out (though, predictably, did not make it the focus of his analysis) a fundamental difference articulated by the members of the Polish societies themselves: for them, the national question was paramount, while for the Russians, the issues were freedom, constitution, and liberal political reforms. The history of the relationship between the secret societies of the two nations must be viewed within the context of the complex national relations in the “Russian Polish” lands (Belorussian, Ukrainian, and Lithuanian territories that became part of Russia following the partitions of Poland) and the “Polish Polish” lands (the territories of Poland proper, which became part of the empire in 1815), which included national hostility, the emergence of the idea of Slavic unity, interethnic marriages, and the issue of loyalty to Russia among Polish landowners in the “Russian Polish” regions.

Keywords: Польша, Poland, национальные движения, декабристы, Russian-Polish relations, русско-польские отношения, Decembrists, national movements, Polish secret societies

Publication based on the results of: War and Post-War Peace in the Russian Empire and the USSR (2025)