The Formation of the Polish State. by Tadeusz Manteuffel; Andrew Gorski; Paul W. KnollReview by: Imre BobaSlavic Review, Vol. 44, No. 1 (Spring, 1985), pp. 156-157Published by:Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2498298 .

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156 Slavic Review

but notes that the three republics still fall below the all-Union level of economic devel- opment.

Together, these essays offer a broad survey of Caucasian history. Inevitably in a volume of this kind there are gaps. For example, the period between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries has been largely passed over. This omission is unfortunate, especially for the history of the Azerbaijanis. since their emergence as a fully distinct nationality occurred during this time. Intellectual and literarv developments, except as thev relate to political theory, receive little attention despite the fact that they underlay the growth of national consciousness among the elites. One might also wish that the articles dealing with the Georgians and Azerbaijanis had drawn more extensively upon materials in the respective languages. These comments are not meant to detract from the great value of the volume as it stands. Stimulating and, in some ways. pioneering, it is essential reading not only for students of the Caucasus but also for anyone concerned with the origins and development of modern nationalism.

KEITH HITCHINS Un iversitv of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

THE FORMATION OF THE POLISH STATE. By Tadeusz Manteuffel. Translated and with an introduction by Andrew Gorski. Foreword by Pcaul W Knoll. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1982 [originally published as "Polska w okresie prawa ksi#c- cego, 963-1194," Historyk wobec historii (Warsaw: Panistwowe Wydawnictwo Nau- kowe, 1976)]. xxxiii, 134 pp. Maps. $16.95.

One has scruples when one reviews this book. Its author, Tadeusz Manteuffel, died in 1970, and the Polish original was published posthumously in 1976. The text represents a lecture series given by Manteuffel during World War II under Nazi occupation at the Secret University of Warsaw. Although he was erudite in the history of Poland, Mon- teuffel's field of research and expertise was medieval Western Europe. Consequently, this book is not based on his independent research but provides his reflections on facts and assessments assembled by earlier historians. In view of the intellectual millieu in an occupied country, it is clear that the lectures were intended primarily to transmit the heritage of historiography on "The Formation of the Polish State" and to strengthen the listeners' will to regain independence.

Since the published version of the lectures starts in medias res and the text does not show any consideration for the significant achievements of postwar historical research, one suspects that if the author had lived he would not have published his text without making major revisions and checking his data. The Polish edition is justified as a tribute to a prominent historian and promoter of historical research after the war. The book was not intended as a standard text on the earliest period of Polish history nor as a contribution to the interpretation of facts. It was originally included in a volume entitled Historyk wobec historii ("The Historian faces History"), a title allowing for a wide range of sub- jective views, including those formed under the stress of the war. The English version, therefore, should not be read as a history but as a resource for the study of Polish historiography in a period torn between objectivity and patriotism.

Considering the framework in which these lectures were delivered, one does not impugn the author's integrity by stating that there is no page in the volume without at least one factual mistake, biased interpretation, outdated romantic concept, or patriotic overstatement. In the first chapter only the first sentence would stand critical scrutiny. The following quotations demonstrate some of the generalizations and shortcomings that obscure the proper view of historical realities. The "Germans," represented throughout as bent on expansion to the east and on the subjugation of the Slavs, are contrasted with

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Reviews 157

the Poles, who wevre undergoing a process of internal consolidation during which the weaker tribes were assimilated by the stroniger ones. "The contribution of the [Piast] dynasty [to the process of forminig the Polish state] was the annexation of the more distant Polish tribes by the Polanie," and Mieszko is credited with having "united all the Polish lands." The fact is, however, that these annexed tribes were not Polish before the annex- ation, and most of them did not want to be annexed. Some of them, for example, the Silesianis aind the Vistulais, were annexed earlier by the Czechs. The same goes for the "Germans." Charlemagnie annexed the Bavarians and Saxons as well as the Czechs to the Frankish realmii by force. Throughout the middle ages 'Germania" (Niemcv) remained a loosely kniit, feuding set of semi-independent duchies, later principalities and kingdoms. Most of early Polanid's external problems were with the Saxons and the Czechs (both being partners in the "German' feudal federationi), and not with all the semi-independent duchies of the Frankish realm.

Misleading impressions are created by the loose use of the terms "empire" and imperial" for the realm and for policies emanating from the couits of the kings in

Germany. Not all the kings of Germaniy were allowed by the papacy to be emperors, and some of them did not even want to be emperors. The realm under the kings in Germany was not coequal with the concept of the "Roman Empire." Nominally all Christian realms were part of the Roman Empire. The conflicts of Poland with 'Germany" were conflicts between the lords of the respective realms, most of the time with the dukes of Saxony and the dukes (later kings) of Bohemia. The "emperors" had a function limited by ec- clesiastical (papal) prescription. In the case of Poland the emperors could act only as arbiters and heads of the 'family of Christian princes." Hence Poland's conflict in 1075 with King Henry IV could not have been "a war with the empire" because Henry became emperor only in 1084, and even then his conflicts with neighbors were private feuds within the empire and not imperial wars. The empire could not have enjoyed suzerainty over Poland because (feudal) suzerainty was based oni a private contract between two lords of domanial realms, in this case, between the domimiiiiis terrace of Germaniy and the doiiiiis terrae of the Piast realm.

Although the title of the book suggests that one will learn about the development of early state institutions, the social and economic structure, and the role of the church in bringing Poland into the family of Christian nations, only the last chapter skims over these issues. Most of the lectures are concerned with Poland's external relations with Saxony and Bohemia and the Slavic principalities between the Elbe and Oder rivers. The narrative (except for the last chapter) is chronological and strung along a genealogical history. One wonders how much the armed conflicts among the rulers of Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary. and their own conflicts with the dukes of Saxony and Bavaria or the kings of Germany, were feuds among closely related dynasties and campaigns enforcing feudal contracts between suzerains and their vassals rather than wars between nations, as interpreted by Manteuffel.

The value of this book, a reflection of "wartime historiography', has been enhanced by a very informnative and sympathetic sketch of Manteuffel's personality and of his place in Poland's world of learning. On the basis of firsthand experiences, Paul Knoll presents Manteuffel as a scholar, teacher, and organizer of higher education in postwar Poland, and, above all, as a person with traditional values who faced the challenges of new realities uncompromisingly.

IMRE BOBA

UniversitY of Washington

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