âEternal Polesâ: the Rise and Decline of British Sympathy towards the Polish Refugees in the First Half of the 19th Century

Milosz K. Cybowski

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Chapter 2 âEternal Polesâ: the Rise and Decline of British Sympathy towards the Polish Refugees in the First Half of the 19th Century

In: Forced Migration: Exiles and Refugees in the UK and the British Empire, 1815â1949

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Milosz K. Cybowski

Milosz K. Cybowski
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 33â57

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004689145_003

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Abstract

When the first Polish refugees began arriving in Britain in the early 1832, they were welcomed by expressions of universal sympathy and support. They were exiles from the Kingdom of Poland, veterans of the anti-Russian November Uprising, forced to emigrate from their homeland in search for peace and freedom. As one of these Poles commented in 1833, in London âeverything Polish was adoredâ. The Literary Association of the Friends of Poland, created and presided by Thomas Campbell, was the first and the most prominent of pro-Polish associations (other such organisations came into being in places like Hull and Edinburgh). Even the British Government, reluctant to take any steps that would encourage further influx of Polish exiles, agreed to grant them a temporary financial support (which was later renewed annually for many years to come).

As soon as it became clear that the Poles were unlikely to leave Britain, the interest in their fate began to wane. Fashion for everything Polish lasted only a few years in the early 1830s. After that time only the staunchest supporters of the cause of Poland (gathered around the Literary Association of the Friends of Poland, with its president Lord Dudley Stuart) remained. By 1847, in the wake of another massive immigration of Polish refugees to Britain, sympathy for them and their cause was long gone.

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Forced Migration: Exiles and Refugees in the UK and the British Empire, 1815â1949

Series:Â Studies in Global Social History, Volume: 55/18Â andÂ Studies in Global Migration History, Volume: 55/18

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004689145

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 13 Mar 2025

Subjects
- History
  - Modern History
  - Migration History

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Part 1 Introduction

Part 2 The Metropole

Part 3 British Imperial Experiences

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Chapter 2 âEternal Polesâ: the Rise and Decline of British Sympathy towards the Polish Refugees in the First Half of the 19th Century

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Forced Migration: Exiles and Refugees in the UK and the British Empire, 1815â1949

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Chapter 2 âEternal Polesâ: the Rise and Decline of British Sympathy towards the Polish Refugees in the First Half of the 19th Century

Forced Migration: Exiles and Refugees in the UK and the British Empire, 1815â1949