Obraz Polski w dziewiętnastowiecznej Hiszpanii i jego odbicie nad Wisłą .......... 135

MUTUAL IMAGES OF POLAND AND SPAIN IN THE 19TH CENTURY

The article analyzes the mutual perceptions, imagery, and historical-political analogies between Poland and Spain in the 19th century. Due to the lack of direct diplomatic contact and significant geographical distance, knowledge between the two nations was fragmented and mediated (chiefly through France as a cultural hub), which fostered the creation of useful myths and geographical misconceptions. In Spanish discourse, the Polish question attracted interest across various political factions. Liberals viewed Polish insurgents as spiritual heirs to the Spanish defenders of 1808 who fought against Napoleon. Meanwhile, traditionalists (Carlists) and Ultramontane circles sympathized with the Poles due to their shared Catholic identity and historical role as the „bulwark of Christianity”, adopting Archbishop Mieczysław Ledóchowski, imprisoned during Bismarck’s Kulturkampf , as a symbol of resistance against secularism. Political crises in 19th-century Spain (Carlist wars, revolutions, regional uprisings) triggered anxieties of partition, giving rise to the concept of Spain as the „Poland of the South”. The fear of state collapse and internal anarchy was encapsulated by the term polaquería, which entered the Spanish political lexicon to denote corruption and factionalism, reminiscent of the negative stereotypes associated with the Polish nobility. Towards the end of the century, the myth of an indomitable Poland that preserved its culture despite losing statehood was adopted by emerging Basque and Catalan nationalisms. From the Polish perspective, the image of Spain was twofold. On one hand, the „Spanish complex” emerged as a collective sense of guilt over the participation of Polish soldiers in suppressing the Spanish population during the Peninsular War. On the other hand, Polish thinkers and Romantic writers viewed Spain as a vital reference point. In his Historyczna parallela Hiszpanii z Polską w wieku XVI, XVII, XVIII, Joachim Lelewel compared the decline of both nations, pointing to the destructive effects of absolute despotism in Spain and excessive noble liberty in Poland. For Polish conservatives and romantics revolutionary Spain, plagued by instability and military coups, served as a stark warning of the potential political decay that a newly liberated Poland might face.