A march marking 1,000th anniversary of Kingdom of Poland and 500th anniversary of Prussian Homage, organized by Poland's nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) main opposition party kicked off in Warsaw just after noon on Saturday.
The leader of PiS, Jarosław Kaczynski, called on “all patriots to take part” in the lead up to the event commemorating the “symbols of will, sovereignty and the strength of the Polish spirit.”
The march, attended by Kaczynski and other top PiS politicians, has become a platform to voice Eurosceptic views and showcase support for the PiS-backed presidential candidate, Karol Nawrocki.
Speaking to right-wing private broadcaster TV Republika during the march, Nawrocki said: “It is astonishing that the administration of the Polish state, headed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, does not recognize the thousand years of the Polish Crown as something important and valuable to modern Poland.”
Members of Donald’s Tusk party, the center-right Civic Coalition, are not present at the event and announced their own ‘patriotic march’, scheduled for May 25, in between the first and second round of the presidential election.
Nawrocki, whom PiS appointed director of Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance, currently sits second in the polls, behind Civic Coalition’s Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, and followed closely by the nationalist Confederacy’s (Konfederacja) candidate, Sławomir Mentzen.
Speaking to the crowd Nawrocki said that the “thousand years of the [Polish] crown shouts to us today that Poles will never accept micromania, they will never accept national amnesia”.
He added: “We cannot accept our freedom being taken away, our sovereignty being taken away. We know that Poland is a great cause. Long live free, independent Poland.”
The participants, some dressed in folk costumes, carry national flags and banners with slogans such as: “Always faithful, God, Honour, Fatherland” and “1,000 years of the Kingdom of Poland.”
Other banners expressly supported Nawrocki, whom PiS appointed director of Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance in 2021 when it was in power.
The crowd can be heard shouting: “Republic” and “This is Poland, not Brussels”.
Polonaise record
The march was preceded by a thanksgiving Mass for 1,000 years of the Kingdom of Poland in the Church of the Holy Cross and an attempt to break the polonaise dance record, which currently stands at 653 pairs of dancers.
The polonaise is a simple walking dance that plays a major role in Poland’s history cultural life. Many occasions are commemorated with the dance, such as high school graduations or weddings.
According to organizers, the traditional Polish dance that has influenced European ballrooms is “a symbol of the length, strength, attractiveness and significance of Polish culture in the world.”
The coronation of Bolesław I the Brave as King of Poland in 1025 “was a breakthrough moment, a symbol of sovereignty and pride. Marking such an event is not only an opportunity to celebrate. It is a beautiful way to build community and strengthen national identity,” organizers wrote on their website.
The march also commemorated the Prussian Homage which took place in 1525 in Kraków, the old capital of Poland, when Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach, the last Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, pledged allegiance to King Sigismund I the Old.
This event marked the end of the Teutonic Order’s rule in Prussia and the establishment of the Duchy of Prussia as a secular, hereditary state under Polish sovereignty.
The homage symbolized a major shift in power and religion in the region.
