Ármin Vámbéry und die Unabhängigkeit Polens

The article presents the two known Poland-related statements by the Hungarian Orientalist Arminius Vámbéry (1832–1913), who explained his opinion on the possible independence of a Polish state twice – in 1898 and 1906. In 1898, he was interviewed by the Budapest correspondent of the Kraków-based Polish newspaper Nowa Reforma. In 1906, he answered an international survey by the cultural journal Krytyka, based in Kraków as well. Vámbéry’s answer to the question of whether Poland should gain independence once again was positive. Still, he justified the necessity of Polish independence not with the interests of the Polish people but with Europe’s wish to be protected from the Russian Empire: to Vámbéry’s mind, an independent Poland should serve as Europe’s bulwark against the Russian enemy. Vámbéry’s fear of the Russian Empire might be in line with his previous views on the Great Game, the rivalry between the Russian Empire and Great Britain on influence in Central Asia, and the European public opinion at the end of the 19th century.