Teacher | Student
Originally produced in: Polska
Also available in: en

Curricular level

3th class of junior high school, (History): “Uprisings in the territories of the former Republic of Poland” (original title „Powstania narodowe na ziemiach dawnej Rzeczypospolitej”)/ “Europe and the world in the nineteenth century” (original title „Europa i świat w XIX w.”) (15-16 years), Poland. Polska

Abstract

The materials "Polish political emigration in the nineteenth century" may be used during investigation of subjects related to Polish history as well as political and social changes in Europe after the Congress of Vienna. It seems desirable to point out universal and everlasting character of the phenomenon of political exile and harassment of people, also today, because of their opinions and beliefs. The materials were arranged in such a way that the history of Polish immigrants (not only after uprisings) are presented against similar movements in Europe that resulted from anachronistic (comparing to the changes launched in Europe by the French Revolution) social and political order established by the Congress of Vienna. Special attention is paid to presentation of the political diversity of the environment of refugees, the perception of this movement among the societies of the continent, and the convergence of the goals of political exiles of various nationalities. In addition to the political objectives of their activities, the author tried to draw attention to some aspects of daily life in exile. Presenting the importance of artistic creations of emigrants, to propagate the objectives of the environment struggle among the international public opinion, was also considered an important issue.

The materials "Polish political emigration in the nineteenth century" may be used during investigation of subjects related to Polish history as well as political and social changes in Europe after the Congress of Vienna. It seems desirable to point out universal and everlasting character of the phenomenon of political exile and harassment of people, also today, because of their beliefs and addressed views. The materials were arranged in such a way that the history of Polish immigrants (not only after uprisings) are presented against similar movements in Europe that resulted from anachronistic (comparing to the changes launched in Europe by the French Revolution) social and political order established by the Congress of Vienna. Special attention is paid to presentation of the political diversity of the environment of refugees, the perception of this movement among the societies of the continent, and the convergence of the goals of political exiles of various nationalities. In addition to the political objectives of their activities, the author tried to draw attention to some aspects of daily life in exile. Presenting the importance of artistic creations of emigrants, to propagate the objectives of the environment struggle among the international public opinion, was also considered an important issue.

Conceptual Objectives

  • Student understands and individually defines concepts such as: political emigration, political repression, political asylum, and democracy.
  • Student understands the causes of national liberation movements and the genesis of the phenomenon of political exile in Europe after the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
  • Student understands the importance of journalistic, literary, and artistic activities of emigrants for the situation of their country at international level as well as for building national awareness.
  • Student is able to make analogies between the objectives of the struggle of the Poles and other European revolutions in the nineteenth century.

Methodological Objectives and Skills

  • Student develops the ability to study basic historical facts using a map (and its legend).
  • By analysing iconography, student can draw conclusions on the presented facts, and in addition to general knowledge, draw conclusions about the broader historical phenomena and processes.
  • Student reads with understanding a scientific text and gathers the knowledge appropriate to their level of education.
  • Student interprets works of art regarding their political and propaganda messages.
  • Student uses the acquired knowledge of the history of the nineteenth century to make judgments and opinions regarding similar social and political phenomena in the surrounding reality.

Suggestion of Activities

Classes built on the basis of the material should be designed to help students understand the analogy between the phenomenon of political emigration of the Poles (and others) in the nineteenth century and contemporary problems of people persecuted in their countries for political views. It seems equally important to provide students with the tasks to make them aware that in the nineteenth century and today, there have been trends in literature, poetry, and music whose authors have been politically involved. These authors reveal and propagate their views through art. Exemplary tasks (for individual and group activities):

  1. Consider the values, in the context of the Polish fight for independence, that are included in the works by Frederick Chopin. Point out contemporary performers of popular music that are also politically involved. What are they fighting for? In what kind of problems (politics, ecology, equality) are they usually involved?
  2. In today's world, we can identify many examples of countries that do not respect the rights of free speech for their citizens. There are also countries that prohibit people living within their boundaries to separate and create their own country. The citizens of these countries are often forced to emigrate and keep fighting for their ideas away from their homeland.
    • Create a brief report about a country that represses political opposition.
    • Study the directions of political emigration of persecuted political activists in these countries.
    • Consider the elements that resemble this emigration environment (its aims, its methods of operation) to Polish emigrants in the nineteenth century.

Suggestion of Evaluation

Both the degree of mastery of the skills listed in the conceptual and methodological objectives as well as the ability to combine the acquired knowledge of the history of emigrants in the nineteenth century with similar phenomena in the modern world should be evaluated.

Further Information and Interdisciplinarity

http://www.emigrantletters.com/PL/output.asp?CategoryID=6605 – webpage dedicated to the emigrants' stories from the preserved letters (multilingual).

http://www.interklasa.pl/portal/index/strony?mainSP=subjectpages&mainSRV=historia&methid=469378&page=subpage&article_id=318349&page_id=13726 – education portal where experts answer questions, in this case regarding the political emigration.

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2006/03/the-real-problem-with-immigration-and-the-real-solution – website devoted to the contemporary migration processes, part of the portal deals with social problems mainly of the American countries.

http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/337 – article from the OECD press body (OECD Observer) that make comments on contemporary emigration of people from different countries.

http://www.emigrationexpert.co.uk/popular-spots-europe-for-expats.html – web portal on immigration issues in the contemporary world.

http://www.globalissues.org/article/537/immigration#IntroductionWorldwideImmigrantsStatistics – website devoted to contemporary migration, part of the portal deals with social problems.

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/20/61/2717683.pdf – document summarizing research conducted on behalf of the OECD on issues of contemporary emigration in the world.

http://www.casahistoria.net/emigration.htm – web portal on the history of immigration in Europe from the nineteenth century (English).

http://www.chopin.pl – website dedicated to the life and works of Frederic Chopin (available also in English).

http://pl.chopin.nifc.pl – website dedicated to the life and works of Frederic Chopin (available also in English).