Forced Shame: How We Invented Polish Colonialism

The idea that the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a colonial state has taken hold in Polish public consciousness, the article says. More precisely, it argues, certain groups are working persistently to implant that narrative in Polish society.

The article presents this effort as an attempt to produce a sense of shame. It says the claim is advanced despite the positions of Polish, Belarusian, Lithuanian and Ukrainian historians.

But the criticism goes further. The article argues that describing the old Commonwealth as colonial is harmful to the people the narrative supposedly seeks to defend, because it confirms nationalist patterns rather than challenging them.

The Union of Lublin and its historical significance are presented as central to understanding whether it is even appropriate to speak of Polish colonialism. The piece appears in Rzeczpospolita’s Plus Minus section, which publishes journalistic and opinion-focused material.