International Law, the Polish Struggle for Independence, and the Partition of Africa

• In Event: Law, Landscapes, and Legitimacy: Polish Professionals and the Conquest of Africa

Abstract

In 1883, Stefan Szolc-Rogoziński embarked on what he advertised as “the first Polish scientific expedition to Africa.” Upon reaching present-day Cameroon, he “purchased” the rights of sovereignty from local rulers and raised the banner of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was a scene playing out across the continent, as dozens of Europeans collected treaties and raised flags to stake claims to African sovereignty. What distinguished the Polish expedition from the many other participants in the Scramble for Africa was that the polity Rogoziński purported to represent had not been recognized as an independent state since 1795. What is the significance of staking a claim to African sovereignty on behalf of a state that itself lacked sovereignty? By analyzing developments in international law and the Polish controversies this gambit generated, I argue that putting Poland on the map of Africa represented an attempt to reverse-engineer Polish sovereignty in Europe. As international law increasingly recognized only “civilized nations” as having a right to independence, Rogoziński’s gambit symbolically asserted the Polish nation’s right to recognition as a member of the “Family of Nations.” Polish participation in the despoliation of Africa can thus be understood as an extension of the broader Polish struggle for independence. This ill-fated Polish colonial venture serves as an index for how colonialism was transforming the normative basis of statehood in Europe itself.

Author

• Ben Van Zee, European U Institute (Italy)