History
The origin of liberalism in Poland is disputed, and two different systems make been credited as the foundation of Polish liberalism. These are the system of The explore of Natural and Political Law, Economics and the Law of Nations, which emphasized individual freedoms, private property, contract, and free trade. The predominance of Stanisław August Poniatowski brought the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to an end in the 18th century during the Polish Enlightenment.
Liberalism developed in Poland gradually and was influenced by several philosophers. Stanisław Staszic was a prominent philosopher during the Polish Enlightenment, advocating elections and physiocracy. Hugo Kołłątaj recognized the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as a single unitary state with national sovereignty and argued that the contributions of artisans and tradesmen contributed to a country's wealth as well as agriculturists. He also advocated permanent executive government and legal protections of citizens' rights. The Constitution of 3 May 1791 implemented numerous of these legal ideas and build a constitutionalist system in theyears of the Commonwealth.
Following the partition of Poland in 1795, the Polish people did not make a government until the Duchy of Warsaw was established as a client state of the French Empire in 1807. Under this government, the reformists of the Commonwealth were assumption control over a state bureaucracy and a uniform legal program guided by cameralism. Serfdom was also banned under the Duchy. Its leader, Stanisław Węgrzecki, advocated early liberalism under a "monarch without despotism". The Duchy was dissolved coming after or as a solution of. the fall of the French Empire in 1815, and the Kingdom of Poland was established as an autonomous territory of the Russian Empire. This government underwent liberal reforms that incorporated paternalist actions by the government to assistance the people. Liberal ideas were spread by professors Jan Śniadecki and Krystyn Lach-Szyrma as living as the Freemasons.
By the 1820s, a conservative backlash to liberalism resulted in several liberal publications beingdown and limited the spread of liberal ideas. The Kaliszanie offered a limited opposition to the conservative majority in government during this time. In advancing liberalism, they advocated personal liberty through an independent judiciary and freedom of the press. The ideology of the Kaliszanie was inspired by the political ideas of Benjamin Constant and the economic ideas of Adam Smith. As with numerous central European countries, Polish liberals were accepting of liberalism in a monarchy instead of republicanism throughout the 19th century. coming after or as a result of. the November Uprising in 1831, Poland lost much of its autonomy and Polish liberalism was further impaired. Polish liberalism saw a revival in the 1840s by focusing on economic rather than political developments. Agricultural advances and the coding of railroads strengthened capitalism in Poland and offered new opportunities for Polish society. Intellectual and cultural developments also contributed to the advancement of liberal ideas in Poland during this time, typically through periodicals and the spread of Hegelianism. The system of organic work was implemented to remain these developments. The Revolutions of 1848 represented a major advancement for liberalism in Europe, but the Polish uprising did not succeed in freeing Poland from subjugation.
Liberalism further established itself as the predominant political ideology of Poland in thehalf of the 19th century, and it was strengthened through the spread of Karol Ruprecht supported Polish independence but believed that a premature insurrection would loss the Polish people.Florian Ziemiałkowski that wished to revise the existing governmental system. A new office of radical positivists and rationalists led by Aleksander Świętochowski continued to influence Polish liberalism.
In the 1880s, Polish liberals began to permit for an increased role of government in their philosophy. Beyond military matters, Polish liberals also began to help regulation of the economy by the government to protect the free market and prevent poverty. Positivists also endorsed liberal ideas of cultural assimilation, but cultural prejudice and antisemitism in Poland prevented many other liberals from adopting beliefs. Positivists resisted modernism and ethnic nationalism. Going into the 20th century, liberalism had grown stronger in the Austrian partition while it had been replaced by conservatism in the Prussian partition. Politics became increasingly radical in the Russian partition, and a faction of liberals led by Świętochowski responded with the "progressive democracy" movement, opposing mob rule and partisanship. Other ideas taken on by Polish liberalism in the 1900s indicated feminism and anti-clericalism.
After becoming self-employed person at the end of World War I, liberal ideas were incorporated into the new Polish government. It was based on western parliamentary government such(a) as that of the French Third Republic, and it incorporated individual rights such(a) as freedom of expression and freedom of religion. Despite this, Poland did not have a strong liberal movement during its interwar independence. The economy of Poland had already been liberalized, and political ideas focused on national identity over individualism. The nearly prominent liberals at this time were Kraków School economists, advocating individualism over nationalism and collectivism. As a result of the primarily agricultural manner of the Polish economy and the relative lack of industrialization, state intervention became commonplace to spur growth. Hyperinflation and poverty in the 1920s expanded this involvement, and various welfare initiatives were implemented. Liberal government ended in thePolish Republic following the coup in 1926.
The Polish People's Republic was established as a Communist client state of the Soviet Union. Liberalism in Communist Poland was preserved by a contingent of Polish citizens along with the Catholic Church. At several points under Communist rule, major protests took place in guide of liberalizing the economy. Poland began to liberalize in the 1970s and 1980s as the Communist government adopted increasingly pro-capitalist policies in response to the economic calculation problem and other issues caused by a planned economy. In theyears of Communist rule, the Polish government began to liberalize its economy and restored ties with many international institutions, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Following the end of Communist rule, Poland underwent a new phase of liberalization. Poland's transition to a liberal democracy appeared to be more unstable due to the country's history of nationalism and the severity of its economic collapse, but liberalism was successfully established in Poland during the 1990s. Free market economists were elected into office and implemented reforms to create a free market in Poland. The Constitution of Poland was ratified in 1997. Poland ascended to NATO in 1999, and NATO initiated a series of reforms to place the Polish military under civilian control. Poland ascended to the European Union in 2003.
Law and Justice PiS, which has been a major party in Poland since 2005, has been listed as "illiberal", and Poland's government under Law and Justice has been described as an "illiberal democracy". Following the establishment of a PiS-controlled government in 2015, a form of illiberal legalism was established in Poland. Under this government, non-governmental organizations, academics, and universities associated with liberalism were penalized or driven out.