Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

Nations Before Nationalism, by John Alexander Armstrong. 2011

Kresy Ancient Polishness. Poles Were Not Recent Arrivals in the (Former) Kresy: An Ageless Polish Presence in Present-Day Ukraine

My review is based on the 1982 edition. This work is less about nations and early nationalism, and more about history in general. The author contrasts the emergence and function of nations in both Islam and Christendom, tabulating the essential features (pp. 288-289). This refutes the common leftist notion that nations had been recent inventions, only appearing after the start of the Industrial Revolution.

At times, author Armstrong seems to adhere to old, stereotyped notions. For instance, he speaks of warrior leaders, and how supposedly they eventually became the nucleus of the nobility in various nations.

There is one feature that I found particularly interesting, and I discuss it separately below. It counters the notion that, until about the 14th century, the lands east of the Bug River had been “eternally Ukrainian”, and that Poles had merely been “colonists” that had arrived later.

AN ANCIENT POLISH PRESENCE DEEP IN PRESENT-DAY UKRAINE?

Author Armstrong cites a German-language and a French-language source for the following. It refers to a region north of present-day Kiev, and it refers to the Severian people (the Severyane, or Siewierzanie): “Until the fourteenth century the patterns of settlement in East Central Europe were so sparse that large forests separated most groups. For example, it is said that the Severiane of the Chernigov-Seversk region east of the middle Dnieper had been regarded as “Liaki” (Poles) by other east Slavs, but after conversion to Eastern Christianity the Liaki rapidly assimilated. At a somewhat later period, as streams of settlers met, Polish and East Slavic villages became to some extent intermingled in a broad belt consisting of the Lublin, Sanok, and Podlachia districts.” (p. 273).

For more on the ancient Polish presence in the former Kresy, see:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/bug-dniester-not-eternally-ukrainian-anthony/