DAVID URQUHART AND THE LINKS OF SERBIA WITH THE IDEAS OF THE POLISH EMIGRATION
DAVID URQUHART AND THE LINKS OF SERBIA WITH THE IDEAS OF THE POLISH EMIGRATION

Summary/Abstract: David Urquhart (1805–1877) was the fi st British diplomat who showed interest in Serbia. Under his infl uence attention of the British turned to the Balkans. During Urquhart’s diplomatic mission in 1833, prince Milos informed him about the main ideas of the Serbian national program. Th e program consisted of expanding Serbia’s borders to other Slavonic regions. Coming into contact with the representatives of the Polish emigration in Britain, David Urquhart presented those ideas to Adam Czartorisky, a Polish count. Prince Adam Czartoryski (1770–1861), a Polish nobleman, politician and writer, was of the opinion that European Turkey should be divided into independent areas with local autonomy. Autonomous regions could be united on a federal principle. Th ey both envisioned Serbia’s future only inside the borders of the Turkish Empire. During Urquhart’s long association with the Polish emigration, he was trying to discover what the role of Pan-Slavism in European politics was. Th e Slav population was culturally, religiously and by their origin closer to Russia than to other European nations or Turkey. Urquhart was trying to prove the need for strengthening the bonds of the Balkan nations with England and France. He estimated that the balance of power in Europe would change, that the big multinational empires would be replaced by smaller autonomous national Slavonic states, probably under the infl uence of Russia. Unlike Urquhart, Prince Adam Czartorisky supported the plan that would lead to a development of a Balkan federal state. Th e idea of Pan-Slavism was a conviction about a unity of Slavonic nations and the capability of Polish people to direct the other Slavs to fulfi ll their own national potential. David Urquhart’s cooperation with the Czartorisky’s movement intensifi ed at the time of dynastic change on the Serbian throne.

• Details
• Contents