publication

The man who would not be king Adam Czartoryski and Polish monarchy

Authors:
André LIEBICH
2021

The Right Wing of the Polish emigration after1830 explained the disappearance of the Polish state in 1795 and the failure of their recent war against tsarist Russia by the absence of a strong leadership and, in particular, by the absence of a king and a hereditary monarchy. The most suitable candidate for king was Prince Adam Czartoryski, head of the right-wing emigration and a leader of the emigration as a whole. Czartoryski declined the title for reasons related to his own Hamlet-like character and, above all, by his conviction that the time was not ripe for an insurrection which assumption of the royal title would have entailed.