The origins of Enlightenment in Poland go back to the 40s of the XVIII century, when it became possible thanks to peaceful stabilization after long wars and ruin, on the general wave of renewal of the country. Its culmination point occurs in the 80s and 90s of the XVIII century, which is associated with the growth of reformist, and then revolutionary aspirations. Its last phase covers the beginning of the 19th century, that is, the time of the short-lived but very important for the history of Poland existence of the Principality of Warsaw and the first years of the Kingdom of Poland, established at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.1
Both the cultural creations of the Polish enlightened people of these periods in various fields, and what constituted their mental baggage and manifested itself in changing intellectual positions and developing moral and social values, as well as in activities - all these "reactive elements" in Poland of the XVIII - early XIX centuries were strongly differentiated. Of course, it is impossible to speak about a single culture of the epoch and the Poles in general. In the changing conditions, differences in time, in the degree of backwardness or development of different regions emerged, the process of further class differentiation and transformation of social groups took place, and changes in the views of successive generations matured.
Taking as a starting point the differences in time, space, and groups of people, let us take a look at the growth of aspirations and political values and the means used for this purpose, as well as the progress achieved due to the totality of internal changes in the balance of power in Europe, which took place in the intellect and impressions of the advanced groups of the gentry and We will try to compare these values of growth and progress using three different but related perspectives and methods: the genesis and process of change, its structure ,and the people involved. 21 The latest attempt to represent th ...
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