Аннотация: "Inhabitants of Rech Pospolita" - "East-republicans"? An essay.
"Inhabitants of Rech Pospolita" - "East-republicans"? An essay.
If we look at the Rech Pospolita - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - from the point of view of 'History' by Karamzin, we see, first of all, 'Poland' and 'Poles'.
Sometimes 'Lithuanians' and 'Litvins' emerge from the 'darkness of centuries' - but rarely. They are, by and large, not needed for this "History". A fact of their existence raises unnecessary questions ...
This ingenious work ('History' by Karamzin), - created (according to some sources) under the tight "scientific guidance" of one of the most capable, humane and European-oriented emperors - Alexander I, - made almost transparent, almost invisible the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
If things went like that, as things went, then why bother yourself with different thoughts? We build a despotic (a totalitarian), but heroic, the past, and we are moving forward!
If you look at the Rech Pospolita - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from a modern point of view, then a large historical space, previously hidden, is opened and made available to the eye.
But apart from historical facts, there are also a historical processes. These processes are going from the past to the future.
Having suddenly opened a huge array of the past, we often do not have notions for describing a historical processes.
For example. How to name the inhabitants of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania?
Lithuanians? Such a name obviously results a mixturing of meanings.
Litvins? We do not know, what the exact meaning a people of a past eras put into this term. In the nineteenth century there was a 'gap in history" ('a partition of history') of an eastern-European scale. Nowadays, the word "Litvin" sounds incomprehensible, archaic and slightly ridiculous.
Velikolithuanians? With possible shortcomings of this term, it is phonaesthetic, euphonious, harmonious and created on the basis of the name of the state - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
A similar problem of the name arises when trying to find a generalized name for the inhabitants, citizens, subjects of the Rech Pospolita.
Was there a common name for the inhabitants of the entire Commonwealth (as the Rech Pospolita is often called in various sources) in 'ancient times'? Maybe.
A history has not brought us a well-known, a habitual, a generally accepted name. The "Pospolita's szlachta" was only part of the general population of the entire state.
Nevertheless, from time to time, the need arises for a generalized name of the inhabitants of the Rech Pospolita (uniting Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania).
"Inhabitants, residents of Rech Pospolita" - the name itself is not bad, but long. During a consistent reasoning, its use is not quite convenient.
The creating of a concept based on social (group, class) or ethnic attributes is wrong.
It remains to follow the path of creating a notion based on the name of the state. However, the name (of the state) consists of two words, and this, at first glance, creates difficulties.
These difficulties are eliminated if we recall one of the main meanings of the name of the state. A main meaning - the "republic".
When used in Western Europe, such a name might not be convenient - there existed a number of republics (for example, Ancient Rome, republics in Italian regions and cities).
Another thing is the Eastern Europe. In the Eastern Europe, in 'feudal times', it was one the 'republic'. Democratic traditions were embodied, for example, in a Cossack societies, in the Novgorod Republic ... But the levels of international recognition and of state development of those democratic communities did not reach the corresponding levels of the Rech Pospolita.
It is quite logical to generically call the inhabitants of the Rech Pospolita the "East-republicans". Both the "Republic" ("Rech Pospolita") and the "(East-) Republicans" lived in the feudal world. This is not a modern republic, not a modern republicans.
However, for a generalized name of the inhabitants of the Rech Pospolita, the term "east-republicans" can be used - until an appearance of another term with the advantages over the proposed.
Is such a term necessary? Maybe, it's enough of notion "Inhabitants, residents of Rech Pospolita"?
At least it's obvious that generic (generalized) names are in demand. For example, "Belarusians", "Ukrainians" ... - in comparison with the word-combination a "Inhabitants, residents of the state [state name]" ...
November 27, 2019 22:41
Translation from Russian into English: November 28, 2019 11:07.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский ''Жители Речи Посполитой' - 'восточнореспубликанцы'? Очерк.'.