Współczesne implikacje mesjanizmu politycznego w Polsce

Abstract

Messianism is generally a belief in Messiah, who will come and change the relations inthe world. Messianism has taken many different forms, depending on the political andenvironmental conditions. Polish researcher, Andrzej Walicki, claimes that literature onthe issue has a tendency to use this term in a broad sense, including a conviction about thespecific role of the nation. From this viewpoint, the idea of Poland as “bulwark of Christianity”and then the nineteenth century beliefs in the mission of our nation should be considered asa kind of Messianism. Yet Walicki is a follower of a narrow definition, but many researchers,such as Jacob Talmon, use the term as a general descriptive concept. The term of Messianismis a simplification which makes the extension of the research possible and it enables to finda general plane of understanding this term. Polish romantic Messianism wasn’t a school, but rather a spontaneous expression after the treaty of third partition and then the collapse ofthe November Uprising. A growing popularity of messianism marked of the 20th century.Messianism claimed that the Polish nation should initiate the new organising of internationalrelations, propagating moral values in politics. Polish messianism was composed ofcatholicism, specifically polish myths, exacerbated nationalism. Now, messianic ideologymerges description and prescription according to a common sense of entrenched myths andspecific social demands.Key words: History of political thought, messianism, utopia