The Political Thought of Michał Rõmer as the Attempt to Merge the Opposite Conceptions of the Polish-Lithuanian Relations

Abstract

With the Lublin Union of 1569 Poland and Lithuania formed a new state: the Republic of Both Nations, commonly known as Polish – Lithuanian Commonwealth. Under late Russian foreign occupation, the native language of Lithuania was reborn after many years of dormancy. The aim of both countries was the independence. The lithuanian separatists emphasised the lithuanian cultures and national interest. The Lithuanian national agitation was not accepted by Poles. On the field of Polish-Lithuanian conflict there were some individuals who against the opinion of the others were defending the Lithuanian emancipation movement.
I mention this issue in my article The political thought of Michał Römer as the attempt to merge the opposite conceptions of the Polish-Lithuanian relations where I present him and his beliefs.
The article describes political ideas of Michał Römer. He became a follower of the rising of national feelings in Lithuania at the beginning of the 20th century. His life's work was Litwa. Studyum o odrodzeniu narodu litewskiego (Lithuania. Studies about resurgen of Lithuanian nation), where he presented the research about Lithuanian national identity. He was a member of nobility appreciating the heritage of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Despite his Polish roots, his political identity was Lithuanian. He used to be a close friend of Pilsudski, but he rejected his offer to become the Prime Minister of the government of Central Lithuania, which would be subordinated to Poland. Then he changed his name – became Mykolas Romeris and moved to Kaunas. His political ideas unified federalism and separatism. He believed in co-operation between the two nations.
In this article has been presented Michał Romer's conception of the rising of national feelings in Lithuania.