“Law and Justice, the largest opposition organization in Poland, wants to show in Warsaw on Saturday, referring to 2 crucial anniversarys”, says the German paper “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”.
Warsaw correspondent Stefan Locke cites the words of Jarosław Kaczyński, who called for “all patriots” to commemorate the millennium of the Polish Kingdom and the 500th anniversary of the Prussian tribute.
Locke writes that the highly crucial reason for organising the march, however, remained unspeakable: it is about presidential elections and an effort by the PiS to defend the position of the head of state.
"A large assembly of supporters (party) can besides be helpful due to the fact that the PiS election run has gone unsettled. The organization lacks money due to the fact that the State Election Commission has withdrawn tens of millions of subsidies due to misuse of state funds. Her candidate, historian Karol Nawrocki, who was mostly unknown until his appointment and was not associated with any party, has not yet achieved as good results in the polls as expected," Locke writes.
Mobilisation needed
The author of the text points out that even a tiny number of votes can find the result of elections, which is why it is so crucial for the organization to mobilise voters. “PiS inactive uses Polish past – in fact great, and in the remainder of Europe present mostly unknown".
The author outlines about the long past of the Polish statehood and the circumstances of the Prussian tribute, whose 500th anniversary is due this Thursday. On 10 April 1525, Prince Albrecht Hohenzollern of Prussia paid tribute to Lenna to King Sigismund I of the Old.
A tribute charged with interpretations
Locke writes that in the following centuries the Prussian tribute was practically forgotten, but returned to consciousness in the 19th century, erstwhile he recalled the monumental image of Jan Matejka, and Poland was under partitions – including under Prussian partition.
As we read, the interpretations of the event have increased since then, and the Prussian tribute has received a immense political charge. "Also due to the brutal past of German-Polish event it was presented in Poland for a long time as a lost chance to defeat the Germans".
The German writer writes that today, however, there is simply a consensus among serious historians that although Matejka's image expresses Polish sentiments of the end of the 19th century, it has small to do with what actually happened in Krakow in 1525. “Zygmunt I did not regulation the national state, but he was the king of a diverse cultural and spiritual confederation, in which many nations lived and to which Prussia made a fruitful contribution.”
"The Song of Lost Chance"
According to Locke, however, specified versions do not fit the PiS narrative, so utilizing a Prussian tribute on Saturday, the organization will one more time “intonate a song of lost opportunity” to defeat the Germans and effort to usage this anniversary for its own purposes. The writer writes that the organization intentionally incites anti-German moods in Poland.
"The organization leader Jarosław Kaczyński regularly accuses Germany of wanting to submit to Poland with the EU. The head of the Polish government Donald Tusk is for him a 'German agent' implementing this agenda" – we read.
